When you have a problem and don’t feel like doing anything to solve or even understand it, one of the most effective courses of action to take is to blame the media.
The French government did just this late last week when its lower house of parliament passed a bill that makes it illegal to incite “extreme thinness.”
The targets of the proposed law are “pro-anorexic” Web sites, which give tips on how to maintain the disorder anorexia nervosa. The disorder is characterized by symptoms that include a refusal to maintain a healthy weight and an intense fear of gaining weight.
But the proposed legislation, which punishes offenders with fines and even prison, could also affect the fashion industry, magazines and various other forms of print and digital media.
The faulty logic of the bill is clear: Anorexia is the media’s fault.
Of course, this is almost completely impossible to prove, said Marleen S. Williams, a psychology professor at Brigham Young University who researches the relationship between the media and anorexic women.
Her comment is supported by other scientific studies on the subject, which has linked anorexia to a host of factors, including an individual’s genetic makeup and personality traits such as perfectionism.
The purpose of examining this example is not to ridicule the French government for its shortsightedness, however. Their actions represent a Western trend that the U.S. engages in frequently: blaming the media for everything.
Remember those teen girls who filmed themselves beating another girl so badly she lost her ability to hear and see on the left side of her face? The attackers, according to local Sheriff Grady Judd, had planned on posting the video on YouTube and MySpace.
During a press conference, Judd said, “YouTube and MySpace (have) to make drastic changes.”
Yes, drastic changes need not be made by parents or people who assault others but by networking and video-hosting Web sites.
Even more cringe-worthy, the victim’s father told local media that “MySpace is the anti-Christ for children.” Apparently children never fought before the inception of MySpace. This example just happens to be the most recent and talked-about, but blaming the media is versatile and has been used for many years for many different problems. Unhappy with how badly your beloved President Bush does in polls? Make like Bill O’Reilly and blame the “heavily liberal” media.
If our nation’s teenagers are too promiscuous, a parent can always chalk it up to that provocative Elvis Presley.
Even the media blames itself in order to attract viewers. After the shootings at Columbine, I vividly remember watching a news program’s exclusive special about which bands or singers or movies or video games were at fault.
While it would be foolish to deny that media can contribute to these problems ““ body image issues, violence, perceived political bias ““ hoisting all responsibility onto news or entertainment does more harm than good.
Ignoring the many nuances of what may cause young women to starve themselves to death does not help or heal them. Indeed, directing focus away from the complex reality of the disease only makes true understanding that much more difficult to find.
The trouble with discussing our problems is that someone will have to take responsibility. So if we find that bad parenting or lapses in our educational system are responsible for youth violence, well, we’d have to change stuff. That requires even more time than it takes to pretend it’s the media’s fault and probably a lot more money.
When we blame media though, we don’t have to do anything except become angry when problems that are not actually the media’s fault continue to occur.
Even the phrase “the media” is misleading. It sounds like one entity that is cohesively working together toward some common goal, when in fact it describes a diverse and divergent category that includes television, books, movies, games, the Internet and comic books. Surely all of these forms could not possibly be functioning as one.
But we give “the media” more power than it actually has to pretend that we are helpless to counteract anything we deem is its fault. This gives us the perfect excuse to not act in the face of compelling problems.
The next time someone ““ politician, friend, even ourselves ““ blames a form of media for anything, do your best to view their claim through a critical eye. The knee-jerk reaction of blaming the media will only work so long as it appeases the public enough to stop demanding action from those who represent us.
As a columnist, Strickland is allowed to blame the media for everything she does. E-mail your excuses to kstrickland@media.ucla.edu.