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Frankly, I don't think that watching is so much the problem as whether or not one watches anything interesting. People can be taken out of their limited circumstances by entertainment programming, too, and many alternative activities are not necessarily constructive. Of course, monitoring the quality of programming is not terribly likely, which makes one wonder why there should be expectations of curtailing viewing. Besides, the NAACP is dedicated to advancing black causes, not overall standards in television, and therefore can be forgiven some tunnel vision. I have a different take, because I am dreadfully afraid of the degree to which inner city blacks may be unassimilated into the mainstream culture, and television provides one of the few opportunities for them to learn something about the world outside the ghetto, so I think it is a mixed bag. That said, I think that Medved is correct to point out the "diversity" will not necessarily provide role models worth emulating. He might also have mentioned that with the amount of prime time material geared to black audiences, primarily on the UPN and WB mini- networks, it is possible for blacks to get a full complement of "black shows" if they care to, so it is hard to say that they are per se underserved. He might also have mentioned that Latinos and Asians probably have more grounds for a beef than African- Americans. I am not sure what is to be done, beyond sermonizing, about improving the quality of programming.... |
