A Prayer That TV Will See The Light
Not all of the fallout from the Oklahoma City bombing has consisted of crass advantage-seeking by politicians. One gratifying result of the tragedy was a report on the “NBC Nightly News” about the strength and succor the people of Oklahoma City derive from their Christian faith.
It was the most positive report I’ve ever seen on television about the Christian religion. The reporter stressed that Oklahoma City, and by extension, the heartland of the United States, is a very religious place. The camera settled on graffiti scrawled on a wall near the bomb site - it read, “The Lord is my rock and my redeemer.”
The story went on to offer glowing descriptions of the people of Oklahoma City - their generosity, openness, honesty and integrity - interspersed with video of people singing in church, children at their sides. The viewer was left with the unmistakable impression that religion, specifically Christianity, is part of what makes these people so virtuous.
That is a remarkable departure from usual practice on television. Usually a Christian must oppose the ordination of women priests, be accused of sexual abuse or murder an abortion doctor to get mentioned on television.
The Media Research Center (113 South West St., Alexandria, Va. 22314) released a study last March of religion’s treatment on television. The findings reveal a striking pattern of neglect.
The MRC studied the five major evening news programs, “ABC World News Tonight,” “CBS Evening News,” CNN’s “World News,” “NBC Nightly News” and “The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour” during the year 1993. Of 18,000 stories, only 211 dealt with religion (excluding stories about the siege of the Branch Davidian compound at Waco and the World Trade Center bombing). Of those, only 134 were taped pieces featuring a reporter; the remainder were short anchor reads.
Of the religion stories that did make the news, most (60 percent) were coverage of Pope John Paul II’s visit to the United States.
What about all those magazine programs? They have hundreds of hours to fill. The MRC looked at “Day One,” “Prime Time Live,” “20/20,” “Eye to Eye,” “48 Hours,” “60 Minutes,” “Street Stories,” “Dateline” and “Now.” And for good measure, they also included “This Week With David Brinkley,” “Face the Nation” and “Meet the Press.” For the entire year of 1993, these shows dealt with religious issues only 18 times. Seven of those stories concerned the Catholic Church. One followed the pope’s visit to the United States. Six dealt with sex abuse by priests or the church’s “rigid” stance on priestly celibacy.
Among the four networks (five, if you include PBS), there is exactly one full-time religion reporter. Her name is Peggy Wehmeyer, and she was recently hired by ABC for which the network deserves honorable mention. But I learned about her existence by reading TV Guide. I have yet to see one of her reports on the air.
According to media critic Michael Medved, there are signs of movement on television. The once entirely bleak landscape is showing a few points of light. CBS produced “Christy,” a series about a devoted Christian teacher in turn-of-thecentury Appalachia. The lawyers at MacKenzie/ Brackman (“LA Law”) managed to hire a genuine born-again Christian who is neither a nut nor an extremist. And ABC produced “Thea,” a comedy series about a widow whose profound Christian commitment helps her to instill solid values in her children.
Still, in the more than 1,000 hours of entertainment reviewed by the MRC, negative references to the clergy outnumbered positive ones 4-to-1. Portrayals of lay believers were even worse, with 68 percent of church-goers depicted negatively and only 18 percent shown positively.
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