The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, January 26, 2000, Image 13

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OPINION
Wednesday, January 26, 2(X)()
THE BATTALION
Page 13
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Media conglomerates control too many sources ofinformation, influence more than news
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news anchor of their choice will in-
form them about the day. 1 lowever,
there are important issues Americans
should take into account before con
sidering the information as the whole
story. It is impossible to squeeze
every significant worldwide event
into a 22-minute broad
cast. Another
issue is the
fact that the advertising department
has already decided how many stories
about Alzheimer’s research should
run according to the number of senior
citizens who watch at 5:30. The most
valid worry is the mammoth amount
of big-money media companies merg
ing into huge conglomerates that control
many outlets ofinformation at once.
Americans are increasingly ob
taining their view on world
events from a very select
group of people, a group that
grows smaller almost con-
arriaj
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lied in a 199"cir£
ROBERT HYNECEK/Thk Battalion
stantly. This fact should lead them to
the conclusion Rev. Jesse Jackson
made at the Radio-Television News Di
rectors Association’s annual convention
in September, “Too few people are call
ing too many shots.”
The significant media mergers cre
ated in the last live years is a much-too-
long list. A look at the most popular
College student media sources gives a
good example of how huge these con
glomerates have become.
VII1, MTV, Comedy Central, CBS,
CNN, HBO, the WB and Cartoon Net
work are all operated by Time Warner.
So are Time, Sports Illustrated, Enter
tainment Weekly and People. Time
Warner also sells music by the Bare-
naked Ladies, Jewel, Brandy, Alanis
Morisette, REM, Metalliea and Erie
Clapton. NewLine Cinema, also con
trolled by Time Warner, released such
movies as Austin Powers, Blade and
The Wedding Singer.
It is obvious that these media
conglomerates control more than
just the news we receive.
They have a big im
pact on forms of
popular enter
tainment that
can involve im
portant mes
sages, such as the
kinds of clothes
Americans should wear.
The scary thing is that there are oth
er huge conglomerates, such as Disney
and ABC and Viacom and Paramount.
Since Time Warner and the other con
glomerates dictate so many media out
lets, it is of grave importance that
Americans pay attention to what these
companies have in mind for the future.
The newest plan is for ABC NewsOne,
CBS Newspath and Fox News Edge to
team up to create a single “news coop
erative.” This cooperative is intended
to serve a purpose much like the Asso
ciated Press.
Independent networks will no
longer have to go out and re
port stories separately. The
networks will simply pick their
coverage from the footage cre
ated by the “news coopera
tive,” and obtain their news
from the same source.
The danger in this plan
is when Americans tum on
the televison, no matter
which station they choose,
there will only be one
“voice.” What if the big
powers decide they do not
want the American public to
know of a certain occurrence?
Americans with only one source of
information become basically power
less to control the information they re-
A huge conflict of interest occurs
when reporters for big corporations
come across valid information for sto
ries that would damage their parent
company, as is what happened to
Michael Caruso, Editor in Chief of Los
Angeles Magazine — owned by a Dis
ney subsidiary. Caruso published a sto
ry that insulted Disney’s CEO, Michael
Eisner, and was promptly fired.
The public cannot allow the media
to cause a fleecing of America simply
because they own the most popular
sources ofinformation and entertain
ment. Americans should keep an eye on
what goes on in
these conglomer
ates by looking
for tin alternate
news source,
such as those on
the Web that are
new and cre
ated for the
purpose of
deviating
from these con
glomerations.
When the famil
iar theme starts
up at 5:30, the
stories that follow can be
absorbed with peace of mind.
Jill Riley is a senior
journalism major.
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special I SERIES
Teachers not performing to standard
T he recent Quality Counts 2000
Education Week survey showed
unacceptably low grades for the
Texas school system. Even though Texas
received a B+ in “standards and account
ability,” the school system’s enforce
ment of those standards is still unaccept
able. For example, Texas students are
not required to master standards in order
tp graduate high school. Standards arc
useless if they are not enforced.
[ But it is impossible to expect stu
dents to achieve even minimal require
ments without qualified instructors.
Considering the D Texas received for
“improving teacher quality,” question
ing teacher qualifications seems valid.
For example, Texas does not require a
written test in basic skills for a begin
ning teacher’s license. The Texas school
system should worry less about holding
students accountable for bad perfor
mance until it finds qualified instructors.
I Although Texas does not require
written basic skills tests, it does call for
tests in a specific subject knowledge for
beginning teachers. In normal circum
stances, this substitution might be ac
ceptable. 1 lowever, according to the
Quality Counts Survey, only 51 percent
of secondary teachers hold a degree in
the course they are teaching. In addition,
schools arc not required to notify parents
if their children are being taught by
“out-of-field” instructors. Students can
not be expected to learn when they are be
ing taught by underqualified instructors.
On the other hand,
it is hard to blamd
teachers for not per
forming to par. Texas
teachers are under
paid and under-appre
ciated. According to
the Better Teachers,
Better Schools study
recently released by
the Thomas B. Ford-
ham Foundation, near
ly 20 percent of people
who began teaching in
public schools in ’93-
’94 had left the school
three years later. The
teachers who scored
highest on their college
entrance exams were
the first to leave. Inci
dentally, the most qualified teachers are
usually offered the highest salaries, a
fact the Texas school system has appar
ently failed to realize.
This trend does not bode well for
Texas schools, but it could be avoided if
the Texas school system would pay its
teachers a competitive salary. The aver
age yearly salary of a Texas teacher is
$35,340, opposed to a salary of $55,828
earned by other professionals.
Texas also fails to provide teachers
with financial or licensure incentives to
earn national board certification. It does
not make sense to put forth the extra ef
fort it requires to become national board
Texas
Schools
part 2 of 3
Shortage of
qualified
public
school
teachers
must be
addressed
certified if one is going to receive the
same salary regardless. Until teachers
are given the respect and benefits they
deserve, teaching quality will not im
prove and the best teachers will continue
to go elsewhere.
Granting teachers higher salaries
would have a further reaching effect
than just making teachers happy. Ac
cording to ’96-’97 statistics by the
American Federation of Teachers, many
of the highest paid teachers reside in
northeastern states such as Connecticut,
New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Not coin
cidentally, the northeastern states also
have the highest high school graduation
rate, ranging from 87 percent to 96 per
cent according to the 1996 United States
Bureau of the Census Population Survey.
The Southern and Western areas lag sad
ly behind, with graduation rates ranging
from 79 percent to 93 percent. Clearly, a
di(Terence in teacher salary affects in
structional quality, which in turn
changes student achievement.
While improving teacher training
and quality is important, it will not hap
pen on its own. Teacher quality will re
main poor, and the best instructors will
continue to leave until the Texas School
System begins providing its teachers
with competitive salaries and benefits.
Students cannot and will not learn until
they are given teachers who are able
to teach.
Jessica Crutcher is a sophomore
journalism major.
Uncle Sam not ready for
Hollywood scriptwriting
S'
l
enfi
Tax money for NASA
Mars mission justified
In Response to Brieanne Porter's Jan.
25 column.
| Stopping NASA funding for Mars
exploration is ludicrous. Porter’s
closing paragraph alone shows the
lack of logic or thought put into her
writing. She mentions that the Unit
ed States should resume funding of
Mars exploration when the country
can afford the price tag of $165 mil
lion for mission. Surely she must
admit and realize that prices go up
with time, and the US will never be
in'any better position to “afford” ex
ploration and science.
|| If we were to follow Porter's
lead, technological advancement
and space exploration would cease.
The United States would be caught
in a self-centered loop of spending
all of its money on things that do
not advance the greater good of
'America.
I: To halt study and exploration of
Mars would be a grave mistake that
would eventually dwindle the hope
for a more amazing and technologi
cal future.
MAIL CALL
Americans would become more
and more monotonous until all of
the money was wasted into keeping
the old going. Porter remarks that
many would object to such spending
of their tax money, but I disagree. I
think many realize the true way to
fix problems is to keep moving for
ward to find new ways of doing
things, and that’s exactly what NASA
has always helped do.
Josh Barnett
Class of '01
Distribution of
Bibles not offensive
In response to Elizabeth Kohl’s Jan.
25 column.
Kohl’s claim that the Gideon’s
International organization “rides
the line” in their efforts to share
their beliefs through distributing
mini Bibles on campus is ridiculous.
The Gideons use one of the more
passive forms of evangelism, one
that can be refused or ignored. Kohl
implies the Gideon volunteers are
manipulative, scheming and unable
to accept rejection. These “typically
older gentlemen,” as the column
describes them, “set up shop” on
campus and “herd students like
cattle” into the trap of their devious
plan to pass out a little green book.
I think that offering Bibles on cam
pus is no more offensive than open
ing up the only source of news for
this university and discovering an
article that attacks such a mild
fashion of sharing the love of Jesus
Christ. But I guess I had the choice
to pick up the Battalion today, didn’t I?
Jennifer Wilborn
Class of '02
accompanied by 2 signatures
I n the expansive wasteland
of sin and bad jokes that is
modern-day television,
there is a new hope. Unfortu
nately, there is still no cure for
horrible shows like “Suddenly
Susan” and the endless barage
of Jenny Jones make-overs.
But concerned parents take
heart — the federal govern
ment is going to be helping out
by telling kids drugs are only for bad, bad people.
Earlier this month, it was made public that for
the past two years, six major networks have hand
ed over dozens of television scripts for review and
advice on how to embed anti-drug messages into
their plots. In exchange for having Uncle Sam
look over their shoul-
ders, the television net
works were given re-
prieval on how many
public service an
nouncements (PSAs)
they were required to
run. Normally, networks
have to sell commercial
time to the government,
at half price for PSAs.
But freedom from this
obligation lets stations
sell valuable air time to
other companies at full
price.
While this deal is
great news for people
who want to hear actors
rail against drugs, those who are skeptical about
the government influencing the content of televi
sion plots have been upset over this issue. Reac
tion to the government’s script advising has
ranged from claims of conspiracy to endorsements
for the government trying to attack the drug prob
lem in a new way. The truth, of course, is some
where in the middle.
Certainly the government had the best of inten
tions when they started reviewing scripts years
ago, but by not being open with the public, a sus
picious shadow has been cast on the whole ordeal.
Skewed good intentions aside, the govern
ment’s primetime meddling has raised another,
more serious, question. If television networks are
willing to rewrite scripts for the sake of the gov-
Certainly the
government had the
best of intentions
when they started
reviewing scripts years
ago, but by not being
open to the public
about it has cast a
suspicious shadow.
eminent, one wonders if anti-drug messages are
the last the feds will want to slide in between the
plot lines.
By giving networks financial incentive to ap
pease them, the feds have opened Pandora’s
checkbook. It is a good thing that Drew Carey is
going to preach against the weed, but what hap
pens if Dawson starts touting the president’s new
education bill?
The government potentially could offer the
same kind of sweet deal if network executives slip
in subtle support for other government projects.
All that is left is for television CEO’s to agree to
such a deal. Good thing they would not be so bot
tom-line oriented as to consider that proposition,
right?
The possibility of further government interven-
tion is made real by execu
tives proven willingness to
let Uncle Sam have his say
in scriptwriting. What
makes the possibility truly
scary is America’s subsepti-
bility to do what its favorite
TV character says and does
— just look at how many
people went out and got the
“Rachel haircut.”
So unless executives do
Godzilla-esque voice overs
for the parts of the script in
fluenced by federal review
ers, some way of making the
government and the TV peo
ple happy needs to be reached.
Since networks bury their
PSA’s in late night Sunday lineups, the networks
need to stop worrying about lost air time. They
should continue to sell the time to the government,
however, the government should not get the half-
price treatment they are used to. Besides, by being
charged more for running their self-mandated PSA’s,
politicians can say they are spending more money
than ever on anti-drug programs. That way, govern
ment gets a fat bill on their war-on-drugs budget and
TV networks get their advertising revenues. And
Ally did not have to say a word.
Eric Dickens is a junior
English major.
The Battalion encourages letters to the editor.
Letters must be 300 words or less and include
the author’s name, class and phone number.
The opinion editor reserves the right to edit let
ters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters may
be submitted in person at 013 Reed McDonald
with a valid student ID. Letters may also be mailed
to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
77843-1111
Campus Mail: 1111
Fax: (409) 845-2647
E-mail: battletters@hotmail.com