Written by: gfesadmin on November 8, 2012

This weeks reading assignment was A Social History of The Media by Asa Briggs and Peter Burk.

A major theme woven through the book connects media, control and influence. I think media’s purpose is to convey a message, therefore whoever controls the media controls the message. Briggs and Burke write that Queen Elizabeth “Spoke of the need to tune the pulpits” (24). The writers go on to write about how the government of France kept a secret eye on the coffee houses in Paris to ensure that messages which ran counter to the French government’s narrative were kept under wraps (26). Churches issued edicts banning certain books so (41) the faithful wouldn’t be corrupted and the teachings of the church countered.  

             In today’s society, media is very much about control and influence. Abercrombie and Fitch send e-mails to entice you to purchase their latest clothing. The news media sells you a certain narrative. If you want a conservative slant on the news you watch Fox News and for a liberal slant you watch MSNBC. The recent presidential ads tell us that one guy is a saint and the other is going to ruin America. Think Christians aren’t involved? Lifeway stores recently decided not to sell Rachel Held-Evans new book ‘A Year of Biblical Womanhood.’ Media isn’t just about disseminating information; it’s about control of our minds and actions.

            For a Christian, what does resisting that control and influence mean? How do we do it?  What are the necessary boundaries? How do we use media appropriately?  After all, the Gospel must be shared. Sure, being Amish and choosing to step out of mainstream society is a way forward, but I’m not sure everyone is called to that form of witness.

            The second point that really stood out to me was a story from English journalist G.R Sims. He writes that during a trip to the top of a Swiss mountain, “we arrived at the summit, everybody made a rush for the hotel and fought for the postcards. Five minutes afterwards everybody was writing for dear life. I believe that the entire party had come up, not for the sake of the experience or the scenery, but to write postcards and to write them on the summit”(140). As much as things change, they stay the same! Instead of postcards, it’s Twitter, Facebook and Instragram that everyone is rushing for.  So many people are caught up in being connected to technology, the media and sharing one’s own experience, that they can be disconnected from real life. There’s a chasm between them and the world created by that excessive use of media. When they’re physically at a certain place they’re not really there. It’s as if they given up the joy, experience and adventure of a given moment for a mere image or idea plastered on a postcard.

             I’ll admit I’m probably as guilty as anyone with regards to this second point. I want to have my phone with me at all times so I can share my thoughts and pictures and, I guess, in some sense influence others. But I also don’t want to live my life through the Internet or through the lens of a camera. I want to be present in body and mind with the people I’m with, and I want that from them. I want to embrace life to it’s fullest.

            I don’t feel like have a choice about whether to engage in the different forms of media. My current station in life requires it. But I do have a choice in how much control and influence I allow it my life, and that’s a moment-to-moment battle. 

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