wfn.org | 'Keypad democracy' an 'Orwellian nightmare,' says

[powellb@ucc.org]

former NBC News, PBS head
Sept. 17, 1996
Office of Communication, United Church of Christ
Hans Holznagel, (216) 736-2214, holznagh@ucc.org
William C. Winslow, (212) 870-2136, winsloww@ucc.org

'Keypad democracy' a new 'Orwellian nightmare,'
former NBC News and PBS-TV head says

      NEW YORK CITY -- The former head of NBC News and PBS-TV
said today that the electronic age is making democracy in the
United States more direct and less representative -- and
that's dangerous.
      "The Orwellian nightmare of a tyrannical government
holding all citizens under constant electronic surveillance
has been stood on its head," Lawrence K. Grossman told an
audience of 138 media-industry executives, religious
communicators and students.
      "Instead of Big Brother watching every citizen, in the
telecommunications era every citizen can now keep the nation?s
political leaders under constant electronic surveillance,"
Grossman said. He was delivering the annual Everett C. Parker
Lecture in Ethics and Telecommunications at The Interchurch
Center on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
      Instantaneous "keypad balloting" is on its way, Grossman
said, imagining this recorded message:  "Press 1 to vote for
Candidate A.  Press 2 to vote for Candidate B.  Press 3 if you
think we should go to war.  Press 4 if you think we 
should stay out.  Press 5 if you want more information.  Press
6 if you want to suggest which targets to bomb."
      Already, "daily polling, e-mail, 800 numbers, faxes, the
internet and call-in shows have exponentially increased the
daily contact that representatives have with their
constituents," Grossman said.  And, "despite the public's
perception of being ignored, the fact is that no political
move is made on any major issue without the politicians of
both parties first taking the public?s temperature."  In the
1990s, he said, the use of public opinion surveys and polls
has increased by 4,000 percent.
      The danger, he says, is that the U.S. is becoming an
?electronic republic? marked by "an excess of democracy, ruled
by a prejudiced, passionate, ill-informed, and, worst of all,
unchecked majority."  He cited a recent Washington Post poll
showing that only 24 percent of Americans can name their
senators, only 6 percent can name the Supreme Court's chief
justice, nearly half don't know that Newt Gingrich is Speaker
of the House. "Can such citizens be trusted to make sound,
sensible public policy decisions, when their ignorance is so
profound?"
      In an "electronic republic," Grossman said, the
constitutional protection of checks and balances will be
eroded and "a runaway majority can trample on the rights of an
unpopular minority."  Also, "there is the realistic danger
that those with the most money and greatest access to the
media can too readily manipulate public opinion."
      The electronic republic could be good for society if it
would combine representative government, as it is now, with
direct democracy, Grossman said.  But it will require citizens
who understand democracy, and their role in it, better.  "And
we can't simply rely on the marketplace-driven mass media to
do the entire job of improving the political knowledge and
sophistication of our citizens and the quality of democracy."
      Grossman proposed creating a "properly financed public
telecommunications trust fund for the 21st century."  The fund
would use an "advanced public telecommunications superhighway"
to, among other things, "produce meaningful examinations of
public questions, stimulate informed public discussions on
civic issues" and help increase education in how to be a
citizen.  "Americans should be taught from the earliest age
the fundamental requirements and responsibilities of
citizenship and the critical importance of fulfilling their
civic duties."
      He said the fund should be financed by selling and
leasing "unused commercial spectrum frequencies" rather than
giving them away.  "In this deregulated era," he said, "media
companies and others should pay at least a small amount for
the privilege of exploiting the publicly owned spectrum to
which they have been given access.  In the new digital age,
commercial broadcasters should pay a modest fee, say 1 or 2
percent of their revenues, for their increasingly lucrative
licenses to the public?s airwaves."
      In addition to delivering the 14th Parker Lecture,
Grossman received the annual Everett C. Parker Award, given to
"an individual whose work embodies the principles and values
of the public interest in telecommunications."
      The 1996 Donald H. McGannon Award went to Fred Zehnder,
news director of KTVU-TV, Oakland, Calif., for his long record
of hiring and encouraging women and people of color.  Named in
honor of the former CEO of Westinghouse Broadcasting, the
award goes each year to "an individual or organization in
recognition of special contributions in advancing the role of
women and people of color in the media."
      "To be sure, things have improved over the years,"
Zehnder said in accepting the award.  However, citing a recent
survey showing that more than 90 percent of TV news directors
are white, he said, "We have a long way to go."

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