by G. Michael Cordner, Th.D.

THOUGHTS ON THE MEDIA AND VIOLENCE

     We are presented in so many ways, subtle but nonetheless impactful, about violence, whether interpersonal or international.  And those presented ideas and thoughts direct our own thoughts to either accept violence as an unfortunate but nonetheless inevitable fact of life.  If we are going to help the world move to rejecting violence and implementing nonviolent measures for the resolution of conflict, then we might well begin by sensitizing ourselves to how violence is depicted in the media.  That is a place where we can begin to control the emotional and mental impact that the media has at its disposal.  I am struck by the ways in which my grandchildren become insensitive to violence, even defending it as a response, by the games they play, the films they attend, the songs sing.  I hope I can use those same stimulants to discuss with them the ways in which be become hardened and calloused enough to accept what is truly unacceptable.

      I am prompted in my comments by the words of Johann Galtung, a professor of Peace Studies in the May, June 2003 issue of Christian Social Action.  He describes the ways in which the media have misreported violence, and based on his words I want to describe steps we can take to really support acceptable nonviolent measures.

      We can, and indeed must:

      1) CONTEXTUAL violence by informing people about the situations in which violence occurs, and altering those situations.
      2) RESIST DUALISM which reduces the number of forces in violence to two, when there are often more.
      3) EXTERNALIZE our focus by examining ALL governments and international companies.
      4) AVOID MANICHEANISM, by seeing the forces at work as two bipolar and distinct entities, one a friend, and the other an enemy.
      5) REFUSE thinking in an Armageddon fashion, about the inevitability of violence.
      6) ALTER INDIVIDUALIZING, which focuses on individual acts and ignores structural causes, such as poverty, neglect.
      7) INCLUDE in our thinking the bereaved as the consequences of violence.
      8) PAY ATTENTION to peace proposals while not confusing cease-fires with peace.
      9) RECONCILE.  IPCNSR at its most effective and influential operates as a place for persons to reconcile, reaching agreement with one another.

      We can change not only our own ways, but the ways of others, not only our own habits and inclinations but the habits and inclinations of all.  We can do that by becoming more conscious of the need for, and opportunities for change.
 

 

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