All important criticism

Press, 4 December 1985, Page 18

All important criticism

[Review]

Ian Hutchison

Back from the land of late night television to its previously earlier screening time, last week saw the end of this year’s series of “Fourth Estate.” As television programmes go, it is good — sometimes very good. It is attractively and simply packaged. It is professionally produced and seamlessly taped. As such, its form does not outshine or detract from its content. And it is its content which is of prime importance. Within a deceptively simple format, it delivers some pretty complicated arguments and ideas about the media, about whether it is functioning and performing as it should. It is this critical aspect of “Fourth Estate” which signals it as good. Not only is it well produced, but it is worthwhile. It provides a forum (admittedly for a sellect few) where the media in all its significent manifestations can be critically appraised and redressed. Noteworthy is that more than just one person sits in the chair of judgment each week. Apart from supplying variety and interest, the diversity of critics and their different views and opinions

gives the series an over-all balance and objectivity. Not that this objectivity is important in itself. What is important is that each critic forces his or her informed opinion about a particular aspect of the media on us, that a critical stance towards the media is taken and that we, through agreement or disagreement with their views, take up the same stance.

A couple of weeks ago Brian Priestley himself alluded to this. He said the universities teach one how to criticise a piece of literature, yet they do not teach one how to criticise a television programme or newspaper. We need to adopt a critical attitude towards the media, just as we might to any piece of fancy prose or

poetry. Indeed, literature is dead in the sense that it is our society’s dominant form of communication. Today we

are surrounded by newspapers, radio, film, television and advertising. They are pervasive and penetrating; powerful and persuasive. They impinge on our daily routines, our daily lives. They influence, affect and determine. We need to be aware of how and in what ways; otherwise we relinquish control of ourselves and our lives. The very fact that we here in New Zealand spend an average of three hours per day watching television out of nothing more than pure habit means that we nave surrendered some of that control. Try seriously living without it. It is nearly impossible. It is like trying to give up smoking. During a period of 10 years one could spend more than a year of one’s life watching the box. If one ■ lives to 70 it works out at about nine years — nearly a decade spent tuned into the tube!

More statistically awesome and staggering is the fact that before starting school, children in advanced Western societies such as ours will have experienced about 1000 hours of media messages. During schooling,

they will complete about 11,500 hours of formal education. They will also experience about 15,000 hours of films and television. They will witness some 18,000 murders, absorb approximately 500,000 advertisements and watch seven time more films than they have read books. All up, their estimated total exposure to media messages will be about 20,000 hours — almost double the amount of time they will spend at school! The media is used for information and entertainment, but it must be remembered that it also transmits, and communicates ideas, beliefs, attitudes and values. It can play on our emotions and sway our perceptions. We need to be aware of all this. We need to be aware that the media is not an innocent channel of communication. We need to be aware that it can and does affect our lives. We need to adopt a critical attitude towards it, otherwise we remain passive, unthinking and, as a consequence, susceptible to its influences.