wfn.org | UMNS# 053-'Off' switch may be best shield against indecency in media

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'Off' switch may be best shield against indecency in media

Jan. 21, 2005

A UMC.org Feature
By Tamie Ross*

The answer to the national debate over decency in the media might be
simple: Control the remote, lest the remote control you.

Turn the television off, some say. Others argue the media is too
pervasive to ignore. They demand programming changes, as well as heavier
penalties for those who violate Federal Communications Commission
decency standards.

Pressure behind both courses has built since the now-infamous Super Bowl
halftime show Feb. 1 that ended with singer Justin Timberlake exposing
Janet Jackson's right breast to millions of viewers. More than half a
million people filed complaints, driving the current wave of concern
about broadcast indecency.

Christian organizations and secular groups petitioned for higher fines -
from the current penalty of $27,500 to $550,000 per infraction - for
media outlets that break the rules.

But is media decency a faith issue?

"Everything is a faith issue," says Philip Patterson, chairman of the
Department of Communication at Oklahoma Christian University and author
of The Electronic Millstone: Christian Parenting in a Media Age.

"Scripture tells us to 'test everything.' I think that applies to the
media I watch," Patterson says.

Teresa Tomeo agrees - a realization that cost her a high-profile career.

Tomeo, of Detroit, anchored the evening news at a network affiliate,
delivering what she called 'the daily violence report.' But the
business, and the role she thought she had played in sensationalizing
violence and tragedy, took a toll on her once-solid faith.

"My relationship with God had been so strong, but I became very
secularized during the years I spent in the media, especially with the
success I had early in my career," Tomeo says. "I finally got the
wake-up call and realized God was pulling me out of it so that I could
work to change what was wrong. I got really tired of seeing faith left
completely out of secular media, or even worse, Christians made to look
bad."

Tomeo now hosts a morning radio show for a Christian station in Detroit,
as well as an afternoon talk show. She writes a weekly print column and
frequently speaks to people working toward media reformation.

Her Web site, www.teresatomeo.com, aims to empower people to change
their media habits, then the media itself. She encourages visitors to
pray for change, join letter-writing campaigns to network officials, and
boycott programs and advertisers' products when appropriate.

Her varied media experience puts her in a position to help bring about
change, she says.

"I've written a step-by-step guide on how people can change TV news,
Internet, print, video-game violence, radio - you name it.

"If this is, indeed, a faith issue, that faith has to be put into
action," Tomeo says. "You have to become active and vocal about it."

Children are the most at-risk, Patterson and Tomeo say. A recent study
by the University of Pennsylvania estimates children between the ages of
2 and 17 spend more than six hours a day in front of electronic screens
(TV, video games and computer).

For this reason, Patterson advocates literal control: using the "off"
button. He says the ultimate responsibility lies with the individual -
especially the parent.

"Until we get a handle on the amount of media coming into our homes, the
content doesn't really matter," he says. "It's not what you watch, it's
that you watch.

"We worry so much about Janet Jackson's breast when the real issue is
why our children are spending between four and six hours a night with
their computers and their televisions, most of the time in their own
rooms."

But getting a handle on what streams into homes can be frustrating.

Joe Halter says cable television offers more choices, but not all are
acceptable for his 14-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son.

"At our house, television and Internet time are public events, so that
we can monitor what they watch," says Halter, who attends the First
United Methodist Church of Glen Ellyn, Ill.

Halter and his wife, Kerry, limit their children's television time to
two hours or less per day. He says that's not hard, given that school
activities consume most of their time.

Tomeo agrees that cable television programming has complicated matters
in the past 10 years. The rules, simply put, aren't the same for
everyone.

"Many cable companies won't let you opt out of receiving certain
channels that are part of a package," Tomeo says, although proposals
allowing that are under consideration.

And because FCC standards don't govern cable television, networks feel
they must "up the ante" on programming to entice an audience, Tomeo
says. Additionally, she says the current FCC standards - prohibiting
indecent programming between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. - are too vague to be
meaningful.

A problem 50-plus years in the making won't be solved overnight, Tomeo
says.

"After the Janet Jackson incident, we started hearing from people who
had never spoken up before, and that was good. A few months later, and
'Desperate Housewives' is the top new show on TV," she says.

"You can never say, 'We've won' in an ongoing battle like this. Someone
always has their hand on the envelope, ready to push again."

*Ross is a freelance journalist based in Dallas.

News media contact: Matt Carlisle, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5153 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

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United Methodist News Service
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