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Fair and Balanced?
By Dr. J. Howard
Baker
The number one rated nightly TV debate program is
currently Hannity and Colmes on
Fox News. Fox News also hosts the top
rated No Spin Zone of Bill
O’Reilly. Both of these shows are
promoted as “fair and balanced” reporting and debate. Other networks, watching the success of Fox
News, are trying to also promote their broadcasts as balanced.
“Fair and
balanced” reporting in the eyes of these broadcasters, and much of the general
public, means that both “conservative” and “liberal” political points of view
are equally presented. But is this really the paradigm we should use for reporting and debate? First, let us review what a paradigm is.
Stephen Covey,
author of The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People, wrote:
“The word paradigm comes from the Greek. It was originally a scientific term, and is
more commonly used today to mean a model, theory, perception, assumption, or
frame of reference. In the more general
sense, it’s the way we ‘see’ the world—not in terms of our visual sense of
sight, but in terms of perceiving, understanding, interpreting.”
The paradigm we
use to “see the world” is critically
important because our attitudes
and behaviors flow from the way we
see and interpret the world.
What if this “fair
and balanced” paradigm, assumption, or frame of reference for equal access to
the media and national air time is fundamentally flawed? What if using this paradigm is actually sending
a dangerous and destructive message to our citizenry, and especially to our
youth?
The popular “fair
and balanced” paradigm today presents the message of any liberal and any
conservative as equal. However, not all
mindsets are of equal worth. Not all
voices should be equally heard! But, it
is argued, “What about free speech?”
I am a college
professor. I do not tolerate whining,
shouting, name calling or reactive and irresponsible behavior by my
students. I will not permit foul
language in my classroom. The more a
student acts irresponsibly, or assumes a victim mindset, the more I hold that
student responsible and accountable for his or her attitude and behavior.
I allow “free
speech” in my classroom, but not all
speech is appropriate. There are standards of right conduct, and I expect
my students to behave in a mature
manner. When they don’t, they lose their
privilege to speak, or even attend class.
Political leaders should be held to this same standard of maturity and civility by the media and the public.
Examine for a moment our current presidential
race, where some candidates slander their opponents and accuse them of lying or
worse. In turn, others react and accuse
their opponents of twisting the issues and ignoring facts for political gain. On a broader scale we currently see no end in
sight to bloodshed, violence, hostility, and animosity on the world scene as
liberal and conservative elements endlessly hurl personal attacks at each
other!
Today we give screaming politicians who appear to
be completely out of control equal time with those who exhibit calm, considered
speech. In fact, often the calm person
can’t get a word in edgewise. We give
equal time to those playing the “blame game” and accusing others of ridiculous
and outrageous charges with no basis of fact.
We give those who appeal to a victim mindset or class warfare equal time
with those who are acting in a mature and responsible manner. We even give valuable media coverage to those
who use foul and offensive language! Most political news is presented as “fight”
news.
On television we
watch liberal and conservative expert “talking heads” heave their positions at
each other, with no true dialog
occurring. We watch simultaneous
monologues of gossip and complaint.
These talking heads constantly interrupt each other with no intention of
really listening to the other’s
position. As a people we seem to be
convinced that this rancor, bitterness, hostility, and animosity will somehow
ultimately provide good solutions. Few today
practice Stephen Covey’s Habit 5: “Seek first to understand, then to be
understood.”
The real challenge
facing our nation today is one of maturity. Ultimately, leadership is about maturity, and
the wisdom that comes with that
maturity.
In Stephen Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he mapped all seven Habits
of effective leadership to what he called the Maturity Continuum. He
showed that as we master each Habit we become more and more mature in our
behavior. There is a direct relationship
between the Habits of effective leadership and maturity.
It is a worrisome
thing to watch powerful government, business, and educational leaders arising
that have never really grown up. These immature individuals behave like fighting
and squabbling children, driven by hatred and a lust for power. Motivated by egocentricity rather than
community, they foment strife and a divisive spirit. Envy, deceit, boasting, and a lack of
humility are dangerous character flaws in one occupying a position of
leadership.
The fair and balanced “liberal versus
conservative” paradigm is flawed. This
is because in both the liberal and conservative camps today we have individuals
with immature thinking and behavior. All
of us, including the major broadcasting networks, need to evaluate our paradigm
of what matters most when evaluating potential leaders. If we will concentrate on recognizing
immature behavior for what it is, we can begin to lessen the influence of the
immature.
A better paradigm
to establish for “fair and balanced” reporting and debate seems to be one that
expects and demands a certain level of civility and maturity. What we need is “fair and balanced” dialog
between mature adults!
A couple of years
ago I was administering a computer programming exam in a college course. A few minutes after the exam began, one of my
students shouted out to me in front of the whole class, “This test isn’t
fair!” I was surprised, since the exam
was over exactly what we had been covering in class. I immediately recognized the immature
behavior of this student. I asked the
student why the test was not fair. The
student replied, “It’s too hard! My brain doesn’t work this way!”
Fair
has become synonymous with easy in
the minds of many today. If we encounter
difficulties in life, things are not fair.
Immature and power hungry politicians tell potential voters that things
are challenging or difficult because they are not being treated honestly and
fairly. They claim that a vote for them
will make the difficulty go away. This
is the opposite of real leadership, which looks reality straight in the eyes
and then helps others see it too.
Unfortunately, many would rather be told a smooth lie than harsh truth!
Difficult
situations do not always mean that we are victims! We need to be reminded of the words of John
F. Kennedy who suffered great back pain and other serious health trials before
his untimely death by assassination. He
told us that life is not fair–it’s just life!
What if our leaders were not given free air time to encourage a victim
mindset on national TV? No more telling
voters in campaign sound bites that tough things are not fair. No more pandering to voter immaturity. What if our political leaders were measured,
not by their rhetoric, but on their demonstrated level of maturity and
civility? That would be a true paradigm
shift!
One important rule
I have in my classroom is that I will not tolerate a student speaking
disrespectfully about another student or faculty member. Stop and consider this for a moment. What if that were made a rule on a mature fair and balanced TV debate? No name calling would be allowed. No floating
of unsubstantiated rumors or gossip. The
result would be a lot of empty air time!
I believe that
most teachers would never tolerate for a moment the kind of behavior that we
see some of our national political candidates exhibit
on national platforms. While we hear
politicians complain about the “failure” of our educational system, we see them
setting a terrible example of immaturity on TV
before the very students that they claim to be so concerned about.
We
are currently being told by most political observers to be prepared for one of
the dirtiest, nastiest, and most vicious presidential campaigns in our nation’s
history. What if the media required
candidates who wished air time to behave in as mature a manner as I expect my
students to exhibit in the classroom? Is
this asking too much? Think what a
difference that one change would make in the upcoming campaign!
Over fifty years
ago H. A. Overstreet, author of The
Mature Mind, was correct in his observation regarding politics:
“…politics
has, by common practice, become a ‘game’ in which men are expected to behave
like grown-up children. In no other major
area of life has immaturity enjoyed such good standing.”
The destiny of a
democracy depends on the mental, social, and emotional maturity of its
people. It is time we demand at least
the same consistent level of maturity
and civility from our national
political candidates, leaders, and expert “talking heads” on television that
teachers expect from children in school.
It is time to begin rewarding
those who exhibit such maturity and begin to ignore those who don’t.
Comments to: hbaker@leadingtoday.org
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About
the author:
Dr. J. Howard Baker is Assistant Professor of Computer Information
Systems at the