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media analysis

``` Date: Mon 28 Aug 08:34:55 1995 From: CML@unca.edu Subject: Shannon Faulkner & the Media X-Comment: Cultural Environment Movement Network

[The following commentary examines the media coverage of Shannon Faulkner's Aug. 18 departure from the Citadel. Permission is granted by the author for on-line cross-posting. For print publication, please contact Wally Bowen, Citizens for Media Literacy, Asheville, N.C. 704-255-0182 ]

Choose one of the following:

A. Shannon Faulkner is the pawn of feminist organizations whose agenda has seriously undermined the American family and social order. B. Shannon Faulkner's ambition outstripped her ability, and she thereby set back the cause of women's rights.

These were the two choices presented to the American public in the first flurry of instant news coverage of Shannon Faulkner's departure from the Citadel. The missing choice was "None of the above."

Such simple, polarized choices stem from a journalism paradox: the incredible speed of news coverage also creates enormous pressure to reduce complex human events to the most simplistic, compelling story.

As Faulkner's story broke August 18, reporters fanned out to sample public opinion. Those opinions which were decisive and judgmental provided dramatic content for a compelling story.

Those opinions which reserved judgement until more details were available went unreported. Imagine you are a friend or relative of Shannon Faulkner, or simply a cautious and thoughtful citizen. Your opinion -- based on the common, human response of reserving judgement until more details are available -- would not be heard.

This news formula creates the impression that people everywhere have made up their minds. In this climate, many news consumers feel stampeded into choosing one of the available interpretations. Not surprisingly, that choice is usually based on one's pre-existing opinions and beliefs.

As a commercial model for the selling and consumption of news, the rush to judgement news formula works well. People are naturally curious to know what their peers think about a major news event.

As a model for learning, however, the instant news formula is a disaster. Learning and knowledge are supposed to expand existing boundaries of understanding rather than harden pre-existing beliefs.

Of course, the practice of journalism does not end with the first rush of headlines and sound bites. A news story is "advanced" in subsequent reports with additional details and context. But these follow-up reports rarely have the impact of the original story.

That's because first impressions have a lot of staying power. "Once people have taken a committed position on some issue, they resist change," says Ann Weber, a social psychologist at the University of North Carolina-Asheville. Researchers call this phenomenon the "primacy effect."

Once the rush to judgement has occurred, says Weber, follow-up details and context will be judged largely by that first impression. The news consumer with an initial negative opinion of a newsmaker like Shannon Faulkner "will ignore the good stuff about her and feed on the bad stuff," Weber says.

None of this is really the fault of journalists. They simply work in a system that rewards and encourages the dramatic, polarized rush-to-judgement story. Those rewards have become even greater with the decade-long rise of "info-tainment."

Another news convention that limits understanding is the intense focus on the larger-than-life personalities of individual newsmakers. This practice exploits the popular illusion that history is made by a few heroic individuals rather than the concerted efforts of ordinary citizens.

This zoom-lens coverage has the unfortunate consequence of diverting public attention from the bigger picture of critical policy issues. Shannon Faulkner's ability and commitment become the issue. Lost in the debate is the issue of equal access to tax-payer-supported educational resources.

The zoom-lens focus, therefore, has profound ideological implications.

Stanley Fish, the Duke University political rhetoric expert, argues that the media's habit of focusing on powerful personalities has been constantly exploited by right-wing political factions. It's the age-old, sleight-of-hand technique of calling attention to the part to avoid discussion of the whole. Here's how it works:- Got a problem with the Clinton health plan? Make Hillary Clinton the issue.- Got a problem with an abuse of power scandal called Iran-Contra? Narrow the focus to the patriotism of Oliver North.- Got a problem with environmental regulations? Zoom in on the spotted owl and lost jobs.

This tactic was especially pronounced in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. Before the arrest of Timothy McVeigh, political commentators pointed their fingers at the "growing pattern" of Middle Eastern terrorism.

After McVeigh's arrest drew attention to a home-grown pattern of right-wing hate and paranoia, right-wing commentators like Rush Limbaugh made a quick about-face and began describing McVeigh as an isolated kook.

Criminal lawyers have long practiced the technique of riveting a jury's attention on specific details in order to divert attention from the bigger picture. Does Mark Furhman and the bloody glove come to mind?

"The eye is deflected away from the whole -- history, culture, habitats, society -- and the parts, now freed from any stabilizing context, can be described in any way one likes," writes Fish, author of the forthcoming "Professional Correctness: Literary Studies and Political Change."

First impressions and zoom-lens coverage: these realities of the news business are here to stay. The only antidote to the negative effects of these news practices is for citizens to know more about how news is manufactured.

This was the lesson Toto gave when he pulled back the curtain on the real wizard. These are the lessons of a growing trend toward media literacy in the schools and community.

(Wally Bowen is founder and executive director of Citizens for Media Literacy in Asheville, N.C.) ```

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