By Emily Taylor-Mortorff
Daily Bruin Contributor
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.,
have raised questions regarding the media’s role in
potentially preventing violence around the world.
The media has a tremendous amount of power and should use that
power to educate people about peace and democracy and to prevent
deadly conflict, said speakers at Monday’s lecture held in
Bunche 6275, sponsored by the Burkle Center for International
Relations.
Eric Hamburg, a BCIR visiting scholar, film producer, writer and
lawyer, spoke of the influence of American media worldwide,
focusing on its role since Sept. 11.
According to a Moviefone poll regarding types of movies people
think Hollywood should make in the wake of the attacks, 60 percent
thought nothing should change, and 8 percent thought movies should
be more patriotic, while 12 percent thought they should be more
inspiring and upbeat.
According to Hamburg, the majority of movies seen worldwide are
Arnold Schwarzenegger type action films, since they are easiest to
market and most profitable, and the message sent is not the
best.
Hamburg said Hollywood is not conveying an image of democracy
and patriotism but is “creating envy and resentment” in
foreign countries that are both enthralled and disgusted by the
lifestyles they see portrayed.
David Hamburg, a former president and co-chair of the Carnegie
Corporation of New York, and former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance,
now with the Carnegie Commission of Preventing Deadly Conflict,
talked about the potential for good to come out of the
media’s influence over the opinions of the general
public.
In 1982, while president of the Carnegie Corp., David helped
orchestrate an attempt to better understand one of the most
potentially disastrous incidents in U.S. history ““ the Cuban
Missile Crisis of 1962 when the United States and Soviet Union came
close to a nuclear war.
Gathering critical policy makers, first from the United States,
then Russia and later Cuba, Hamburg and his colleagues learned that
the Soviet commander of military was instructed to fire at will any
approaching American ships.
In 1994, Hamburg and Vance officially created a worldwide
commission and advisory body to prevent deadly conflicts.
David said the media is not the only one that has failed in
preventing violence.
“Education, too, has done a pretty lousy job,” he
said.
He said more programs need to show children how to be
peace-promoting adults.
From out of the Carnegie offices came “Sesame
Street,” a classic children’s show that combined
entertainment with education.
Several versions of the popular children’s show were
created to make each one particularly significant in whatever
country it was intended to air.
In 1983, the Israeli version of “Sesame Street”
showed Arab and Jewish children playing together. A study conducted
in 1986 found the children who were exposed to those shows were
more likely to intermingle and accept people from outside their
cultural and religious affiliations.
David said an umbrella corporation should be formed to address
the media’s role in prevention of deadly conflict.
He said more must be done to reach people in remote areas, to
find entertaining means of conveying important messages and to
encourage peaceful conflict resolution.
Attending the lecture were former Secretary of State Warren
Christopher and a handful of students.