>Date: Fri, 05 Feb 1999 16:58:29 -0500
>From: Sodom <sodom@ma.ultranet.com>
>Subject: Re: virus: Re: virus-digest V3 #34
>
>haha - thats funny. If Phillip Morris was a tv network - I guess you wouldnt
>mind the legal advertising lie "Cigarettes arent addictive" as a part of the
>5:00 news on the Phillip Morris channel "Today scientists discovered - Cigis
>aren't addictive - Hurah - now go buy a pack" while the news casters (hired for
>their sexy looks) sit and puff at their desks - ever smiling.
[shrug] That used to happen all the time. I'm often around a poster of Ronald Reagan that says "For Christmas I'm sending everyone Chesterfields" an old brand of cigarettes. Now cigarettes are socially quasi-acceptable in the public eye, so they aren't advertized. Isn't democracy wonderful?
>Reed, this is the knit I am picking. The content is irrelevant. An
>advertisement presented as information without a disclaimer is terribly
>unethical in my opinion, and the opinion of most television producers who are
>very careful to label non-obvious advertisemnts as such. If you ever watch
>MSNBC or ABC - you will see that refrences to Microsoft and Disney respectivly
>have disclaimers attached.
Sure. It's a concern...something I would always consider. But the context of her actions (MSNBC and the other stuff) shows that her decsions are as ethical as anyone else in media. Now, should we be concerned about media ethics? Certianly we should. We should support people who seem to be using media to propogate positive ideas, even if they aren't perfect.
You're measuring the world against an ideal. That's a useful way of thinking. But another useful way of thinking is to ask what the world looks like right now, and who seems to be pushing us forward towards the ideal.
You want people to hold media accountable. Me too. I think Oprah does, too. Now all we have to do is figure out what the most effective way of reaching our common goal is, right?
>I question Oprah's integrity - and so far I have seen or heard nothing to
>dissuade me. What I see is an excellent entertainer who knows how to
>make money and exploit people. That is fine, it is the business she is in -
>good for her.
So you still don't think she's sincere about wanting to help people? What should she do to convince you? Give up her job? How effective would that be, in the long term?
Reed
Reed Konsler konsler@ascat.harvard.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------