Attitudes 9rors of such national importance are quickly corrected, and
everyone soon becomes aware of the real story. Corrections or
retractions of errors on local issues simply do not have the same
impact as the initial error.
The problem of television is probably the greatest of all those
posed by the mass media. The first and most obvious problem
with television is the need of the medium to condense and edit
due to the constraints of time. Think for a moment about the idea
of the “news of the world in half an hour,” commercials included.
The necessity to condense often results in the simplification of
complex problems, the problem of editing by definition results
in the viewer seeing one of the few stories someone else thinks
is important. Finally the most important problem that television
presents is the problem that it misleads by the visual nature of the
medium.
When we read, we can reread. We can read a variety of sources
almost instantly. And we tend to be skeptical of what we read
knowing that writers have a point of view. But with television we
see what is happening, and therefore we are all the more
convinced of its authenticity. But in fact we do not see every
thing— we see what the camera sees. Cameras do not have
peripheral vision— we see only what is within the focus of the
camera lens. Coupled with the editing process, we are viewing
as real that which is unreal in the truest sense. And we are
convinced by the illusion even if we are from Missouri.
Certainly beyond the five areas mentioned here there are
others which profoundly affect our attitudes: churches, politi
cians, neighbors, certain happy or sad experiences. Also the
interplay of the home, culture, school, peer groups, and mass
media creates a totality of experience which helps us form our
attitudes. Understanding these influences is important because
during the course of this study one of the important goals will be
to test these attitudes, values, and/or prejudices against conflict
ing ideas. Some attitudes will be strengthened by this investiga
tion, others weakened, new ones accepted, old ones discarded—
all, we hope, in the calm light of reasoned judgments.
Beyond those values which we learn from our home, culture,
media, peer groups, and school, are two phenomena which can
and do affect our attitudes towards others. “Ethnocentrism” and
“xenophobia” are two words which are important to understand.