Media Development 4 11982 vol xxix

very great extent a one-way, unbaIanced Journalism School at Louidana State. traffic.' He believes the Third World can University, rejects the argument that help the flow imbalance by relying less major changes are needed in practices Views on heaviiy on western news agencies, guiding news collection and dissemina- developing their own news organizations, tion. He explains the basic conceptual news flow .and cooperating in pools. direrences between western and Third. Professor Elie Abel of Stanford Univer- World journalists are not sufficiently sity argues for greater diversiftcation in stressed in international communication- message flows and cooperative action by debates. As long as countries go their Crisis in International News: Policies and more and less industrialized nations. Abel, different ideological ways. he adds, these Prospects by Jim Richsrad and Michael formerly of the National Broadcasting differences will be reflected in their H. Anderson, Editors. Columbia Company, notes philosopbica1, political journalistic phiIosophies and systems. Dr University Press, New York. 1981:4~&3pp.-:--. ., .. issucs.~~~~~.~onp;. &?CS .mL ckq,,, Y~.millthinks it unrealistic to expect news - $12.50 paperback. matic assenions. but do not lend'thein- to flow in -a balanced way between ands selves to solution by consensus. Included within individual nations because--- Twenty-three authorities examine issues are rights of access to countries and infor- 'unevenness of flow is a basic character-. on news collecting and dissemination and mation sources within them. censorship, istic of news - and not only of news flow, policy making in this comprehensive licensing ofjoumalists. ethical codes, right but of water flow, money flow, population anthology. They represent varied view- of recenification, and demands for equit- flow and food flow.' points of developed and developing able access to the radio specrrum. Gerald Long, Managing Director of nations about the New World Information Jean d'Arcy. French President of the Times Newspapers, London, and former and Communication Order (NWICO). International Institute of Communica- Managing Director of Reuters, said, 'We Editors and co-authors are Jim tions, London. and Video-Cites, Paris, are criticized for not doing those thing Richstad, Research Associate with the makes an eloquent plea for recognition- of that we have never set out to do, cannot East-West Communication Institute, the individual's right to communicate. do. cannot reasonably be asked to do.' Honolulu, and Michael H. Anderson, D. R. Mankekar, former Editor of The Richstad explains that Associated Press Information consultant with Unicef at the Times of hrdia and fcrmer Chairman of (AP) which provides services for an-. United Nations. They stress deveiop- the Coordinating Cornmiltee of News estimated one billion news consumers, ments on three issues: impact of inter- Agencies Pool for Non Aligned Countries, receives only 1% of its revenues from sub- national communication on cultural, said a pool is the first step toward the scribers in developing nations, so news economic, political, social and value N WICO. content is designed for the western marker systems; control over communication on Phil Harris, Coordinator of the of mass media and audiences. He notes the . sovereignty; and, communication re- Research and Information Sewice of Inter limited resources of news agencies for the searches in forming new structures, tech- Press Service, argues for a structural immense task of covering the world. nology transfers, spectrum allocation, and change from vertical to horizontal Jeremy Tunstall, Sociologist at City news exchanges. communication systems in international University, London, says news organiza-- Y. V. Lakshrnano Rao, Unesco staffer in news as a long-term way to end the cause tions are relatively small and weak. He Paris, believes world communication of imbalances between South and Xonh thinks economic rather than politid- problems can be traced at all levels ro and the dependence of the former on the pressures produce a bleak future for information imbalance. Rao, former latter. By horizontal, he refers to journalist agencies as stable, global news endeau- Secretary General of the Asian Mass interaction in a dialectic process.' ours. Communication Research and Informa- Leonard Sussman, Executive Director Dr Wilbur Schramm. former Directo~: tion Center, Singapore, contends, 'The of Freedom House, New York City, once of Communication institute of the East- concept of free flow of information has observed 'developing nations' complaints West Center and former Director of generally worked solely to the advantage are real and pervasive and will not dis- Communication Research at Stanford; of the industrially more advanced appear if ignored.' He advocates further reports on studies of international news nations.' sensitizing of Americans to problems of coverage in Asian publications. He con- Mustapha Masmoudi, Tunisia's per- developing nations in getting their news tends there is no shortage of wire news, manent delegate to Unesco and leading transmitted world wide and establishment and, if anything is wrong, it must be in the Third World advocate for NWICO, cites of better links between the West and the kind of coverage. the flagrant quantitative imbalance Third World. Dr George Gerbner, Dean of the, between North and South on information Rosemary Righter, correspondent for Annenberg School of Communications at resources. He criticizes the marked media The Sunday Times, London, suggests the the University of Pennsylvania, and indifference in developed nations to prob- West concentrate on practical pro- George Marvanyi, Programme Director lems, concerns and aspirations of develop- grammes for improvement of Third for Hungarian TV, report on a study of ing countries. World access to information, a funda- foreign news coverage of 60 dailies of nine Herbert I. Schiller, Professor of mental right. She describes bitterness of capitalist, socialist and non-aligned Communications at the University of developing nations about cultural imperi- nations. They determine that Soviet California at San Diego, contends that the alism, the language barrier between North readers get more news about the US and ideas of the free flow of communication and South, and the belief that western western and eastern Furopc than readers exist only for tlic privileged international govcrnments control information flow of of those areas get about the Soviets. They and intrlinational 'haves'. He contends the news agencies. observe that 'The regions of Africa, informational flow between nations is 'to a Dr John C. Merrill, Director or the Australia and Oceania, and the Eastern Socialist countries of China, Mongolia, contends. He laments the 'gap between light of the industrialized world. Leaders and North Korea were barely visible in the decision makers and researchers' and who want to bring about fundamental world press of the 1970s.' suggests their need for dialogue and co- changes in the political, social, and Richstad and Anderson are optimistic ordination. He observes much communi- economic conditions in a country are that the world is moving forward in cation research in developing nations is labelled "extremists", "guerrjllas", or the promising policy directions and that the based on irrelevant models from indus- equivalent, while those who work for the spirit of the 1980s and beyond can be one trialized western nations. system a're characterized as "legitimate", of pluralism, harmony and positive Hedebro affirms researchers must study or "pragmatically oriented".' cooperation. They realistically note risks problems from the perspectives of 'the Hedebro foresees continued dependence are great, but are worth the effort if they weakness groups', so that development of developing nations on developed ones, develop innovative ideas, patience and can become a process of liberating the because the former will buy the techno- public diplomacy. poor and powerless. He says that in logical hardware of the latter and adopt One chapter contains the 82 recommen- developing nations, persons experience their systems of using it. Additionally, the dations of the International Commission difficulty in gaining knowledge about con- big five international news agencies trans- for the Study ofCommunication Problems ditions in their own country, because of mit most of the foreign news used by the (that is, the MacBride Commission) and travel impediments and lack of reading 200 nations, and the West also dominates six appendices reprint the Declaration on materials. He recommends mass media in sending TV programmes, movie films, Mass Media and Human Rights of the devote educational programming -to and music. The US provides about Council of Europe; Non-aligned Summit stimulating interpersonal contact, so 150,000 hours of TV programming over- Statement on Communication Issues at individuals can exchange ideas and infor- seas annually or triple the combined totals Algiers; Statement by Participants in the mation as teams solve problems. of the other top three sending nations. of Dag Hammarskjold Third World Jour- The author believes capitalism has not Great Britain, France and the Federal nalism Seminary, New York City; the improved Third World peoples materially Republic of Germany. Conference on Security and Cooperation and seeks an alternative approach not This interesting, well-written, valuable in Europe, WeIsinki; Declaration of stressing economic growth as the main book describes past and present projects Unesco Intergovernmental Conference in criterion for measuring social and indivi- and perspectives, principles and practices Costa Rica; Mass Media Declaration of dual progress. He prefers the objectives of of national development, and suggests Unesco, Paris. equal distribution of resources and ways to bring about helpful and healthy If people can read only one book with development ofself-reliance and processes social change. Hedebro concludes, all the viewpoints presented forcefully on of group decision-making. He wants two- 'Although the risks for failure are great, NWICO, this comprehensive, valuable way communication between urban without communication there is little reference work is it. The authors' state- media and rural residents, who must for- hope for the acceptance of a new idea.' ments encourage free and balanced debate mulate programmes based on their needs James W. Carty, Jr about the free and balanced flow of and understandings. information. Hedebro outlines potential roles of the James W. Carty, Jr mass media in developing nations. Com- municator~,can help :.yeate ;.;s.(.>ense of nation-ness in which the majofity realizes Russian spirituality its own importance, deveiops indigenous National norms and values, raises aspirations, develops goals, and receives new ideas, development products, and skills - such as literacy and perspectives mathematical abilities - for solving Molchanie: The Silence of Cod, by problems through teamwork. Ca~herinede Htleck Doher~y.Crossroad

- -- Low cost radio transistors aid participa- Publishing Co, New York, 1982. 100pp, Communication and Social Change in tory democracy and coordination of mass $8.95. Developine. Nations by Goran Hedrbro. campaigns through instructional radio in Iowa !?zar; University Press, Ames, Iowa. formal school systems and rural forum 'Molchanie' in Russian means silence. It is 50010, I981,142j)p, 87.95. discussions following community groups the word the author uses to convey an reception of mass or open broadcasting. experience of God which is granted to Dr Goran Hedebro recommends new Hedebro explains that unfortunately the those who are prepared to go beyond the national development perspectives and a 'typical pattern in most developing initial stages ofdiscipleship. social change 'process whereby the overall nations is that only a small portion of the The book consists of nine sections. The personalities of tht pcoplcs of the Third total radio contert - oRen under 10% - is first section which is a short introduction World are rehabilitated and strengthened devoted to educational programmes. The in blank verse describes silence as a dark after years of dehumanization.' He calls areas covered are agriculture, health, night. In the last section, which is again for media to help crcatc a positive climate womcn's home programmes, and literacy composcd in blank verse, silence appcars for mass pnrticipation in making and classes.' as 'goldcn with fight exploding' to the soul executing decisions. He suggests changing t hc prevailing, which 'has becornc onc with God.' The 'Large discrepancies cxist between the international cmphasis of communicators sections in between describe the dcvclop- theoretical aspects of rcscarch communi- from a 'free flow' to a 'balanced flow' of mcnt of the soul's relationship with the cation issues and thcir practical applica- information. Hedebro declares, 'Most Divine, in the form of a journey into the tinnc in devdnnment work'. Hcdebro Third World ncws is internretcd in the silencc ofGod.

PHILADELPHIA EDITION I TV Update U.S. Report on TV Violence Stirs , Little Outcry

New York-A new report from the Na- Gloria (Sundays, 8:30 P.M. [ET]). , A tional Institute of Mental Health cites an comedy in wh'ich Sally Struthers re-cre- "overwhelming" connection between ates her role as Archie's daughter. TV violence and aggressive behavior in Square Pegs (Mondays. 8). A series children. However, aside from the , about high-school freshmen featuring predictable reactions of criticism from Sarah Jessica Parker and Amy Linker. the TV networks and applause from Newhart (Mondays, 930). A comedy various TV watchdog groups, the re- starring Bob Newhart as a writer who ,port's harsh conclusions have failed to buys an old inn in Vermont. stir a public outcry. One reason, Bring 'em Back Alive (Tuesdays, 8). sources say, is that TV violence has lost An actionladventure series set in its appeal as a popular issue. Malaysia dramatizing the exploits of Neither the American Medical Associ- Frank Buck, famous big-game hunter. ation nor the National PTA, both of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers which were once active in pressuring (~ednesdays,8). A drama based on the broadcasters and advertisers to reduce 1950s musical film about seven broth- violent TV programming, is currently ers and the women they court. planning to press the issue anew. Says Mama Malone (Wednesdays, 9:30). A a spokesman for the AMA, "Four or five comedy starring Lila Kaye as the host years ago this issue was of concern to of a TV cooking show. us. Whether budgetary concerns and The Good Witch of Laurel Canyon other issues facing the AMA make it (Wednesdays, 10). A comedy-drama possible today I don't know." about a husband and wife who are de- Reaction in Congress to the Govern- tectives; the wife isalso a witch. ment's report has also been muted. Neither the House nor Senate subcom- Viewers who tune in to "Goodbye mittees on communications has any Doesn't Mean Forever" this Friday (May hearings planned. "Even if we wanted 28) may find the half-hour situation to hold hearings, I'm not sure we could comedy strongly reminiscent of the cram them into our schedule," says Da- movie "The Goodbye Girl." They vid Aylward, chief counsel to the House should. It was the first pilot for a TV subcommittee. Says a spokesman for series based on that film. Then there the Senate Commerce committee, "I was another pilot. And another. There think, after many long years of hearings also were four executive producers. on that issue, that we can only hope many scripts, countless meetings and broadcasters will exercise their good at least a half-dozen network and stu- judgment." -Sally Bedell dio executives involved in the project. It all goes to show the heavy, even lead- Hollywood--CBS, the prime-timp rat- en, thinking that goes into the creation ings leader, is adding seven series to its Continued on aaoe A-7-f fall schedule: four half-hour comedies and three one-hour dramas. TV GUIDE. Box 500. Radnor. Pa. 19088 The new programs are: 12 15) 993-8500. TV GUIDE A-1 ARE SOAPS GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH? THE MPERTS SAY YES!

you are a secret soap watcher, former who admits to being on a soap come out of the closet and smile! with a defensive smile - come and listen You are part of a fascinating human ex- to what the social scientists are saying periment.r If you stayed home with the about you - and relax. flu one week, then went back to work I've been playing Anna Craig on "One "hooked," not understanding how it Life to Live" for four years. Now, Anna happzned to such a sensible person; if is a positive force in her community of you've been a loyal soap fan for years Llanview . . . a kind, caring woman who but conceal your afiernoon addiction often speaks the truths other characters from your friends; or if you are a per- fail to see or admit to. She has given a lot of love to a lot of family and friends. As an actress playing such a model of ex- cellence, I've been given much viewer af- fection. It's been a warming and ego- stroking experience. However, I've also been troubled by the passion with which the Iuap "~rais viewed, both posi- better consideration." tively and negatively. Did fans who "I refuse to call them soap operas so love5 their soaps lose a sense of reali- because people use that term 25 one of Tqfby closely identifying the actor with his denigration to diminish the form!" an- part? Were they viewing soap characters nounces Dean George Gerbner of the as role.models and changing their behavior Annenberg School of Communications at patterns accordingly? And if they were, the University of Pennsylvania. He teaches were the moral issues examined on soaps a course called "Media and Society and being true to the cultural norms or were is editor of The Journal of Communication. they creating new standards of behavioi? Gerbner considers daytime drama a very Finally, was soap opera deserving of the important form of cultural activity. contempt ofien extended to it by prime- "Those who put it down do so because time television people and the intellectual they feel it is less artistically com- community at large? plete, typically addressed to women and thus not to be taken as seriously as primetime. It is, in fact, much more WHAT'S BEING WRITTEN: realistic than primetime, deals in much more detailed documentation of health I began my own informal su~ey,con- and family issues; and less with the ferring with college professors, re- power-oriented fantasies of nighttime searchers, social scientists and thera- television." pists and read their findings. What 1

discovered is that everyone is talking WHY DO PEOPL I?: about the phenomenon of 55,000,000 viewers tuning in weekly to daytime Mary Cassata, Assoc~areyToTessor of dramas. But until now, very little con- Communications, State University of New clusive evidence about the behavioral York at Buffalo, is director of a com- ramifications of such an upswing in prehensive study on daytime TV called popularity has been published. . Project Daytime. She believes that "the Dr. Peter Corea, chairman of the soap opera audience appears to be dif- Psychology department at Emerson Col- ferent from the primetime audience: loyal, lege, commented on why so little had emotionally involved, and actively par- been published on the subject. "For many ticipating in the soap opera experience." of those who belong to learned or Unlike the primetime audience, which academic groups and who are classified watches television, the daytime audience as erudite, the hardest part of this subject. watches programs. is to get them over the label "soap opera." Marlene Fine, who is a consultant with But the very fact that soap operas have Communication Education Associates in survived whatever scoffing, sarcasm or Amherst, Massachusetts, writes that in contempt which may originally have been terms of relationships, the soap opera present among the sc-calted intellectuals, community is, in a sense, a microcosm of should now make them at least stop and the 'real world. Only a few characters take notice that there is something are transients, and this stability may be a meaningful ~oingon which deserves prime reason for audience involvement."

Pl~.~lIiskhur hw appurrcl on "AllM! Children. " "The Qriding tiglu" cud ocrre~rr!~,"One I!,@ fo Lit?. " She ir e frequent contrihuror ro this muguzint*. 33

-. -- every day who newr lie to them about their feelings." "One of the most pleasant &!as of the experience is that the viewer enj~?~ all the values of intimacy, the deepest of emotions, without psychological or moral cost or expense . . . as in all dramatic presentations the viewer can participate in every kind of experience, yet always remain the objective healthy observer," says Dr. Corea. Horace Newcomb, professor at the Uni- versity of Texas in Austin, reminds us of one of the most simple explanations for watching soaps. "Anthropologists tell us how important stories are to people in every inhabited region of the world . . . primarily because in escaping into them . . . they provide us with an ongoing discussion of the natural, the approved, the taken for granted." Dr. Newcomb believes that the soap opera is the most appropriate form for telling stories on television. "We observe "Days of Our Lives" kecutive Producer characters who are caught in the act. At Rabin agrees. He observes that while They must make sense of their lives, primetime shows continuoosly 90 through choose even when they do not have ade cycles of popularity . . . situation com- quate reasons, move on in the face of edies, lawyer shows, cops and robbers, adversity, and in the joy of having done medical, Westerns. . . daytime never does. well. Sometimes thyan hurt by the sheer "I have a basic philosophy and that's what force of a world in which violence is we try to do here all the time - share a common and affection is scarce. But in feeling beween the character and the au- spite of the hurt, we go on, we help, we dience. If the audience can feel the pain, give, and we become better. The stories joy, love and laughter as we all did in we share tell us why we should do this, that scene (referring to a scene where Don and why it is worth it." remembers his past with Marlena), it's I have a friend who is a published wriier, working. I've never seen a soap opera extremely bright, educated, and with a character lie to the audience." delightfully ironic sense of humor. She The voiceover and flashback are soap began to watch "One Life to Live" when techniques which allow the viewer to I joined the cast, as a friendly gesture. She ~timpsethe thoughts and feelings of a has been hooked wer since. She even has charaaer. "In real life we are lucky if a tiny television she takes into her car if we find one person with whom we can she has to be away from home during our share total honesty," Rabin emphasizes, viewing hour. She has been known to call leaning back in his chair. "Here, on the me, very upset and outraged (and with soaps, the audience has twenty people very little of her ironic humor) when we are pre-empted by a national catastrophe teresting findings was the fact that only which she felt could have easily been 20% of the students who regularly watch covered latm on in the schedule. I asked soaps view them alone. 69% watch in Narrrq-to analyze her four-year addiction. groups; more than 10% watch in groups "Why do I watch? Because during that of swen or mow people. There are many time I am not responsible for solving the colleges that offer soap opera viewing problems presented. It k a true escape - rooms at the student union and soap total. There's no carry over for me when watcher clubs have sprung up on many it's off . . . it's just finished . . . but during campuses. the watching there's total removal from my life. It's cathartic. There's also a certain justice that operates in soaps that doesn't happen in life. The bad guys get caught. When Karen meddled so arrogantly with jenny and Kat's babies, I thought it too much and that she and Marc0 deserved whatever happened to them. They had gone too far." Nancy did admit that though she war "finished" with theshow once it was off, she sometima wanted to Loneliness is another reason people are comment on what she had just watched so loyal to soaps. In the early days of to a fellow viewer. None of her friends television it was expected that older share her enthusiasm and she remains citizens, housebound by illness or slightly embarrassed by her midday advanced age,found solace in the lives involvement. they shared on soaps. Similarly, the This element of wanting to share one's housebound mother of young children, soap is a powerful new concept in the unable to seek adult companionship minds of the social scientists. Dr. Kenneth during tk day, watched soaps with Haun, psychology professor at Monmouth ~ratitudeand strong empathy. Now, the College in New Jersey, says that for years younger members of society are finding the academic community turned their security from the reassuringly constant noses up at soap courses. His was the first world of the soap opera. Ken Haun sug to be offered in the psychology depart- gem that college students often "get ment. "They made an assumption which the habit during their freshman year when did not turn out to be true - that soaps they're homesick and lonely." Similarly, were isolating experiences; desocializing. high school students between the ages of The truth is that maps 9 people together 13 and 16 are often suffering a com- and have formed a subculture." munications breakdown with their parents The newest phenomenon in soap and turn to the soaps for comfort and for watching turns out to be group participa- examples of ways to cope. tion. The ABC Social Research Unit has, There is still another group of soaps just completed a study of the college fans which is grateful for the ongoing student daytime television audience. nature of the characters and stories in Eleven universities around the country soaps. They are the people who travel were involved with a total of 1,836 for a living: salespeople, sportsmen students contacted. One of the most in- and women, business people away from home offices, nightclub entertainers. I WHAT'S THE HARM? remember a wonderful party at the Stork WHAT'S THE BENEFIT: Club that Sammy Davis, Jr., an avid soap fan, gave to the cast and crew of The question which becamerhe 'TQ~ "One Life to Live" after one of his d'fcult to answer in a documented Gay appearances on our show. Sammy was a was the one about behavioral effects on warm, generous host who made us all feel the viewer. But there is strong agreement his respect and affection that night. He among the experts 1 spoke to that soaps invited a close friend, Liza Minnelli, to are not what the popular media writers attend the party and she entertained us have led many to believe in the past. charmingly. She also talked about what Dr. Atan Wurtzel, Director of News, the people of Llanview meant to her. She Development and Social Research for ABC, aplained that while she was on the road, is adamant in his belief thatsoaps do not we served as the only constant in her life. have a profound effect on the way pee We soap characters were her substitute pie behave. He thinks that both the family, her familiar old friends, and positive and negative effects of television as such were an important support system in general have been over-exaggerated. which helped allay the loneliness of life "Certainly it's hard to generalize, because on the road. the kinds of individuals and the ways in which they relate am variable. If they relate strongly, the impact is obviously stronger. But to make a judgment that the relation- ship between behavioral characteristics and television drama can be called causal is absolutely impossible." He does think that a great deal of specific helpful infor- mation is passed on to the viewer, cover- ing such subjects as drugs, alcohol, child abuse, etc., which gives impetus to the viewer in need of help to look further. Wurtzel feels the press picks up on sen- sational issues such as increased sexual behavior on the soaps, but rearch proves that there are less causal relation- ships than expected. Suzanne Pingree and Muriel Cantor have written a book, "The Soap Opera in America," stemming from their work at the University of Wisconsin. Pinyree says there is not good evidence that soaps are affec- ting life decisions. Young viewers are sometimes laughing at the decisions characters make, judging their foolishness, discussing character weaknesses. Daytime, she feels, shows values that are complex, Continuedon Page 101 Top job

TV, it is widely assumed, must is, for males, white. It is a section of Mental Health. The authors of the affect the values of its viewers, par- a preliminary report, by a team from report are George Gerbner, dean of titularly the young ones. The follow- the Annenberg School of Communi- the Annenberg School, Michael Mor- ing article is a report on what TV cations at The University of Pennsyl- gan and Nancy Signorielli, research- considers a great role model-that vania, for the National Institute of ers at the school.

Television doctors week can be seen as a compelling doctors and one nurse in major curriculum in human behavior. roles. By comparison, the same Professionals play a dispropor- viewer will see only one scientist in typical viewer of prime- tionately large role in the world of a week's prime-time viewing, and a time television will see a television. Health professionals scientist will be cast in a major role A large cast of dramatic (doctors and nurses) dominate the once every two weeks. Visible as characters in well-defined roles. ranks of professionals, numbering health professionals are in prime The cast will include about 68 ma- almost five times their real-life pro- time, they are virtually absent from jor and 272 minor speaking parts portions. They outnumber clerks, weekend daytime (children's) pro- every week. Children who watch salespeople, lawyers or teachers. grams. weekend daytime programs (which Only criminals or law enforcers are About nine out of 10 television take up only 10 percent of their more numerous than health profes- doctors are male, white, and young total viewing time) see 42 major sionals in the world of TV, despite or middle-aged. Nearly all nurses and 98 minor dramatic characters the paucity of sick characters. are female and young or middle- each weekend. Their television ex- The typical viewer sees about 12 aged; nine out of 10 are white. posure to roughly between 400 and doctors and six nurses each week on Doctors probably fare best of all 500 vivid characterizations each prime time alone, including three occupations on television. Com-

8 across the board ------pared with other professionals, they disobey their orders), advise each of a bedridden woman with a are relatively good, successful and other, but rarely receive advice strong man-husband, doctor, or peaceful. Less than 4 percent of from patients or orders from super- romantic partner-at her bed- television doctors (major charac- iors, and when they do, often disre- side." ters) are evil, which is half the gard them. Yet they are seen as The work of the television doctor number found in other professions. "ethical, kind, responsive to the re- is one of individual and almost Personality ratings show doctors a quests of their patients, honest, and mystical power over not only the bit more fair, sociable and warm courageous." In 40 percent of med- physical but also the emotional and than most characters. Doctors are ical cases, television doctors risk social life of the patient. "If he just also rated smarter, more rational, status or prestige to perform an followed the rules," concluded stabler and fairer than nurses. unusual or dangerous treatment; in McLaughlin, "or left private mat- Two studies focusing specifically 13 percent the doctor disobeys a ters to the patients themselves, or on "doctor shows" (prime-time se- rule, convention, or advice, always did not risk life, limb, love, or rnon- ries featuring medical profession- succeeding, against odds, to treat ey, things would not work out." als) illuminate the world of profes- or cure some disease or settle some An unpublished M.A. thesis by sional medicine on television. crisis. Carin Irene Warner, "The World James McLaughlin, in "The Doc- The typical male doctor con- of Prime-Time Television Doc- tor Shows," found in 1975 that doc- fronts the typical female nurse and tors," confirmed these findings in tors "symbolize power, authority, the usually female and younger pa- 1979 and also noted that 6 1 percent and knowledge and possess the al- tient from a position of daring and of the doctors' duties were per- most uncanny ability to dominate authority. "Female patients are formed during house calls or in the and control the lives of others." twice as often bedridden as male field. The television physician, They are easily accessible to pa- patients. An image common (46 Warner found, thrives on private tients, command nurses (who never percent) of female patients is that relationships with patients, and wields absolute authority over aux- TV Authority Figure-Dr. Charley Michaels (Wayne Rogers) with a pregnant teenager on iliary medical personnel, but is "House Calls." rarely shown at home or with a spouse or family of his own. Televi- sion doctors give advice and orders twice as frequently to female pa- tients or to patients' wives as to male patients or to patients' hus- bands. Conflicts arise when the young doctor confronts the more tradi- tional and conservative stance of the senior physician or administra- tor, or the female doctor. The few female doctors on prime-time tele- vision are shown as more emotional and less professional than their male counterparts. Of all profes- sionals, only nurses and women doctors appear to have any emo- tional problems of their own. In Warner's sample of 45 male and 5 female doctors, only one was shown at home-a woman (the only one depicted as middle-aged), who lived with her cat. Coming home after a trying day at the hos- pital, she advised her pet: "Don't ever become a career cat." I ("Commentary" continues on page 61)

February 1982 9 duced monster is friend or foe.

for ourselves?

that it's too short.

televblon itself.

TV, Page 54 TV Weekend I Television Scrutinized; Comedyand Magic Shows i NYONE who plans to spend ~eri0Usly influenced' by plebiscites any part of tNs weekend conducted in thk yahoospirit? glued to the television screen memore, what if all the won- A ou ht to consider Sunday's derN new cable services - -home wwa" ep&ade a 8 P.M.on mame1 wmputer, burglar alarms, special 13 must viewing. Titled "The Televi- m0vle-s and sporting events, mail- sion Explosion," this hourloa docu- order service;s - meat a monthly bill mentary presents the potential dan- of $750rInor'e? gem of new television technology in "We may be divided into informa- horrifying detail. tion haves and information have : I Beginning with a brief history of the n&,"Phllates Mr. Bmm. speculat- ! medium, the show uickly moves past h?that some day there may even be a , Felix the Cat, Din2 Shore and Kukla, need for cable stamps akin to fmd Fran and Ollie. It's mostly devoted to stamps if cable usurps too many im- , today's world of television and th Portant functions, The key warning of i problems it faces. Fmm George the "Nova" show k that cable is prolif- Gerbner of the Annenberg School of erst@, viflmll~unregulated, while Communications comes the none-too- the populace remains too confused by heartening news that people who heav- this new technology to raise questiOns. ily view television think the world is a It's ~~ndet'fdto think of getting 100 more violent place than it actually is. dffimntchannelsat home, Mr. Brown "They live in a more mean and dan- Says, ''but they're like tines of a rake," germ world, for all practical pur. he says, explaining: "They all meet at poses, than their neighbors who watch the handle. And the handle is the guy less television," Mr. Gerbner says. whoowns the cable system." These people also approve more heart. "The Television Explosion" was ily of men over 35 than of men under 35 written and produced by Thea Chalow. - but have a lower opinion of post35 women than of their gigglier television juniors. This weekend's latenight newcomer r Rose Goldsen, a Cornell sociologist, is "Wlight Theater," a sporadically talks of.how television has replaced hyQO-minute revue featuring Steve mom, dad, teacher or grandma as the Martin, with Rddy McDowall as host, ' child's principal storyteller, wen to be shown ~0~0-night on Chan- though television doesn't modulate Its nel 4 at 11:30. The Premieb episode ar-, tone in res e to the child's ownr rives wfh great fanfare and with por- reactions. SWSOpoint3 out that te1e- traits of all it8 gu-t Stam on a gallen, vision, at first touted as a communal wall. They're all smokb Pi~es,.even experience for the family, has become the women. The guwts lnclude Carl a very private and isolating influence. Reher. winMull, Candy Mark, The real nightmare Is a segment Bill Mumy and a kazoo orchestra that aboct QURE, a pioneering two-way plays ''Also Sprach Zarathustra." cable svstem that hm been -rating Mr. Martinis featured in one skit in ~olumbus,Ohio, slnce 197f. QUBE about a radio ca1f-h. how, I subscribers have athome buttons thev Playing a husband who dimn'ers. en I can press,to order merchandise, pa<- route to work, that his wife hates him ticipate in surveys, even guess the and is sleeping with everyone else in next play in a football game. "Nova" his car pool. In another segment, a visits one QUBE family that keeps its Civil War sa' a is staged so that you, television on all day long. The mother the viewer, pky a Southern Wle. The parks her son in front of the set while camera stands in for the belle, and Mr. she does her housework. Then the fa- Martin, as her long-lost boyfriend, ' ther comes home, and he and his son gives the camera several big kisses play video games. Later, friends visit, squarely on its lens. After the sketch is the hosts prepare popcorn, and every- over, Mr. Martin exchanges phone body watchw "Apocalypse Now." numbers with everyone but the cam- "We haven't gone out to a movie in era, but then tells it, most insincerely, over two years," the father proudly that he'd like to havelunch sometime. declares. Another sketch has Mr ..- Murray Les Brown, editor of Channels parodying a prison movie, making a magazine and a former television re- mckus in the .mess hall by shouting: porter for The New York Times, ably "You call this quiche? It's slopt" describes the psible liabilities of There are musical numbers by the such a.systern. What if a serious politi- yodeling Rlden in the Sky and by the / , cal poll were being conducted and the visually clever Devo. One rticularly ' buttons were being pressed by &year- good bit la a home movie oP",hildren in 1 olds? (Indeed, the show finds one the 1950's' supposedly sold to the net- family whose little son answered work by "Elvis's second cousin, twice "Yes ' to-an invitation to go review a removed." A few unidentifiable tots, new movie, which turned out to be are seen beside a school piano, and a R-rated.) And what If legislators were narrator Claims, to the tune of "Love Me Tender," that Glen Campbell and Carl Perkins are somewhere in the classroom. . .. "Doug Henning's World of Magic," Sunday night at 7 on Channel 4, is an entertaining apecial proving that Mr. Henning's tricks are as miraculous in close-up as they are on stage. Sur- rounded by a hoklly good-humored cast -Bruce Jenner, Ann Jilllan and a hair-raising little girl named Cherish I Alexander, who is billed as world mini- ! miss - Mr. Henning performs some : marvelously illogical feats. He pours an ever-increastng supply of milk from a pitcher into three beakers, He makes the La Angeles Rams cheer- leaders materialize out of a small booth that doesn't appear to have a tra door. He saws a woman in half anb does card and rope tricks. How does he do it? Mr. Henning isn't giving anything away. Two notable aspects of the show are ' Its costumes and its canaries. The cas- tumes are unusually bright and flat- tering, and they're deserving of spe- cial praise. As for the canaries. a cou- ple of tricks employ them, and they're : obviousIy frlsky, noisy Httle things. i When Mr. Henning makes them disap- pear, they probably haven't gone far -Just up his sleeve, maybe, or behind his collar, or into a pocket somehow. Then why, when they vanish, do they stop tweeting? Janet Maslin THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN- Monday, February 15, 1982 Annenberg Researchers To Join Vienna Forum By AMIK,THORNTON really stimulating, well prepared and the more you-'think the world is a Television's contribution to viewer critical attention focused on our mean and dangerous place to live," conceptions ofreality will be the sub- work," he said. Gerbner said. ject o; an internationalconference in While the main emphasis of the Morgan, who will present's paper Vienna which Annenberg School conference will be on, television, on "Symbolic Victimizationand Real members will attend this week. researchers from countriesin which Wortd Fear", said his research has Annenberg Dean George Gerbner, other forms of mass media are more shown certain groups of people are I he originaterof the project, will pre- influential will present information systematically portrayed as the vic- sent a paper, as will Cultural In- on other cultural indicators. tims of this violence. dicators project membersand An- Morgan, who, became involved in "I wanted to see whether the pat- nenberg professors Larry Gross, the project as amaster's degree can- terns of unequal victimization in Michael Morgan, and Nancy didate, emphasized the prevalence of television related to how susceptible Si'gniorelli. television as an American cultural in- those same .-groups were to the In addition, Nancy Rothschild, a dicator. "TV is one of th cultivation of fear," he said. Ph,D. candidate in communications powerful influences in this sh iety," He found that for [hose often por- who has written a paper relatingto he said. trayed as victims on TV, high cultural indicators,will also present It is the precise nature of this in- amounts of television viewinglead to her work. fluence that Cultural Indicators the cultivationof real-world fear. The conference, organized by the research seeks to understand. Gerb- Austrian.Academy of Sciences, which ner explained that"e1ements of the Signiorelli, whose paper is entitled will begin Tuesday and last through American television system affect "The Demography of the Television Friday, will bring together r9sear- programming policies, which inturn WorId," studied how the TV world chers from Austria, Pijland, Ger- determine the effect television view- population differsfrom actual U.S. many, Sweden, Norway, the ing has on the public's conception of census figures. She also found Netherlands, Hungary, England and reality. discrepancies. Men, especiallyof the the U.S.to discuss different aspects middle class, were over-represented, while elderly people were,severely of their research on cultural . in- Because the primary purpose o: dicators. . American television is to sell goods under-represented.' - as opposed to the British system. - In addition to discussingcim- .. of selling actual programs - pro- "You tend to, underestimate the provements in methods of TV resear- gramming is often aimed at those number of old people becauseyou ch, researchers will compare the,ef- who spend the most money. "Were, hardly ever see them on television," fects of television under different television is .an arm of marketing," Gerbner added. programming systems. The cross- Gerbner said. . While the specific effects of televi- national ,study will help researchers \ sion differ from countryto 'country, discover which, effects of television The result is that certain eleinents concern about it is unive'rsal, Gefb- are inherent .to the medium and of reality are misrepresented on ner said. . . which ate-the result,of specific pr* television. Actsof violence, for ex- "The real question, is," he .said, grammifigpractices. ample, occur at an extremely-high "'what does it mean to grow up ,with "We $re delighted to have so much ',,rate."The niore you watch television, television?" - . - FEELING COO0

are other sipof arousal zq well. Dr. Ann M. Frodi. a professor (!I developmental psychology at the I'ni- versity of Roc1.rester in New York, sug- gests that there mag be something about the sound of a baby wailing t.hat triggers this kind of response in all humans. When she ahked a gr~upof men, wowen and children to listen to some tapes of crying infants, she found that a11 the volunteers responded the same way. So a baby's piercing cry may be evolution's way of motivating us to attend... . to his or her needs.

If you couldn't care less about exercise ..' or a balanced diet, and you take it for granted that modern medicine can cure 2 *hat ails you, it's possible you've been !: watching too much television. If you were in an accident and lost the ! Dr. George Gerbner, dean of the Uni- ase of an arm or leg, how much imur- 1 versity of Pennsylvania's Annenberg ance compensation do you think you'd When you talk. you reveal things about { School of Communications in Philadel- deserve? Whatever yaur mu7er,it will yourself by the words you choose and g phia, recently studied the hidden health probably be lower than the amount a the syntax of your sentences, according messages on television. He reported man would hope to get for a similar loss. to Dr. Walter Weintraub, a professor of 'i that during an average hour of TV dra- Apparently women value their bodies psychiatry at the University of Mary- ma. the characters eat, drink or talk less than men do, and according to ane @ !and School of Medicine in Baltimore. ii about food nine times. They're more study, the difference shows up as early 3 For the past 15 years, Weintraub has ~;likely to have snacks than a regular as third grade. When Sandra Vaughan, $;$ been asking people to deliver 10- meal and the drinks are usually alcohol. a doctoral student in psychology at 4"- minute, off-the-cuff mo~ologuesabout .' Yet despite such indulgences, the char- Georgia State University in Atlanta, "k:~ anything that comes into their minds acters themselves are seldom alcohoIic, asked 320 third and sixth graders how while he tapes them. Later he analyzes -# overweight or unhealthy, and on the much insurance compensation they'd their speech patterns. , rare occasions when they are ill or want, the boys put an average value of In his book, Verbal Behavior ;, iqjured. there's always a warm, caring $306 on various body parts; the girls (Springer Publishing Co., 19811, Wein- .idoctor available tocmthem. averaged just $230. traub reports that people who use The implied messages are clear: Vaughan says such attitudes have explainer words such as became and in Health habits are unimportant, and consequences when men and women order to are generally rationalizers, 2 doctors can work miracles. And the actually sue for injuries: Women are while those who overuse words like b~rt "message8 do get through, for Gerbner's lees Likely than men to sue in the first and ~ceverthelessare apt to be impulsive study demonstrated that heavy TV place and less likely to request-.-or or given to changing their minds. Some- viewers are more complacent about receive-relatively high awards. Part one who peppers her speech with qual- .:: their health than light viewers of simi- of the problem is prejudice-on the ifiers such as kind of and what yort ' lar background. They aren't as con- average, male dominated juries give might callis probably indecisive or cerned abut diet or exercise and the men 13 percent more than they ask for reluctant to commit herself. Passivity , more TV they watch, the more faith and women 17 percent less-but is indicated by impersonal expressions 3 they have in the powers of medicine. Vaugfian says women's feelings about like it has oemived to me and it seems to 1 Those health messages may have their bodies are also respansible. me, which Weintraub says are common other efFects as well. Gerbner auggests to people who don't like taking c@. that malpractice suits may be more I:j When Dr. Weintraub compared the common today partly because televi- speech patterns of men and women, he ! sion gives people unrealistic ideiie found that women use more expres- about what a doctor can do for them. sions that indicate tentativeness. For . . instance, women are more inclined to Though sexual excitement generally see themselves as passive objects of a j BABIES MD A robs us of speech, in the heat of psion verb (as in "He likes me") rather than people often make irudculate sounds. as doers or verb subjects PI like him"). f BIOUIGICR1 IWRm And when sociologist Terry Ruefli of Me is more personal and sensitive and Daemen College in Amherst, New less "executive" than I, says Wein- f If you have to listen to ababy crying, do York, used a questionnaire to find out traub. Women also tend to modify thcir .' you begin to feel tense? It's no small more about this, he discovered that statements with retractors such as btct 1 wonder, for recent research indicates women make more sounds than men. or hOWet)er, and they use more evalua- : that the sound actually affects you What's more, a rn has a greater ten- tor words like goad and bad. In addi- J physiologically: You feel anxious and dency to match his noise level to his tion, women are more prone to those .. rmtable, your heart begins to beat fast- partner's, eventually making as man rationalizing explainel-s. ' er, your blood pressure rises and there or as few sounds as the woman. d 62 ERDMANAVE. PRINCETON:N.J. 08540 609-924-9174 - U. Plans Washington Extension

. . By AMlE THORPITON Gerbner said Friday. "It is significant faculty members from both An- . University administrators and An- nenberg Schools. ' that it is' going to be located in the nenberg School trustees will re?ew world center for telecommunications Committee member and University plans this weekend for 'opening an ex- policy making." professor Larry Gross said the com- tension of the school's telecommunica- This weekend's conference will be mittees met on two occasions.,once in tions policy-making program in held in Palm Springs, Calif. Both Philadelphia and once in Los Angeles, Washington. D.C. university presidents, the secretary of to plan components of the program. The joint effort between the school the Annenberg Corporation, members Gross said the extension will tie in 3\1? and the Annenberg School of the of an advisory committee, and the with the communications graduate University of Southern California will' deans of the two Annenberg schools program at the University. Comparing -'u be geared toward the study of com- wiH attend. it to the undergraduate option of spen- munications policy-makers. Cerbner said this is the first such ding a year or a semester in London, In addition to graduate degree joint effort between the two schools, he said master's degree candidates will c' --.c' - work. the program will conduct its which share trustees. have the opportunity to intern with -'.A own research, accept grants for "The purpose of the conference is to different Washington agencies while ' ' research projects, and offer both exchange ideas .and share information participating in research seminars con- credit and non-credit courses. about the Washington program," ducted through the project: Program organizers are negotiating Gerbner said. The trustees will meet .immediately a lease for space in a Washington of- Plans for the program, which have after the presentation of plans to make fice building to house the project. been developing for 18 months, were . a final decision on whether to launch Annenberg School Dean George drawn up by committees composed of (Continued on page 6) bxpansion- ~oh~inuedfrom page I) tidy policy which would be part of a -the program. If approved, a program regular graduate program in com- ;office should open in th,e fall and munications. .loperations should begin in about one He added that while the brogram year, Gerbner said. will begin with an. orientation toward Gerbner edplained that the project graduate studies, it may be expanded would represent the first academic later to encompass undergraduate organization studying telecommunica- work. to reach their goal of providing richer programming product. "I offered to con- tinue our dialogue," said the educator, "and to collaborate with them in helping LETTERS to use our type of research in the interest of greater freedom . . . ." A spokesman for the Caucus: assess- ing the impact of the discussion with Gerbner, observed: "It's obvious that on the face of the mesentation he gave. assembled writers, producers, and directors that what's involved is some far-reaching An Open Letter that research such as ours is their best and long-reaching kinds of irnplica- 7'/1islnissive frot?z a professor of corn- defense against further restrictions (mostly tions." tr~~rnicationshvos wriftett ns an open letter by networks and sponsors) on their freedom to renders of tile "Guzette." and creativity. Sounds like a "cavalier attitude toward TO THE RE,\DERS: The trade paper Doib Vnriety, not given 'freedom and creativity' "? In fact, our It is both painful and tedious to prolong to flattering academic researchers investi- strong support of creative freedom led to what seems to be a losing battle. But prolong gating the television industry, wrote the day further research cooperation with Holly- it 1 must because the integrity of a Univer- after the meeting (January 20, 1978): wood guilds. sity research project and of this magazine Undaunted by the facts, however, the two are at stake. The father of the tv violence profile scriptwriters charge on: An article in the December, 198 1, issue and the Hollywood creative community entitled "The Storytellers' Dilemma" made may be working the same side of the Gerbner's impact, both in the press reference to a research project on television street in the future, with the violence and in the TV community, has faded; of which I am co-principal investigator. The research used to achieve greater creative he's been eclipsed by the more recent article was written by two television script- freedom and more diverse program- media stars of the Moral Majority and writers and, I am sorry to say, University ming. . . . the Coalition for Better Television. This alumni. It was so wide of the mark that I "In terms of getting more talent and is unfortunate, since his research is not wrote a letter to the editor which was pub- more time and more variety, it requires without interest. As it happens, we share lished in the hlarch, 1982, issue. creative freedom that this group of some of his views about an overabun- My letter attempted to correct some of the people can provide and if and when or dance of violence on the small screen.. . . factual errors and mistaken interpretations as they proceed to that goal, our re- contained in the article. I wrote that the search, our indices, will reflect it," Let me, patient reader, drag you through scriptwriters' description of our work was so Gerbner said in an interview . . . . that paragraph again. bizarre that "it is doubtful that they ever Speaking of the Caucus members, Being a social scientist and neither a read a single one of our television violence Gerbner said, "It will be useful for them propagandist nor a writer with a vested reports, published annually for over a to show the amount of uniformity versus interest, I do not worry about "impact" decade." diversity that's on the air" in attempting either in the press or in the tv community as In the interest of brevity and equanimity, continued I made no mention of the most offensive part of the article, linking our research with Hollywood witchhunts and blacklists. And for the same reasons, I did not stress our This is a special progrdni of travel disappointment over the peculiar editorial practice of the Gnzette publishing an article ~)ral~mni of ~aard.~a~e. Prince- by interested parties denigrating a Pennsyl- ALUMNI ton, Univ. of Pennsylvania, and vania research project without bothering to certain other distinguished uni- obtain first-hand information about the versities. it oCn a world-wide project. In my letter, 1 only (and in retro- mGm spect all too trustingly) remarked that series of journeys to great civiliza- "When the Gazette publishes an article that tions of the past and to areas of purports to describe a well-known University ABROAD unusual beauty and natural interest: project, it might not be too much to ask that a campus call be placed to check the facts." 1 wrote that letter on January 5, expecting Ancient Egpt - classical antiquity in Greece, Asia Minor and the Aegean . it to be published in the February issue. Carthage and the Greek and Roman cities of Sicily and North Africa - the Instead, it was printed in the March issue, Khyber Pass, lndia and the Himalayas of Nepal - southern lndia and Ceylon followed by a longer piece by the same two - Japan and the countries of southeast Asia . Romeo, Ceylon, Sumatra and television scriptwriters. Neither they nor the other islands of the East . South America, the Galapagos, the Amazon, and editor responded to my plea for obtaining ancient archaeological sites in Peru Australia and New Zealand the first-hand information about the project. In - . fact, the scriptwriters' letter continued to primitive world of New Guinea . the wilds of Kenya and Tanzania and the ignore the basic thrust and essence of our islands of the Seychelles . and Eumpe Rerdsiled, a special connoisseur's research, compounded the errors of the program designed to offer a new perspective to those who have visited original article, introduced a series of Europe in the past, with northern Italy, Burgundy and Provence, south- irrelevancies and non-sequiturs, added new western France,-Flanders and Holland, Scotland, Wales and England. inventions, and escalated the original snip- /- ing into a hatchet job of some magnitude. Among other things, they claimed to have The highly-acclaimed itineraries, specifically attended a meeting of the Hollywood designed for the edircated traveler, rangc from Caucus of Writers, Producers, and Directors hw tofive weeks in duration, and detailed at which I was the guest speaker. In line hrochilres available. firrther with their original innuendos about pressure are For groups, censorship, and witchhunts, they information contact: chose to interpret my comments at that meeting as indicating "a cavalier attitude ALUMNI toward 'freedom and creativity.' " FLIGHTS ABROAD The truth is the opposite. The purpose of Ilcpt. P-25. Or~c!Vortk Hrorrtlrru!y. \57?itc~Pl~riris. ,Vc.lrv York IO6Ol my talk in Hollywood was to indicate to the

May, 1982 3 Dr. Gerbner's second letter, we believe we rigged to support the premise that Wallace have acted responsibly, ethically, and and the 60 Mirrrrtes editors wished to pre- much as 1 worry about reason, evidence, and professionally. sent. At a subsequent press conference, the integrity of our work4specially in the General Westmoreland furnished ample University's own alumni magazine. testimony and credible witnesses to prove Being "eclipsed by the more recent media that the program had been a "preposterous stars of the Moral Majority, etc." could be Satisfied hoax," but, of course, it did not have the a good gag in a tv comedy of errors if it TO THE EDITOR: advantage of 60 Mit~utes'clout in prime were not another sorry descent into the March and another good issue. viewing time. original and reprehensible linking of our Please tell D. S. B. Davis ["A Whale of Another example of Wallace's specious- work with bigotry and repression. Good Luck"] that it is not true that the ness in reporting was in his endeavor to The patronizing note that our "research horse proves "evolution . . . at a slow, smear the F.B.I. in his profile of Jean is not without interest" because the script- steady rate." A ranking of equine precursors Seberg. Evidence was distorted and tapes writers "share some . . . views about the in order of size has often been cited as a were doctored to attempt to document the overabundance of violence on the small ranking by stages of development. Sorry I case he wished to present. screen" would do for faint praise were it not cannot recall the authoritative source, but 1 am a long-time supporter of my Univer- for their evident ignorance of what our perhaps someone down there can do so. sity as a member of the Committee of 1,000 views are. 'The Schwartz/Sparer memos-very inter- and will continue to be. However, I am The scriptwriters conclude their letter esting reading. Possibly their voluble ex- ashamed that we would provide a forum for with a plaintive wish, "perhaps in vain," change suffered some from confusion re: a journalist of Wallace's character. they hint darkly, 'that Gerbner will eventu- racism, an attitude, and discrimination M. F. SLOAN,JR., '33 CE, '34 GCE ally recognize that people of good will may (which they discuss but never identify), acts Sarasota, Fla. disagree with him, not because they're mis- based on the attitude. If you want to discern Mike Wall~cereplies: Mr. Sloan, Jr.'s informed but because they simply think he's "institutional racism" look up the "policy" undocumented allegations come almost ver- wrong . . . ." of the institution. Actually, you really need batim from thc pages of something called People of good will should be more to ask the members and staff "what they Accuracy in Media, published by Reed scrupulous with the facts and more judicious think," which may be unreliable! So the lrvine, who has been peddling this material with their conclusions. Good will cannot tendency is to inspect "acts" and reason and calling for my resignation or firing from assure good sense. We welcome disagree- backward. Time might better be spent look- CBS News for some months. ment of both fact and conclusion and have ing for expressions of racism than searching Following the instant broadcast (which, conducted lengthy debates on both in for the negative-non-racist'ness. incidentally, was not a "Sixty Minutes" piece scholarly journals, debates from which we Enjoyed reading J. Biberman on R. Solo- but a "CBS Reports"), two unlikely bed- have learned a great deal. We are also mon ["The Professor of Desire"]. The clear- fellows, the New York Times editorial page accustomed to know-nothing attacks from est evidence of "love" for me was his disci- and William F. Buckley, wrotc favorably those who believe their interests to be plined restraint: "The first time 1 saw Kris, about it. Mr. Buckley called for a Congres- affected by our research. But we cannot she fit a whole sequence of fantasies, but sional investigation into its findings. accept reckless and simply nasty distortions rllere was notljing I could do about it be- Such a documentary film undertaking is of the ongoing work of our research team cause she wus a student, and that's off hardly the work of one journalist, but a in the University's own magazine. limits." And that's love, I submit: A task collaborative effort involving the reporting, I have no illusion that the scripwriters we undertake, at least daily, if it is to be research, and production efforts of many can afford either to admit or to change any- sustained. I also believe that giving to individuals, carefully vetted by their supe- thing, so this letter is not addressed to them. another the power to hurt us is a condition riors before it is aired. Obviously, those I did have some illusions that the edi- precedent to love. And aren't children both superiors at CBS News were satisfied as to torial process might serve to safeguard the the best expression of love and its greatest its accuracy before giving it an hour and a interests of readers and the University and occasion? half of air time on a Saturday night in help to bring about full and fair examination And thanks for a new and much better January. of University research attacked in the impression of Mike Wallace. Gazette without giving the researchers an NELSONF. HINE,'42 W opportunity to convey the facts or respond Schenectady, N.Y. in the same issue. Those illusions were A Proud Cousin shattered when the editor refused to con- TO THE EDITOR: sider reports of the actual research discussed Congratulations to those responsible for in the Gazette, taking the position that he Mike Wallace's Fitness the Award of Merit given to Paul F. Miller, must be "neutral" in what he judged to be a TO THE EDITOR: Jr. [February Gazette]. Along with all "the squabble between a Gazette author and a "Gazetcetera" in your March, 1982, issue brothers and the sisters and the aunts," may University researcher. All other efforts to comments on the flap over Mike Wallace's I, too, bask in the reflected glory by addlng obtain some editorial satisfaction in the fitness as an Ivy Day speaker in considera- myself as a cousin? He was born to my interest of our project, the Gazette, and its tion of his ethnic slurs. His numerous cousin while 1 was in college, so I am proud readers, also failed. Therefore, this letter is demonstrations of dishonesty in reporting to claim him as my "first cousin once re- not really addressed to the editor, either. make him an even more reprehensible guest moved." And now, 50 years later, I shall This letter is addressed to the readers, on our campus. return to the campus for my half-century alumni and members of the campus com- The 60 Minutes program, on which he is Class Reunion this spring. munity, who still believe that their magazine a featured star, is very entertaining and RETTYTHOMPSON BLACKBURN, '32 Ed should be an authoritative and well-authen- many of its "disclosures" have enabled it to Philadelphia ticated critical organ of news and opinion achieve a high rating in TV watching. How- serving the interests of alumni and the Uni- ever, there have been instances where the versity. I ask them to suspend that belief program content has been steered to arrive until it becomes warranted again. at a preconceived conclusion, and Wallace Five More Men In the meantime, I can only hope that has been responsible in several of these. TO THE EDITOR: publication of this letter will go a small step Probably the most recent example was the I must reply to President Hackney re: the toward restoring the Gazette's tarnished January 23, 1982, program entitled "The part of women in Penn's Affirmative Action editorial integrity. Uncounted Enemy-A Vietnam Deception." Program [February Letters]. GEORGEGERBNER This purported to present evidence that The president claims there is no need to Philadelphia General William C. Westmoreland launched mention women specifically in Affirmative EDITOR'SNOTE: In publishing "The a conspiracy in 1967 to conceal intelligence Action for Penn. This brings to mind the Storytellers' Dilemma" (an excerpt from a estimates from President Johnson and the legal arguments that have successfully book by two alumni who write for tele- American people that the enemy had twice worked against women seeking protection vision), Dr. Gerbner's first letter, the as many men as had previously been re- under the Fourteenth Amendment because authors' response to that letter, and, now, ported. The interview with the General was we are not a "suspect" class. continued on page 8 PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE W Violence 3

By Cristine Russell WashlngbXI PW WM Violeace on te~eoisioncan ~eahto - aggressive hhavior hy cld$ren an$ t&el-agen dm watdi prognrms, according to a government review (g a the lad decade of research on this Iongdebated topic. 'Television and Behavior," a new report from the Department at

The report, which was : by the National Institute of Mentat . Health, supports the prelim* Fidings d a contrmrd IN2 h-": gecm General's Saienbific .kh&my I !Committee study on telmid de- . lence, The earlier suggestiorts of a - Link between vioience and & " have been "significanMy strength- .. end since tben, tlta report con- :: tend& 4 Y~lOmorayearsof~-; the couaem among mast of tb /. dcammunityisthatviolence ,: an television does lead to aggressive .; behavior by children and teen-agera -4 who watch the p~~Psap -,- carefully worded updats Epmt " Calling television a ~ntibr$ , d ente- the mw repor4 . fdth&ttBbptxcmb@dpm- -: gmxmcoa~~hp-.; mabed eabtntiallg the sagle dm tltepa&decadaandt.E8tW~thir period "there also hae been mom : videacson~8&&pm- $ i3m-mthaaoaPrimstiaetalevL * *. , .- THE NEW YORK TIMES, THURSDAY, MAY 16, 198: I I

An 'Overw,&lming',.- . Violence-TV Tie I and ~errycart& and Three Stooges thkory is tbaf violent behavior.is ac- .. ROBERT REXNHOLD co~eswere stlll widely shown as - quired Rwn television much the way " renrn~with the proliferation of cable that mtive and soda1 skill: are television. learned from siblings, parents and He did not ref? to the effect of such friends. shys as "Kojak," "Hi11 Street cJAttitude change. Studies show that behavioral effects of television vi- Blues" and "Starsky and Hutch," chUdren who watch telwtsw heavily ing has concluded that the& is now which hhlre many ~cenesof vio- am more suspicious and distrustful ."overwhelming" scientific evidence. i. lence and which have had a wide fol- and tend to think there is more vio- that "excessive" violence on televi- lowing. lence in the world than do others. One :@on leads directly to aggression and ' ih New Yo&, the Nsrtional Broad- study found an increase in uruvliness ":violent behavior among children and casting Company said its staff had - among black youngsters after viewing -gem. fada number of "inaccurate state- "Roots," tbe televised version of the ..- "The conserisus among most of the ments" in the Government report and book celebrating the resistance of reseamh community is that violence uredicted that Indemndent social sla- in Amerim. en television does lead to aggressive *scientists wddchall&ge it. The net- 9ArousaI process. This theory ex- behavior by children and teen-agers work dted a studv bv NBC. mentimed amiws physiological arousal result- who watch the programs." the report in tl~report, tdat -reach& opposite ing from dtmsing violent episodes. ,says. It adds with emphasis: "ln mag- ~~~lclusions. QJ~stifi~atioionprocesses. This nitude, television violence is as The Feaeral report, which focused holdsthat persons who are already ag- strongly cxlrrelated with aggressive an entertainment programming gressive find justification for their behavior as any other behavloml Mlri- ' rather than news, was based not on behavior by watching favorite televi- able that has been measured." new reseafih but on abcut 2,500 stud- sion charactkrs. The question now, it said, is no ies and publicati~ll~since 1970. So far The report spoke of television in longer whether the link exists .but. awesome terms, calling it a "beguil- what explains it. ing" instrument that has become "a major stxi- The report, prepared by the Na- Noting that the level of violence agent of American tional Institute of Mental Health, was shown on children." It suggested that it had the .meant to update the 1972 Surgeon television had fluctuated_- potential - so far largely unrealized on That over the yeam, the Federal dysis of doing much good, such as in pro- General's reoort the subject. nevertheless concluded that "televi- . - report was tkntative, concldhg that remains moting health and nutrition, aiding while there was some evidence linkinp: $ion a violent form of enter- education and improving family rela- television view to short-term. ag tainment." tions. was Al- it said that the link be- prepa~A psion, it rmclear whether it tween telmisim gnd violence was The report. under the di- ., Mrnof David Pearl of the mental had any long-run maquences. The "obvious," the report conceded else- new report says that such hesitancy is where had been heal@ imtitute, is titled "Television no longer warranted, calling televi- that the link not and Behavior: 10 Years of Scientific sion prwed amclusive1y by any single Implications for the "a formidable educator whose ef- dy.Rather it said there was a "am- Pmgress and fects are both pervasive and cumula- many Eighties." Only Volume 1, the sum- tive." wqpnce" of from mary, is available, for 55, fmm the studifs, "the great majority of which Printing Mssaat From hhwtry demomttate a -positive relationship Government Office, Wash- between tagton,D.C. 20402. i The report drew irmjnediate dissent televised violence and later - fiom the broadcasting industry. aggressive behavior." Sham Sheehan, a spokesman for the As an example, it dted a five-year National Association of BrOadca&el%. study of 732 children that found that said tbat the industry, recOgnkhg the problem, had already moved to ' screen violence out of new children's the total amumt of television viewing. programs. However, he said that.-" Two other studies followed 3- and many older programs high in vi&.- 4-ymr-olds for a year and umelated lence, such as Bugs Bunny and Tom . their behavior at day-care centen with home televisian viewing. The studies fwnd a stmag amociation be tween heavy viewing of violent pm a grams and "uuwarr+ed" aggres- sion durlng play.

AIso dted were shdles showing an incl.ease in verbal and physical ag- 'gtessionamang children after televi- sion was introduced into their ccrm- mudties. In contraat tbe report cited wbat it called a "WxhnicaUy sophisticated" study by NBC in which measurements of agpssioil among panels of ele mewand ht-1 students weretaken sfx times over three years. The results showed some short-term effect of television viewing on aggres- sion but m lasting influence. The Federal report dismissed this , finding, saying that a decade's am- rnulated~tothemtrarywa~ "wem~m." The report cited four Mesto ex- plain the puqmred violence W: !HWervational learning. The -. - ----1

. , . C .. ,. . .- L6 elevision did have an ei- mah sb hfg'h, dgipite liiex~rabl: fekt on me right from the mount in^ evidence that violence on beginning. In first grade, television begets violencein mil life. f I was a member of a four- Two weeks ago, the Federal govern. kid gang that went ment released the, most compelIIn& around irnitat:hg TV Westerns. We'd pmof yet. A National Tnstltute of Mer& ' ,disrupt class to play out scenes, pick- tal Health study,surveying 10years oi ing up chairs and hitting people over independent scientific research, corn' the head with them - except, unlike cluded that there is now "ovenvhelm~' on TV, the chairs didn't break, the ing evidence of a causal relationship kids did. Finally, the teacher called between vfolence on television and: my parents in and said, 'Obviously, later aggressive behavior;" The rq. he's being influenced by these TV . port also cited other potential effects: shows,.and if he's to continue in thts , of substantial exposure to televised. .class, you've got to a$ree,not to let violence, including mistrust, . fear,; , him watch television anymore.', So, aliination; paranoia and 'a distorted: ] from first to second grade there wa? a view of reality.. dark period during which 1 didn't But while Mr. Tartikoff is surpri& ' watch W at all. And I calmed down '. ingly candid .about how televised vi6; I . and the gang broke up,," - lence influenced !iis childhood behav.; What's ngtsble about this memory lor, NBC, has ,not made substantlaUy- I 1s that it was recounled, in the course , more effort than either ABCor CBS to; of a PIayboy interview this month, by. reduce the level of violence on its pro-: Brandon Tartikoff, president of NBC.' grams - even .those aimed at. chil-:. . ' For it Is top'ranking network execu- dren. According to Dr. Gearge Gerbri-. tives who have long permitted tha er, dean of the Annenberg School oT, level of violent .prograrnming.to re- Continued on Page 31 , .._.-, ; nq~edup.no link betwen televised vlolence and later ag-' gression. (Even thatstudy, however, fomd that televised . violence did have a short-term effect on viewer behavior.) ABC and CBS have since mounted similar attacks on the credibility of the NIME study. In truth, network executives are well aware that televi- The Networks; sion has a remarkable capacity to influence behavior. As any candid network executive will acknowledge, television exists first to sell its advertisers' products and only sec- ondarily to provide entertainment and information. That television teaches is self-evident. A child parked in front of. : And Vio a television watches a commercial for corn flakes over and . . .-- -. ''-- ' over and eventually begins to ask for that brand. Most re- continued from Page I . searchers agree that young chlldren don't make clear dis-. tinctions between comxnercials and programs. It is not Coinmunicetions and &e of the ieading researchkriin the' surprising, therefore, that when a child repeatedly area, the level of violence on all of network television has, watches characters on shows beat each other up, his incli- remained relatively constant throughout the past decade nation is to imitate - just as Mr. Tart&off says he once :- an average of five or six acts of violence per hour in . did. prime time, and an astonishing 26 to 28 per hour on Satur- The problem is not that the average network executive Is :day-morning children's cartoon shows. . interested ttl inciting violence. Rather it,is that he works in e a. a system where the qukt for profit nearly always comes The notion that 'televised vio1.ence leads to aggressive first. If a show works - meaning that it attracts a large' behavior was first publicly voiced in Congressional hear- audience - all other considerations become secondary. ings held by Senator Estes Kefauver in 1954. Similar con- The fact that a show is unusually thoughthl or intelligent clusions were reached by the National Commlssion on the gives it no special status at the networks. "Lou Grant" and "Taxi," two of the most highly regard& shows In recent Surgeon ' Causes and Prevenfion of Violence in 1969; by the this General, in his "Report on TV and Social Behaviar" ui seasons, were canceled spring after experiencing 1972; and by Dr. Willib Belson of the London School of modest-declines in the ratings. Nor were they singled out. Economics, in a major study commissioned by CBS and Hi,ghly violent shows, such as ABC's "Strike Force" and completed in 1973. In 1977, the American Medical Associa- "Today's F.B.I.," were also canceled because'they did tion called on broadcasters to reduce televised violence, poorly in the ratinj$s. Neither the quality level nor the vio-, citing it as a "threat.to the social health of the country." lence level had anything to do with those decision4. It's Tne nesv NIMH reportis different oniy in that it takes into commercial success that counts.. accomil: more evidence - some 2,500 studies on television 9 a 8. and behavior during the past decade - and states its con- Network executives'who'are trained and rewaded only clusions abut telewsed dolence more forcefuily than ar.y for success In a narrow commercial rlinge have little' previous,inquiry. . <, Impetus to concern themselves with the more coinplex ef- Histoncaily, theneworb have reacted to evlaence link. .. fects of the programs they put an. But,while a social can- ing television and-violence by denying,. disparaging or science may not be necessary for an executive in the as- otherwise attempting to discreriit it. Indeed, network exec- phalt business, its absence among television exemtives'b. ut!ves find themselves today in much the same position ' " &use for serious concern. that tobaccc-industry executives did 15 years ago. As evi- '. To an executive with a broader vision, the evidence that dence mocmted'that smoklng 'Increased the likelihqod of televised violence may have insidious effkts on young' cancer, heart disease and.other serious maladies, tobacco, -, viewers should be reason enough to reduce it. Nor is there spokesman were reduced to disputing small -scientific much to. be gained by quibbling about what constitytes a points in ari effort to dlver-t attention from the larger violent act. As Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once emergicg truth; So, too, the networh reaarly attack ths . said about pornography, "I how it when I see it." Vjo- methodology of studies li,*ng television viewing and vio- Ience has a place in drama; it's unnecessary,violence that lent behavior, question the biases of individual research- .does not, That lncludes gratuitous violence - the sox-t,de ers and hjst that there is no single piece of evidence that signed merely to arouse a reaction, rather than to legiti- ,mequlvc+ly makes the case against teletrisedviolence. mately advance a story; glorified violence, where inflict- Such hh5 been the networks' reaction to the new NIMH ing pain and suffering is depicted as acceptable, rat5er study. NEC was the first to attack the Government fkd. than tragic at best and sadistic at worst; and excessive hgs, $2.Tartikoff's childhood memories notwithstand- violence, In wMch the level depicted Is all out of proportiox Fng. la an ws!gned statement, the network cited anumber to the of ordinary experieace. of uapcified "inaccurate statements" fn the report and Not even the most single-minded network executive has .cot& that its own study, due for publication thfs fall, had suggested that such violence has a positive eifect on view- c- .'en.The only platisible expIanadon for the continuing ex- ' -' :.textured&latiomhips between people, tk mkhg laugh 7 piaitation of .violence at tke networks is that it attracts , simply by being my. viewers. But clear evidence. also exist:!that ~olenceis npt - . Television is a powedd tacher, and its effects can cut:. crltlcal even to ratings success. Amo& this season's 10 . : ways. just as ~t now serves, in its lahpi& mG toprated series, for example, only olle featured any sig- . ments, to encourage aggression and violence among young ' 'Nficant amount of violence. The two highest-rated,serIes - ., Yiewers, so it could be used, with equal power, to corn- :were "Dallas" and "60 Minutes" and seven of the eight mdcate values such as generosity, sharing md Wg. . - onhen were situation comedies. The exct?Ptlon was "The What that requires 1s a few television executives who afe Dukes'of Iiazzard," and there the Wolence cpnsists mostly .willing to stop nitpicldng about the evidence linking televi: . of car.crashes rather than phystcq1 confrontations. . sion to violence and concentrate on fwhloning programs It is amdn'g the middle-rated and generally least ad- that rely on other dramatic devices. And since Mr. Tarrik, mired television shows'that violencl; Is most epidemic. off has already acknowledged the effect of teledsed vi~ That makes curious sense, for~violencefs generally the lence on his own childhood behavior, perhaps he ought tc - ' last refuge of the unimagfhative. Writing a gfisly si-~oot-out set dm pace, at NBC, by translating his experience Into ao scene is plainly 'easier thak creating drama out of subtle, , tion. - . . OlWTHE~NSQENQPV~SOaETY wrbmnarmd VOL 74 i :%tVc,%"h* W", C/{qlqqA Can children I learn creativity by watching TV? Experts who warned of violence also see ways parents can help By Robert M. Press Staff correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor Atlanta What is happening to children who sit in front of the family television for some 26 hours a week - the national average for chil- dren ages 2 to ll? Do they become more aggressive after seeing violent programs? Do the many hours of viewing slow their learning or speed it up? How does it affect the way they (and adults) view others and society? A new round of debate on these questions has been stirred by a recent report by the Na- tional Institute of Mental Health on televi- sion's impact on behavior. Most attention so far has centered on the report's statement that evidence is "overwhelming" that tele- vised violence causesaggression in children. Experts in television research interviewed by the Monitor indicated they agreed with these findings. But besides probing the question of televi- sion violence, a largely ignored portion of the report explores how television affects chil- dren's imagination, creativity. learning, and emetions. and how television can make or break stereotypes. The study calls upon parents to help their children become more critical viewers of tele- vision, and help them separate fantasy from . reality. For example, the report cites research showing that watching violent programs and cartoons is tied not only to aggressive behav- ior among children but to less imaginative play. But television can "enhance" a child's imaginative play if an adult watches with the child and helps interpret what is happening. Parents should recognize that "television is not just entertainment or innocuous use of time," says Eli A. Rubinstein, a research pro- fessor at the University of North Carolina's school of journalism and one of the consul- tants for the report. "Television has a profound effect on the way our children learn," says George Gerbner, another consultant on the report and Dean of the Annenberg School of Cornrnunica- tions at the University of Pennsylvania. These and other researchers interviewed called for changes in TV programming to *Please turn to Page 15 /Canchildren learnto be creative by watching television?

1 make television a better educational tool, placing more violence" afterexposure to television violence. decline commensurate with increases of television-viewing emphasis on society's best traits and less on negative ones. CBS disputes the finding, saying the research methods times," the report states. They want to see women in less stereotyped roles, to have used were not sound. But Dean Gerbner, who has done many In one study of students, heavy television viewers began more working-class and elderly people portrayed. less alco- studies on TV and violence says that the researcher was a reading more than light viewers. The heavy viewers read hol used,and less violence, in what they call a truer reflec- teacher of methodology and that the study was not faulty. mostly stories about families, love, teen-agers, and television tion of American life today. (About 90 percent of all research on television's effects on and movie stars, while the light viewers preferred motk sci- But TV network officials said in interviews that televi- viewers hasbeen conducted since 1972, when a surgeon gen- ence fiction. mysteries, and nonfiction. sion'smain role is "entertainment." eral's report found ".fairly substantial experimental evi- Gerbner says the report shows heavy television watching "Television is not supposed to be a true reflection of sod- dence" that TV violence caused short-term aggression in may slow down a bright child but help others develop intel- ety," says GeneMater, senior vice-president of CBS Broad- some child viewers. The new report summarizes that lectual skills. cast Group. The main aim of television is not eddcation, but research. Children and adults learn poor eating habits from seeing "entertainment," he said. NBC is preparing to publish the results of a largescale so much snack and junk food eaten on television, according to "I'll go home after a day and riding the [commuter] study it sponsored which found no link between television the report. And "alcohol consumption is common; it is con- railroad and I'll have a snack and say to my wife: 'I'm going violence and children over the three-year time period stud- doned and is presented as a part of the social milieu." One in to [to watch TV],' and I want to laugh. I'm not there to be study estimates a child daily views at least 3.000 episodes of informed, to be instructed," said Mr. Mater. drinkh a vear. Avoiding negative stereotypes is a good goal, but "it gets TV &biwts rarely use seat belts when they drive, some- complicated," said J. Ronald Milavsky, vice-president of Parents can help their children thing one ABC official thinks should be corrected. newsand social research for NBC. understand between fact and fantasy What some viewers may see as a stereotype sometimes and the implications of what they see. TVANDTEIEFAMILY reflects what is actually happening in society, and therefore Except for cartoons on Saturday, there are few daily or is appropriate to includein the program, he says. weekly childrens' programs. Peggy Charren, president of Recasting the role of television the way some social re- Action for Children's Television, in Newton, Mass. is suing searchers would have it "can't be done." said Mr. Milavsky. ied. Researchers monitored violent television shows and the the Federal Communications Commission to try to get it to As for the report's finding that television violence is behavior o[ a group of elementary students which viewed require more children's programs. ctearly linked to aggression in child viewers - something all them. "We wouldn't put up with a public library that has only three networks dispute - ABC's director of community rela- Professor Rubinstein finds no fault in the methods used in comic books, but we're putting up with that on TV," she says. tions, Jane Paiey, contends such studies are not "conclu- the NBC study but says: "Not finding a positive result is not a An ABC official notes that the network periodically runs sive." Violence among child viewers is "due to the people in denial [that there may be a result]," that is, a Link between children's specials. Meanwhile, ACT charges that children their life - not the television in their life," she said, but did televised violence and aggression. NBC's Milavsky agrees usually watching programs made for adults. not supply any study tosupport her statement. but says "This is not just an ordinary study. It's not just a What parents can do, according to the NIMH report, is Findings from the report, along with comments from matter of not having an effect.' help their children understand between fact and fantasy and some of the researchers, include the following: CBS's Mater criticizes the new NIMH summarizing report the implicationsof what they see. for a "remarkable degree of unfairness." They can limit viewing time; encourage viewing of some TV ANDAGGRESSION "They present the verdict 'guilty,' and sometime later programs and discourage others; watch with the children. The lightening rod of the National Institute of Mental give you the evidence," said Mater. Volume 2 of the NIMH interpreting when necessary ; discuss the programs with Health's (NIMH) report is the finding that ties televised vio- report, which will include details of the reports upon which their children. lence to aggression among children. Even cartoons were Volume 1 is based, will not be ready for release until later One teacher, the report says, sat with some preschoolers found to be aggression-inducingamong young viewers. this year. Dean Gerbner says none of the reports the sum- guving guiding comments such as "That boy is in trouble. He "The research question [on the link between TV and ag- mary volume is based on are new. But Mater says some of is playing hookey and that is bad" - helping the cWen gression in children] has'moved from asking whether or not the reports are not readily available. understand the implicationsof what they had seen. there is an effect to seeking explanations for the effect," the (The report is entitled, "Television and Behavior: Ten report states. TV AND LEARNING Years of Scientific Progress and Implications for the "Hundreds of studies" find that televised violence causes A somewhat less clear link is shown by the report between Eighties. Vol. 1 : Summary Report." Single copies may be achievement and television viewing habits at various ages. 1aggression among children, while only a few studies find oth- ordered at no charge while supplies last from the National erwise, says Dean Gerbner. "Among young students up to about the.eighth grade, Institute of-Mental Health, Room 11-A21, 5600 Fishers &,me, One study supporting the TV-aggression link was funded those who watch television about an hour or two a day get- Rockville, Md. 20857; or at $5 each from the US Government by CBS. It found that teenage boys in London, according to higher scores on reading than those who watch less televi- Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents. Washington, T ' the boys' accounts, were more likely to engage in "serious sion" - but after the eighth grade "reading smes begin to D.C. 20402. , THECHRISTIAN 'SCIENCE MONITOR Wednesday,June 16,1982 Highlights of NlMH report say

1it's what a child watches on TV Atlanta duced to [a Canadian town], its children's ver- TVand aggression: bal fluency scores on standarized tests de- "Children learn from watching television creased significantly.. . . and what they learn depends on what they "Television may replace activities, such watch. as reading, that are known to stimulate "If [children] look at violent or aggressive imaginationand word knowledge. programs, they tend to become more aggres- "After they watched Sesame Street with sive and disobedient. But if they look at special inserts of nonwhite children, a group prosocial programs, they will more likely be- of 3-to-5-year-old children preferred to play come more generous, friendly, self- with nonwhite children. Children who had not controlled. seen the inserts did not show these "Children who watch a lot of violence on preferences." television may come to accept violence as normal behavior. TVand society: "Children in preschool who often wakhed "People who are heavy viewers of televi- - -- sion are more apt to think the world is violent - - than are light viewers. They also trust other I 'Two years after television people less and believe that the world is a - was introduced to [a mean and scary place. By Daniel S. Brody "Television has become a major socializ- Parents should teach children to become 'critiil' viewers, study says Canadiin town], its ing agent of American children. I children's verbal fluency "There are more men than women on en- SCOT- on standarized tests tertainment television, and the men on the average are older. The men are mostly strong Network officials reply to the report significantly. decreased . . .' and manly, the women usually passive and Atlanta the household?" - CBS feminine." I On TV and aggression: "We have as much on as the audience will "The evidence [linking TV violence and Support." - NBC cartoons with a great deal of violence were TV and the family aggression among child viewers] is not over the most aggressive. "Family gatherings by the fireplace or at whelming." - NBC On TV,sterotypes, andsociety: "If children see a television character re- the dinner table now seem to have given way "Ultimately violence on 'IT may give a "We're in an entertainment media in warded for aggressive behavior, they will to gatherings in front of the television set. thief . . . a new mousetrap, but I don't believe which fantasy has a role . . . In the end, televi- probably imitate that behavior . . .The per- "Parents do not exert much control over it will stimulate a noncriminal, nonviolent sion is a very democratic process. The shows sistence of the behavior, however, seems to television viewing in most families. person to action." - ABC people like survive and the ones they don't go be related to the children's own reinforce- "Parents, teachers and older brothers and "There are five or six other good studies off the air." - ABC ment, in other words, if the children them- sisters are probably most important in deter- [showing televised violence does not cause ag- "We've been concerned about these same selves are rewarded or punished." mining television programming effects on gression among children]." - CBS issues for a long time." - NBC children. "There's a great tendency to feel we [the networks] can do more than we feel we can." / TV and education: "There are indications of rising parental On children's programs: "Two years after television was intro- concern." - R.M.P. "Are we supposed to be the third parent in - CBS - R.M.P..!s THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, JULY 11, 1982 ------EDUCATI-ON ------LY - - -11 - - .- - -- - E,

Announcing a Program and Positions in Cornrnunications Policy Studies in Washington, D.C.

The Annenberg Schools of Communcations (University of Pennsylvania and University of Southern California) are extending their programs through a facility in Washington, D.C. The new program will concentrate on teaching and research in communications policy and related areas. Faculty will be members or affiliates of the existing faculties and degree candidates will be regular students of the existing graduate programs of one of the two Annenberg Schools. Theextended program, complementing the resources of other Washington-area universities,will: offer graduate credit work in communications policy, including internships tor degree candidates; present professional development opportunities tor persons employed in comrnunicatlons regulation, management, and other policy-related activities; offer faculty from the U.S. and other countries academic development opportunities In a world center of communications policy activity; conduct research in communications policy, broadly conceived. A joint committee of the two Schools is conducting a search for staff including the head of the program, a director of professional studies, and other positions still to be designated. The allocation of responsibilities to these positions is still somewhat flexible, depending on the combination of skills of the persons filling the positions. In general, the head of the program, who reports to the two Annenberg School deans, will provide principal leadership for the program; help design, supervise and teach courses; work closely with other administrators and faculty in developing program activities, actively participate in research, and report on the execution of program activities. The head of the program should be a senior scholar with si~bstantialacademic and professional experience in communications policy studies. The director of professional studies (tentative title) will work with representatives from government and business in designing workshops, institutes, and other activities for professional development. Advanced academic qualifications and professional experience in communications policy roles are required. Send expressions of, interest, curriculum vitae, publications list, and names (but not letters) of referees as soon as possible biR not later than August 10th to: George Gerbner, Dean or . Peter Clarke, Dean The Annenberg School of Communications The Annenberg School of Communications University of Pennsylvania University of Southern California Philadelphia, PA 19104 University Park 90007 Los Angeles, CA \

The Universi?y of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California are Equal Opportunity Employers. Minorities and women are encouraged to apply. 1TOP OF THE WEEK I--' '1I will bcgin olycring courscs in thc li~llof thc Washinglon arc;). ilntl nicrnbcrs of the 1983, helpctl scrvc as an oppostunitv li)r cornrnu~~ica~ionshi~r. T'hc ititcrn;~tional honoring the I'ountlcr of the .\nncnbcr~ cornnlt.~nitywas ;tlso rcprcscntctl. hy I l;~m- Schools-W;~llcr Anncntcrg. president of tly Knrttlil, director of UNI.:SCO's I>ivi- 'Triangle Publicoticlns Inc. ;~ndli~rmcr am- sion of t.'rcc Flow of 1nli)rmation ;tncl bassi~dorto Circat Britain. Comniunica~ionsI'olicics. Cieorgc Gcrbncr, dean of the f'cnnsyl- F('C Chairman Mark S. I:owlcr, who vania school. said thc progrilrn would not spoke at lunch following thc inaugur:~tion bc "a dcgree-granting ccntcr" but that he progrilni. said the progr;~~ii"will provitlc ;I hopes it will bccomc "a rn;lgnetv Ihr grcat rcsc:lrch tool." ant1 cxpresscd his research i~nclstudy projects. Its work will tlclight that "the priv;~tc scclor hi~sconi- focus on training and rcscarch ~:rojccts;~nd mittcd itself' to sce lo it that thc work of scholarship gocs on. in Wi~sliington. -- scminars aimctl at improving undcrsrantl- ing of thc politicill, ccononiic. social and whcrc decisions arc niaclc." Then. adtlrcss- Annenberg opens cultural conscqucnccs of' new conimun- ing hinisclf to Anncnbcrg. at a t;~blcIicar Washington school citations tcchnologics and policies. and at thc dais. R~wlcrs;iitl. "Your generosity in developing professionals in those areas. l'unding the first school. and thcn thc sec- Courses will begin in fall of The Washington-based program will be ond is legcntlirry. Your othcr grants ndcl 1983 at third Annenberg School more than national in scopc: it will ilddrcss luster." And he cxprcsscd thc thanks of of Communications; degrees will significant ir;ternational lclccommunicn- those in thc room. not be granted; instead school tions issues and assist Third World cou11~ In response. Anncnberg. will focus on research, study tries in developing cornniunications multimillion;~ire. said, "Whatever I'm capabilities. doing. I fccl obligated to do." 5. Amid an assemblage of important mem- Charles Z. Wick, director of the Interna- bers of the government. the communica- tional Communication Agency, said the tions industry and education, a new pro- program would help deal with what he said gram for the study of telecommunications is "a paucity of knowlcdgeablc people in was inaugurated last Thursday in Wash- the esoteric field" or telccommunications. ington. "People in government are not know- It is to be an extension 01' the two exist- ledgeable in those vital areas," he said. ing Annenberg Schools of Communica- And Dr. Joseph \I. Charyk. president and tions, one at the University of Pennsyl- chief executive officer of Communications vania and the other at the University of Satellite Corp., said the program woul'cl , Southern California. And its purpose, as help develop an understanding of thc in- the deans of those schools and various terrelationship of the technical, economic participants at the inauguration said, was and social disciplines required for a tx.1~- to help ease what was described as a tery of telecommunications policy. serious shortagc of those in the U.S. who Others at the inauguration included are versed in the discipiines involved members afid staff of the FCC, State and in making telccommunications policy. Commerce Department officials, prcsi- The inauguration of the program, which dents of other universities and collegcs in

slon of the schools ol cornmul~rcdllcmsthey founded at the ~n~versltlesof Pcnnsylvan~a and Southerr1 Callfornla Show11 above, at the Cap~tolHill Hyatt Regency hotel, where Ihe program was d~ccussedw~!h 171errbc1sot gobernrnenl, ~ndustryand acadelnla are (I-r) Peter Clarke, dean of the Arinenberg School of Cor~irnun~cal~onsof USC James Zurnberge, pres~dentof USC. Walter ant1 Lenore Annenbcrg. Sheldon Hackr~cy,pros~dent of the MI- versrty of ferlnsylvailta, and Gmrge Gerhn~r,dean of the Annenbcrg sc!iool dl that unlver stty Study To Probe T.V. Religion1

Amw&.erg .... ReceivesY $165,0a&Gr~-. s- --A7 3 ' . By LEE SCHALOP tant questions." staff to determine fundamental J The Amenberg School of Com- A primary objective will be to recurring themes and identify 2 munications has received a $165,000 assess the effect of "religious pro- theologies, ideologies and research grant to study the effects of gramming on the social orientation perspectives the programs offer. religious television programs on of viewers," he said. , The second part is called a . viewers. The study will also seek to define "cultivation analysis." In this pro- [ the effect of the nationally syn- cess, poll takers conduct a survey ' The school will conduct the study, dicated religious broadcasts known sponsored by the Communication and gather information from local as the "electronic church." The study V Commission of the National Council viewers. will seek to determine if the elec- of Churches and the National The data, which will be processed tronic church is taking away from or Religious Broadcasters, along with by Arbitron Inc., is then combined 4 enlarging local churches' followings, the Gallup Organization to aid in with the data from the message , understanding the impact of he added. system analysis in an attempt to Michael Morgan, an Annenberg $ religious tele.crision on the lives of draw conclusions. IL 1 research specialist who will par- the people who watch it. Morgan said Annenberg received ticipate in the study, said this week the grant because it is, the school Annenberg School Dean George that the study will consist of two most qualified to conduct the resear- Gerbner said Tuesday the study is parts. ch. important because it is "the first ma- The first is a "message system" "We have the most experience for jor study of religion on television analysis, which , involves careful studying the effect of television," he and its impact on viewers." viewing of approximately 120 hours said. "Mofe important, we have Gerbner, who is one of four An- of religious programming by a staff been developing the theoretical nenbe'rg faculty members on the of highly trained "coders." paradigms for understanding the ef- research staff, said the study wilJ They apply an advanced coding fects of the media on contemporary seek to answer "a number of impor- system developed by Annenberg society ." ------

Leading tht! week I,,j -7

diversity. Gerbner dismissed variety "as na : always sought by the general group; Rather, one group max~mizesits favorit, choices while others just sclect out" what they prefer not to watch. Most important, the dean criticiled the QU BE-type of instant polling as "dangerous" and "the instrument of dictatorships." By carefully manipulating audience voting response. Gerbner explained, instant interactive response could "create crisis and provote response.'' Dr. Marvin warned about thedangcrsoi technology promises to provide "social dreams in action."with utopiaa~ailable't~ anyone kith the right equipment." Both beliefs. she said, are part olthe"technologi- cal fairy ta-le." Marvin's comments stirred continued discussion throughout the conference. The academicians warned tha~cable program ming must be socially valuable and ias concerned with profit-making if cabie is ever to realize its full promise. Weinblatt.in a point-counterpoint session with Dr. Gerbner. acknowledged "we are all fal!i- ble. . . but we do strive to be rnorpi Kay Koplovitr listens is Trygve illyhren addre,~esan assembly of people attending the business executives." - Women In Cbble conjerencr. Trygve Myhren. chairman of ATC.' brought thc two-day session toclose witha luncheon address and slide show. Pa)lni: homage to I he businessschool en\ ironmen? in which theconvention met. Myhrrn', key message was "cable will surbivc because tt'r I 'Cable h Context' a better buy than any of thecornpetitio~," Myhren noted that ATC has launchw several systems using STV. MDS an6 Industry executives, academicians use Women In Cable arena SMATV technology. Myhren dismissed to debate merits of cable low-power and DBS bccausc ":.om 6 technological standpoint, they just don1 NEW YOR K-"All fantasies bring their companies-- Warner Amex Cable Com- work." As for the others. however. ?.l\.hrer. consequences." munications; Jerrold Division of General presented chartsand graphs wht.;i!subs!aw The author of those words, Dr. Carolyn Instrument. Showtime Eniertainment, tiated his point that cabie wah Rare Marvin, assistant professor. Annenberg United Video and AmericanTelevisionand protita ble in t he long run. School of Communications, was attrmpt- Communications..-asking for both money Among M yhren's claims: Cable is b-rler : ing to put "Cable in Context." the stated and top management. In their speeches. because it's already in place. has a large goal of the two-day Women In Cable each chief executive undcrscorcd, in his current source for acquiring rxclusiw convention held Sept. 30 through Oct. 1 a1 own way. that cable was a viable form of programming. has two-way capab~lit)!h! the University of Pennsyl\,ania. Academl- entertainment and information. Each. others can't match and can create locai:& ciansand cahle industry leaders assembled however. also chose to. highlight some programming that is technolog~call!. ao: not to praise cable, but to. put its growth. signrficant concerns. feasible for much of the competi:i3n. changes and controversies into an appro- Hauser's keynote address highlighted Dollar value, houevcr. Ha5 hisstrungni priate setting for educated debate. four crucial points: Satellite program argument. Using figures for compan_i!r The crux of the discussions. asdefined by networks were economically viable: newly capital expenditures based on :iTC' Lucille Larkin. executive director of franchised metropolitan systems areequally involt.ement incable. MDS. DBSandS? Women In Cable, was to "focus on the viable; networks and systems can compete Myhrcn lablrd cable's total capiralc~s:;4 responsibilities of cable programming to very successfully against M DS, DBS, S'TV subscriber (non-addrrsmble)a! S543.6':. the consumer. society and the bottom line." or any other new dellvery service on the addressability. that figure rise5 !o969;.Yt By juxtaposing key speeches by five horizon; interactive cable-through care- for DBS. the cost per subscr~bcrmoun:sw industry chief executives (each of whom ful self-regulation- poscs no threat to 5860. MDS rated 5!20. Myhrei. notir. gave corporate support to the event with individual privacy. Hauser warned. how- that ATC's average investment per JI: $5.000 grants) with reactions from Annen- ever, that by makingthe franchising process scriber was only 5270 in 1982. addel berg and Wharton School faculty, Larkin and certain must-carry rules so highly "Cable is not vastly dihudtantaped aglr:. hoped the gathering would generate-hard- politicized. cable threatened to become not the new alternatives. And A1-C' i.i. itse!f,i' core analysis and share some real inl'orma- a businees but an ongorng civic pot-boiler. an extremely competiti\e pobition." tion between two professional groups." Mikc Weinhlatt. Showrirnc's president. Most compciling. rn tt.rnj\ oS\a!ue.w The keynoteaddress by Gustave Hauser, said cable can"nei~hersimpl~strcallylead or M yhren's figures on opcratingcosts. Cab head of Warner Amex Cable Communica- meekly reflect society. In I'act. we are was "low." at S129 per sub. u:th K?s tions, set the tone for the entire event. Dr. society. you out there. all ol us here." $136 and STV at $167. Myhrcn cr.rc?, Marvin. Dean George Gerbner and a host Cable's challcngc. he said. uas to market presentation with two points aiso !~d of other executives and academicians and program "at the highest prolessional scored throughout thc conlerence: 3 acknowledged cable's healthy arrival as a level." will make it(and makc II prot~tah!~)bw, technological drram conic true but also Dr. George Cierhner of the Annenberg without some internal rrnpro\emCL . suggested that the medium needs to takea School inststed that cable must he politi- "Let's face it." he concluded, "we ; long look at what it has wrought. cized "for better or worse" if it was to crummy customer scrrlce. I.et's do rh?.. Women In Cable"wrtit to I'ive cable respond fully to consumer needs. As for better." -Jean Bt-r~aniini3 . .

20 CableVlslon;%clober 18,1982 -- XRS. PA%3A!At.!!NG AND PERSOXAUTIES

Young adults desert I the Big Tree networks 1 Everybody's heard about the erosion of the networks' au- dience shares in prime time; now there's a report from an ad agency that pinpints the channelsitchefs According to Brwdcasting RTagezine, a demographic analysis by Doyle Dane Bernbach shous that the drop in network viei+-ingby young adults wumore drastic than the average decline for all age groups. Between the '8@'81 sea- son and the '81-'82 .s%%sgn, the study, ABC, CBS and NBC collectively lost 6 percent of their audience. But in the same period, 9 percent of adults, 18 to 34, de- .%Ted the networks. Looking at the larger 18-td4yearald age group, Doyle Dane Bmbach found an 8 percent deser- tion rate. In the 25-to-54 age group, there was a 7 percent fall off in netPiork tiewing If Doyle Dane Bernbach is right the figures confirm the ~l~im.5of "alternative" le1e~'kion rnarbfers that they're dealing prime-Gae's ?=in ?!ldk?.ce- young people with fat pocketbooks and long shopping lists. They're the adven-. turers in the marketplace. With alternative technologies from cable T'tl to direct broadcast satellites multiplying viewers' choices, expect Ulose network shares to contjnue dropping . . ,. /;. 7 .: .. , r 1.-' Cable TI7 i\iU bring us more of the me While more teletkion sounds like better television to jots of folks, plenty of others ayejust the opposite. Take pro- fwrGeorge Gerbner, dean of hnenberg School of Com- munications at the University of Pennsylvania Gerbner and his giaduate students document gratuitous violence, ethnic stereotyping and sex and age dixrimina- tion in prime time. He's turning his atrention to cable TV. "Cable tele\%ion," Gerbner says, "is likely to be just an- : other stall in the same, old supermarket, depending on the same sources of supply for its programs." Teleiision's two dimezions not cr;ough Camelot pl2yed HBO. And Soph!slicated Ladies is about '- 9 one-night live stand for sukrintion TV outlets in ., -.r - - likrt.: tL-4 U+3 "rpv*~ -- cl Philadelphia -, DECEMBER 1982

By Carol- Saline 1 The experts and the viewers rate Philadelphia's TV-news teams. I elcome to the wonderful world of the pink flam- W inen. NBC%&its neacock and PBS its Big ~ird,but WCAU has a pink flamingo-the bid that may well be the best syrn- bol of television news. The plastic flamingo stands on its skinny green legs by the desk of station manager Jay Feld- man. It was given to him years ago when he was a novice in TV news. With the bird came the admonition, "Never forget that your viewers are more likely to have a pink flamingo on their front lawns than a Mercedes in their driveways." It's no accident they call television Mass Media. And no secret that sitcoms, game shows and soaps cater to the taste of the mass audience. But the newsroom was supposed to be different, a sacred territory ruled by a loftier set of values. Back in the days when Ed Murrow and Fred Friendly held sway at the networks, news came under the heading "pub- lic affairs." Its purpose was to educate, inform and help view- ers make meaning out of the complex events that deter- mine the quality and direction of their lives. Not until news became a major money-maker did anyone dare look upon it as entertainment. Has success spoiled thb evening news?' You bet. The executives who run television news may talk about journal- ism, but they worry about rat- ings. The really big race isn't to capture the story but to score in the rating game, be- cause the bigger the audience share, the more a station can charge for advertising. -A30- second commercial on the No. 1rated Channel 6 news carries a $4,500 price tag. TV is, after all, a business. On the local level especially, profit, sta- tus-and sometimes even a franchise--ride on which news team wins the highest public approval. That's why the pink flamingo now nests in the newsroom, creating a very real

ILLUSTRATIONSBY GERALD KOLPAN TAPETKANSCRlPTlONS COURTESY OF THEVIDEO COMPANY,410 S. ~NDST. DECEMBER 1982 PHIIADELPHU 126 comct between the business executive's desire to attract viewers by giving the public what he thinks it wants and the journalist's desire to give peo- ple what they ought to know. Not that the masses are complaining. A survey con- ducted for TV Guide by Princeton's Opinion Research Corporation found that 60% of those sampled felt there was just about the right amount of local news on television, and 62% had a fair amount of con- fidence in the accuracy of local newscasts. The satisfaction pervaded just about every- thing: 65% found the news presented in a straightforward manner, while only 11%found it dull and 31% found too much emphasis on violence. As for the happy-talk format that sandwiches cheerful repartee between the fire and robbery reports, the audience loved that, too. Fifty percent ap- proved of the light touch; 32% said it didn't matter one .way or the other; and 15% disap- proved. There were, of course, some brickbats tossed. Blacks and young people tended to find that local news "gives too much attention to unim~ortantsto- ries." And folks 6ith high sa- laries and higher education didn't like the sensational slant in the presentation of local news. But these are minority views. Overall, the survey seems to be saying to local news, 'We like you just the way you are." So what's the problem? Simply this: In the same sur- vey, more than half the people named television as the one source they rely on to keep up with the news. Some 30%said they read newspapers, too, while just 2% turned to maga- zines for information. That means a majority of the public gets its perception of the world from a broadcast4fIen only 22 minutes long-that is con- sciously designed to present the news in as pleasing and enter- taining a manner as possible. Substance becomes the slave continued on page 128 HOW THEY RATE: THE VIEWERS SPEAK

he experts have testified. But the only opinion that really Tcounts in television is the public's. To find out what the viewers think of their news programs, Philadelphia Magazine commissioned RSVP Interviewing Services to conduct a tele- phone survey of a random sampling of 300 viewers. The sam- ple included 150 men and 150 women over age 18 throughout the eight-county Delaware Valley. The people spoke. Their favorite anchor was the one the experts also picked: Jim Gard- ner. And the news program people said they trusted the most was the same one selected best all-around news by our panel: Channel 6. We also asked the sample what was the single attribute they considered most important for a TV anchor, and nearly half chose believability. It seems we don't want just any Chicken Little coming into our living room to report the sky is falling in. The following are the survey questions and the percentage breakdown of the viewers' votes.

w Of the three local 11 p.m. N-news programs, which one do you I tnrstthemost? CHANNEL 3...... 11% CHANNEL 6...... 65% CHANNEL 10 ...... 24%

H Which one of the following news anchors do you think does the bedall-around job? LARRY K&NE ...... 23% DEBOMH KNAPP ...... 10% JIM GARDNER...... 59% DIANE ALLEN ...... 4% STAN BOHRMAN ...... 5%

H Which of the following do you think is the most important quality for a TV anchor? Appearance ...... 11% On-Air Deliiey.. 24% Three view of the news: (top] Jim Gardner and Don Tollekon share ...... Authority yet another laugh with limbo O'Brien; (left)the Channel 3 team ...... 9% with new player Howard Eskin (standingl; Deborah, Larry and the Believability ...... 43% Channel 10 gang (above]. Likability...... 13% HOWTHEYRATE: - += THE EXPERTS SPEAK ay White has packed a pas- Gardner 150 out ot a possible sel of television experience 200 points. Even Professor into his 40-odd years. He's Shayon (who found all the an- been an anchorman and news chors more or less plastic and director at WTOP in Washing- interchangeable) gave Gard- ton. He produced Wall Street ner the edge because, "He ap- Week for PBS and spent a year pears more serious and continued from page 126 at Harvard as a Nieman Fel- mature, and I suspect he writes of style. Make it siick and ghtzy low. He was editor of the some of his own stuff." In fact, with graphics that will grab and Washington journalism Re- Gardner is acknowledged as a hold the audience. Keep the view, which he left thls year to fine newswriter as well as pace fast and the tone upbeat. form his own cable-TV com- reader and writes a significant Hire talent with star quality. pany. His media criticism has part of the Channel 6 News. For years the eggheads, de- appeared in a number of news- Warren Richardson, our votees of The New Yovk Times Papers and national ma@- specialist on speech and deliv- and professional media critics zincs. We brought him to ery, called Gardner "impres- have denigrated television Philadel~kmdhadhimwatch sive in demeanor, good looks news, labeling it as little more the local news. "I watched all and articulateness. He has an than a picture and headline the tapes," he told us. excellent conversational style service. The potshots have in- ''Frankly, the @Y who came that's friendly but serious." creased as local news cover- across as the most believable, vision critic; Dr. Warren Rich- Our expert on appearance, age has expanded from the half- real, warm and credible was ardson, chairman of the Joyce Mantyla, described hour bedtime report of the '60s the old Eagles' end, Pete communication-arts depart- Gardner as "well groomed, at- to the two and a half hours of Retzlaff, who appeared in a ment at Villanova and presi- tractive, mature and credible. daily reporting of today. More commercial for United Way. dent of the Speech Commu- He's good and knows it but not doesn't necessarily mean bet- Philly is a nice town. It reaUy nication Association of Penn- in an arrogant way. We know ter. Even some of the people deserv~sbetter from its TV sylvania; Joyce Mantyla, vice it, too, because he makes the in the business have been frank news. president and fashion-mer- viewer a believer." about what the "expanded" lo- Of course we deserve the chandising director of Gim- In second place, with 126 cal news has meant. As Dan best. But are we getting it? To bels; Dean George Gerbner of points, was Deborah Knapp. Rather puts it, "It's more time find out, Philadelphia Maga- Penn's Annenberg School of Mantyla found her "energetic but not more news. . . . It's zine assembled a panel of ex- Communications; Robert and stylish." Richardson said, entertainment of a sort and too peas to judge the level of local Shayon, former Saturday Re- "She is articulate and well much chatter masquerading as -television news and to rate the view television critic and now groomed but almost too news." individual anchors, sportscast- an Annenberg professor. pretty." He considered it hard The snipers continue to ers and weathermen. We con- We divided the competition to take Knapp seriously and strafe the newsrooms, while sidered starting with the into two parts: the product and preferred Diane Allen, who the majority of viewers shows 5 o'clock news for evaluation the people. Using a scale of 1 came in just a point behind little inclination to revolt. So but decided it was cruel and to 5 (with 1, worst and 5, best) Knapp, in third place. While how does the Philadelphia TV- unusual punishment to ask any- the panelists were asked to Mantyla found Allen "safe news product rate? In an effort body to screen more than an rate the on-air personalities in rather than stylish in a non- to find out, Phila&&hia Mag- hour and a half of local news five categories: H appearance threatening way," Richardson azine put together a panel of at one sitting. Instead, we .delivery. credibity/author- said, "Men is very attractive national and local experts to randomly selected an 11 p.m. ity .likability. content. and gives me the sense she is evaluate the news on the three Monday-night newscast. We And now, the envelopes a no-nonsense person and what major channels and the people then provided the panelists with please. For best anchor, by a she says can be depended who present it. For compari- tapes of Channels 3,6 and 10. country mile, the critics upon." son, we commissioned a view- Because Channel 3 co-anchor awarded Action News's Jim In fourth and fdth ulaces were ers' poll to see how much the stan Bohrman was on special "experts" and "masses" differ assignment on October 4th, the in their opinions. See sidebars, night we taped, we provided pages 127 &129, for the results. each panelist with an additional The academics on our panel tape of Bohrman. and the DlCT found plenty wrong with news Eyewitness News Team. This chart r@yesents an overall evaluation of each show. The on television. "News is the For our ratings, we sought eight panelists were asked to use a scale of1 to 5 (with 1, wont most high$ scripted scenario a cross section of local spe- and 5, beso. The highest score possible was 160 points. Here's on the air, says Dr. George cialists and national critics to how the judges voted: Gerbner, dean of Penn's An- rate the news teams on every- nenberg School of Cornrnuni- thing-from the quality of their Content Reporting Set Graphic s TotalI cations. "It's fiction by journalism to the quality of their chal 25 31 C 30 26 -112 .. selection. They select the facts voices and appearances. Be- Channel 27 25 25 29 106 that fit the standard fantasy sides White the panelists are view of the world held by the Dr. David Rubin, chairman of 21 22 17 22 82 television viewer. The news the department of journalism itself must be cast, and the and mass communication at Panelists were given the following guidelines: presentation must have drama. New York University; Marvin Mix and of stories. Consequently, the spotlight fo- Kitman, syndicated .Re~orting: Quality and depth of infomation; reporter's skill and style. cuses on what is more salable television critic and columnist; .Set: Does it enhance Or detract rather than what is more sali- stuar- D. B ykofsky, the .Graphics: Quality and use of charts, Chiron and other electronic dazzlers. continued on page130 Philadelphia Daily News tele- live from Monaco on the fu- neral of Princess Grace, and at Channel 3 Stan Bohrman pe- riodically does the kind of se- ries he cut his teeth on as an investigative reporter. In the sports department, the critics proclaimed Channel 6's Don Tollefson the winner with 143 points. Considered by a number of the judges to per- sonify the all-American jock, Tollefson seems most appre- ciated for his straightforward and knowledgeable accounts of who did what on the field, and who said what in the locker room. Joe Pellegrino of Chan- nel 10 amassed 132 points to capture second place, with compliments like "compe,; tent," "sincere" and "warm. Channel 3's newcomer Howard Eskin dragged at third with 114 points. He has the least ex- perience on camera, and the critics thought it showed. They felt he knew his sports but called hls delivery "arnateur- ish" and said it "lacked au- thority. " The big surprise in the weather picture was a storm of bad reviews for limbo O'Brien of Channel 6. His one-of-a-kind kookiness, so popular with many local viewers, repelled the panel. O'Brien came in third with only 99 points, behind Channel 10's Herb Clarlce, who captured 136 points. Channel 3's Steve Baskenille, the new kid on the weather block, took second place with 115 points. Speech specialist Richardson found O'Brien's delivery "in- sulting to an adult, mature au- dience. His rate is too fast, and he chews his words." Panelist White called O'Brien "on the edge of silly. He's too glib and talks too fast. " By contrast, all of the panelists liked avuncular Herb Clarke. "If nothing else, he has more experience with the weather because he's older," said White. And Rich- ardson added, "He comes across like the expert from the Farmev's Almanac. I like his low-key, amiable delivery. " Fashion expert Mantyla thought Baskerville was "well dressed and personable" and that his charm was not ex- ploited to best advantage de- Lany Kane and Stan Bohrman, voice quality and articulation" work 10- to 1Z-hour days, and livering the highs and lows on with 119 and 117 points, re- to "acceptable, like white lately there is a push to get the temperature chart. spectively. Panelist Ray Whlte bread . . . not exciting, not a them out of the studio and into When it came to evaluating felt that Kane had great eye -lot of personality. " the field, where they must do the news programs on con- contact with the camera, and There's no question that the at least some reporhng, or look tent, reporting, set and graph- although his performance was cult of personality dominates foolish. ics, our panel of experts tended technically good, it was rather the selection of news anchors. Bill Yeager, Channel 3's largely to agree with the Ar- mechanical. Mantyla agreed. But unless you find it thrilling news director, says research bitron and the Nielsen ratings. "He seems a bit stwat times to be recognized in restau- confirms that people respect The fast-paced Channel 6 Ac- and is not always sponta- rants and supermarkets, the an anchor who can do field- tion News format was pre- neous." The comments on job is much less glamorous than work. That's why Channel 10 ferred in every category but Bohrman ranged from "good many people imagine. Anchors had Deborah Knapp reporting sWI racked up only 112 out of

DECEMBER US2 PHILADEL 129

------. a possible 160 points. Close to ten more stories than its lobby in its headqum.3 over- behind, in second place, came competitors. "There's no for- looking City Avenue has bee# Channel 10's Live at 11 with mula here," insists Alan Nes- remodeled into an airy, high- 106 points. Panelist White bitt, 6's news director. "We do tech newsroom. Its 100-per- thought that Channel 10 was have an upbeat energy and son news staff is the same size actually a bit superior. "The pace, and we believe we can as 6's (3 has about 80 people), best of an adequate lot," he deliver the same information and its consumer-news orien- called it. Panelist Richardson in 30 seconds that takes the tation is considerably heavier praised 10 for "its imaginative, other stations 50 seconds to than 6's. interesting set." Channel 3 do. " News directors at all three Eyewitness News limped in third Channel 6 is ubiquitous. Its stations say they are more ac- with 82 points. Nobody spe- mobile vans cover the Dela- tive in enterprise reportin2 than cifically criticized the station, ware Valley communities so ever before-digging for news continued from &ge 128 but nobody singled it out for thoroughly that even when instead of getting their stories ent." Gerbner, a nationalIy compliments either. other stations arrive on the kern the morning papers and recognized authority on the ef- While our panel's numerical scene, people are likely to re- wire services. In a more per- fects of television on viewers, ratmgs represent a fair judg- port that Action News was fect world, this kind of inter- worries that television news ment based on a single view- there first. pretative reporting and reinforces a world based on ing, they don't completely Channel 10 prides itself on improved content might be re- appearance. "News should be reflect each station's total consumer reporting, on the flected in the ratings. But for analytical, not merely visual. I news-gathering effort. In- special follow-up stories Deb- now, it simply doesn't matter can see the picture. Tell me deed, all three stations have orah Knapp does to update as much as the magic that what it means." specialties designed to woo yesterday's interesting news mesmerizes at Chan.net &a Indeed the first cornmand- viewers. Channel 3 touts its and on its seven-man close-up combination of casting and ment in this visual medium is award-winning investigative I- unit that daily files reports on continuity. Gardner, O'Brien thou shalt show pictures. But Team and its regular 5 p.m. the story beneath the head- and Tollefson work together too often the picture is flashed Team reports-a single news line. The phrase most re- as smoothly as the fingers of on the screen merely to create story attacked from several peated here is "the human side a hand, and they've been prac- a change from the anchor's face angles by a team of reporters. of the news." Station manager ticing for a long time. They and adds little to the viewer's Channel 3 is also the only sta- Jay Feldrnan favors sharp ed- were there when little Susie understanding. "Too much tion with a separate New Jer- iting and stories "that help got her braces, when she emphasis on meaningless pic- sey bureau and anchor. But people survive and cope bet- graduated high school and went tures and no emphasis on anal- even the news director Bill ter." He says, "We're trying off to college, and they'll prob- ysis and commentary, " barks Yeager concedes, "We have to drive the less significant ably still be gently joshing each Robert Shayon, a Peabody an inordinate amount of tech- trivia off the air and bring on other on the screen when she Award-winning television pro- nical problems, and some- more things of lasting value. It flashes her engagement ring. ducer, director, critic and pro- times our production lacks may take people a while to The regular viewers know fessor of communications at sparkle." His aim is "to pxo- recognize what we're doing, these people well by now and Annenberg. "What is the func- duce the kind of news that will but we're here for the long like them. They're family. In tion of a journalist?" he asks. have the viewer say at least haul. " the musical-chair world of "To report and illuminate the once during the broadcast, Right now 10 is aggres- television news, that kind of news so the viewer or reader 'Golly, I didn't know that.' " sively attempting to bite off a personal staying power means can understand the issues. And Channel 6 is king of the story chunk of Channel 6's market a great deal. Just ask Channel then to add to these facts some count. On any given night 6 is share and is spending a bundle 10 what happened when John meanineful context. What I miss likely to air anywhere from five to do it. The station's huge Facenda retired. mw in newgbr~adcastin~is thought or reflection about what has happened. They handle the news as entertainment. My God, I remember when the news didn't need to have mu- I..AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR EXPERTS sic." Nowhere -is the show-biz To put some words together with their numerical ratings of the mentality greater than in the TV-news teams, we asked our panelists to choose one adjective that best described selection of anchors. The same each of the newscasters they saw on the tapes. Here's what the experts wrote: W Guide poll that found peo- ple satisfied with local news also validated the belief that the MANTYIA RUBlN BYKOFSKY RICHARDSON KITMAN WHITE largest factor in determining ANCHORS what station viewers watch is Jim Gardner Smooth pro Cincinnati Kid Sincere Knowledgeable Selleckish Superficial the news anchors. That pref- man-about-town erence is no surprise to the Larry Kane Stilted Smug Square Nice guy Nobody home Mechanical execs who .do the hiring. As Deborah Knapp Energetic 25-watter Warm Desirable Wholesome Gorgeous Aarqn Sheldon, director of Diane Allen Pleasant Savitch-clone Frumpy Competent Cool Adequate comunications for CBS TV Stan Bohnnan Suburban Kiwanian Granite Authoritative Brutal Pompous stations recently observed, "Personalities are what get you WEATHERMEN into a home, because basically Jlrn O'Brien Outrageous! Snake Dopey Childish Wiseacre Glib all news is the same." Perhaps Herb Clarke Folksy Grandpa Avuncular My uncle from Avuncular Folksy that is what justifies paying a the country likable and bright fellow like Jim Steve Baskewille Nice-guy charm Earnest Eager Sharp Brotherly Loose Gardner $325,000 a year to sit SPORTSCASTERS in front of a camera five nights Joe Pellegrino Likable . Second-guesser Casual South PhiUy Sportswise Smooth a week and tell us what hap- Howard Eskin Neophyte Floundering Merry Hairdresser Hairy Callow pened that day. Or giving Don Tollefson Guy next door Ivy League Boy scout Personable, Aggressively Bland his able competitor Larry Kane intelligent jock young continued on page 192

130 PHIIADUFWIA DECEMBER I982

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1 NBC, TI0 respond to I 'Newsweek' article on Annenberg's Gerbner '? Professor's theory is that TV reality for viewers; network and association disagree and write letters to magazine

A long and complimentary article in the Dec. < 6 Newsweek on Dr. George Gerbner and his Y theories about how television distorts the out- 2 look and attitudes of viewers was beginning '> to attract uncomplimentary responses last $ week. Both NBC and the Television Information Office sent off replies. The nub of their let- ? ters: that social scientists, as well as broad- a cast researchers, have seriously questioned, if not denied, the validity of Gerbner's theor- ies. Gerbner, dean of the University of Pennsyl- vania's Annenberg School of Communica- tions, has reached the "ominous conclusion," in Newsweek's words, "that heavy watchers of the prime time mirror are receiving a grossly distorted picture of the real world that they tend to accept more readily than reality it- self." For example, in Gerbner's opinion, heavy viewers get such a dose of TV violence that they become more fearful of crime than reality justifies-and much more fearful of it than light viewers are. Bill Rubens, research vice president of NBC, wrote Newsweek that its article was "long on praise but short on dealing with the many questions about the validity of [Gerbner's] work. There are many social sci- entists who think that Gerbner's research does not support his specific contentions about television's influences." Rubens said that, "for example, Professor Paul Hirsch of the University of Chicago has reanalyzed Gerbner's data and found. . .that the relationship between watching a lot of television and being fearful of crime in the real world does not hold up when any two background characteristics of a person are controlled in analysis." On Gerbner's crucial contention, Hirsch found that it is not televi- sion which makes people afraid, but, for ex- ample, being elderly and poor. The TIO's Bert R. Briller, manager of cre- ative services, also cited Hirsch's work, and quoted him as accusing Gerbner of being "un- usually selective and arbitrary" in choosing data that supports his thesis and rejecting whatever doesn't. Briller also quoted Professor T.G. Kratten- maker of Georgetown University and Profes- sor L.A. Powe Sr. of the University of Texas as saying that Gerbner's theories "rest on in- tuitive judgments rather than empirical data" and that restricting TV's content based on Gerbner's hypothesis "would represent noth- ing other than regulation by intuitive hunch." Briller summed up: "Methinks Gerbner would impose his view on the rest of us and is presenting subjective criticism as objective research." LETTERS sion that makes people afraid, but, for ex- ample, being elderly and poor. Such people as naturalized citizens and aliens, apparent- are more fearful and also happen to watch Ted's Decision ly on the racist assumption that anyone of more television than most others. Hirsch Senator Kennedy's announcement that Japanese ancestry would automatically be also found that the very lightest viewers he will not seek the presidency in 1984 more loyal to Japan than to America. It is were just as fearful as the very heaviest, (NATIONALAFFAIRS, Dec. 13) is a severe important that we remember the true mag- which indicates not only that the relation- blow to millions of us who have set our nitudeof this outrage-especially now that, ship reported by Gerbner is spurious, but highest hopes on the possibility of his candi- as your article notes, anti-Japanese senti- that it didn't exist in the first place. An- dacy. No other candidate can fill the void ment is once more on the rise. other study, by Profs. Anthony Doob and left by aman ofsuch vision, compassion and ERICB. LIPPS Glenn Macdonald, has suggested that it is dedication to his country. Boylston, Mass. not TV violence but living in high-crime MONICAFRIEDLANDER neighborhoods that causes fear of crime. Berkeley, Calif. As a reader and teacher of Asian-Ameri- Your article suggests that the television can literature, I object to your association of networks are not critical of the Gerbner For one as anti-Kennedy as I have been writer Frank Chin with so-called "dualistic methodology. This is simply untrue; re- for so long, your article was both persua- identity." He neither subscribes to any mar- searchers at the networks have followed siveand humanizing. It was gratifying to see ginal-man theory nor suggests divided loy- his work closely since the early '70s and this side of Ted Kennedy portrayed, rath- alties; his is a vision of integrity and root- have consistently found that there was less er than the worn-out image of a power- edness born out of generations of expressly there than meets the eye, for both method- hungry, papa-driven politician. Maybe he is American history and experience. ological and theoretical reasons. at his best with those who count most in the Suz~WONG WILLIAMRUBENS world-his family. Los Angeles, Calif. Vice President, Research WESLEYA. BAKI RONMILAVSKY Colorado Springs, Colo. Discovering America Vice President, News and Research The U.N. General Assembly missed the NBC A father's decision, my eye. Since when boat in the debate about who discovered New York, N.Y. do politicians let family stand in the way America (NATIONALAFFAIRS, Dec. 13). once they've become hooked on the power Long before Saint Brendan, Leif Eric- Letters to the Editor, with the writer's trip? If Ted Kennedy could erase a few of his son or Christopher Columbus arrived, name and address and daytime telephone liabilities and be convinced he had a good what was later to be called America had number, should be sent to: Letters Editor, chance of winning, the presidential race already been discovered by people who Newsweek, 444 Madison Avenue, New would take precedence over everything else. since Columbus's time have been known as York, N.Y. 10022. Letters may be edited for It was purely a loser's decision, and a wise Indians. reasons of space and clarity. one. He has finally accepted the fact that he MARCANHETTEBERG would last about as long in a national elec- Southfield, Mich. tion as a paper shirt in a bear fight. MARKANTHONY Congressional Remarks Lubbock, Texas I notice that NEWSWEEKhas repeated an old canard about the relationship between Man of Heart the Jewish community and Sen. Ernest It's a shame that a portrait of Mohandas Hollings. It is true that, during a debate on K. Gandhi (SPECIALREPORT, Dec. 13) the school-prayer issue, Senator Hollings didn't make the cover of your magazine. referred in a jocular fashion to Sen. Howard Instead of depicting an artificial heart, Metzenbaum, who had just appeared on the you could have adorned your cover with floor to join the debate, as "the senator the creation of a real human heart-the from B'nai B'rith" (NATIONALAFFAIRS, peaceful face of a man who radiated com- Dec. 13). Earlier in the debate there had passion and warmth. In this technological been mention of the varying religions of age, Gandhi's political and economic theo- other members of the Senate, including ries are as applicable for furthering human Hollings's own, and it was evident to those progress as any scientific invention. who know Senator Hollings that there was JASONG. MURRAY no religious prejudice attached to his re- Westbrook, Maine mark. However, news reports at the time did not include the context of the debate. Asian- Americans This is an important issue to Senator Hol- Congratulations on your intelligent and lings personally; he has already generated perceptive profile of Asian-Americans (NA- considerable financial and intellectual sup- TIONAL AFFAIRS, Dec. 6). By depicting us port from the Jewish community in his cam- neither asa "model minority" nor as inscru- paign for the presidency, and this is a source table foreigners, you've reinforced the fact of pride to him. that we are a proud people who have helped MYERFELDMAN build and become America. Washington, D.C. WAYMANWONG San Leandro, Calif. TV's Influence ,X' There are many social scientists who The number of Japanese-Americans con- think George Gerbner's research (TELEVI- signed to "relocation" camps was far great- SION,Dec. 6) does not support his specific er than you reported--close to 120,000, contentions about television's influence. ranging from infants to the elderly and For instance, Paul Hirsch of the University including native-born U.S. citizens as well of Chicago has found that it is not televi-