Ethical Programming
I have been despairing of the ethical programming that appears in the media here in the UK and Ireland. The number of programmes is small and often of poor quality.
The BBC Newsnight TV programme has had a series of reports in which one of its reporters tries to live an ethical life for one year. He is a nice guy with a young family but there is something is just a little too twee for my liking. He is almost a caricature of the educated, middle-class reasonably well-off guilt-driven ethical liver. He has a good job and can afford to invest in solar panels and a domestic wind-turbine. The whole tone of the reports is slightly jokey, focussing less on the issues than on the inconveniences that the change of lifestyle is having on the reporter and his family. I can't really see how it would encourage anyone to try and live a simple and more ethical existence.
To be fair though, the BBC is really the only mainstream media organisation that attempts any kind of engagement with ethical issues. Often this is in conjunction with its religious programming. Most of this "ethico-religious" programming however is very shallow - again focussing more on the personalities and "personal struggle" of the people involved rather than taking any deep discussion of the problems. Progammes such asthe BBC's The Heaven and Earth Show and RTE's Would You Believe? are prime examples of this style of personality-driven show. RTE in particular seems very lacking in depth (and breadth) in its reporting of ethical issues - even though its Arts programming and political and investigative reporting are of a very high standard.
Generally - from the little I see of it, no longer possessing a TV - ethical television programming is not a patch on that available on the radio. Indeed, the level of intelligent programming on radio surpasses by a mile that found on terrestial TV (I need not even consider the ethical wasteland that is satellite TV). There is however one gem among all the dross - and it's a local one! BBC Radio Ulster's Sunday morning programme Sunday Sequence. It looks at local and world religious and ethical issues with intelligent debate from local and other experts and academics and covers an amazingly wide range of topics. This is radio at its best and the latest show can be downloaded from its site for a week after broadcast. It's presenter William Crawley also has a very insight blog entitled: Will and Testament.
The BBC Newsnight TV programme has had a series of reports in which one of its reporters tries to live an ethical life for one year. He is a nice guy with a young family but there is something is just a little too twee for my liking. He is almost a caricature of the educated, middle-class reasonably well-off guilt-driven ethical liver. He has a good job and can afford to invest in solar panels and a domestic wind-turbine. The whole tone of the reports is slightly jokey, focussing less on the issues than on the inconveniences that the change of lifestyle is having on the reporter and his family. I can't really see how it would encourage anyone to try and live a simple and more ethical existence.
To be fair though, the BBC is really the only mainstream media organisation that attempts any kind of engagement with ethical issues. Often this is in conjunction with its religious programming. Most of this "ethico-religious" programming however is very shallow - again focussing more on the personalities and "personal struggle" of the people involved rather than taking any deep discussion of the problems. Progammes such asthe BBC's The Heaven and Earth Show and RTE's Would You Believe? are prime examples of this style of personality-driven show. RTE in particular seems very lacking in depth (and breadth) in its reporting of ethical issues - even though its Arts programming and political and investigative reporting are of a very high standard.
Generally - from the little I see of it, no longer possessing a TV - ethical television programming is not a patch on that available on the radio. Indeed, the level of intelligent programming on radio surpasses by a mile that found on terrestial TV (I need not even consider the ethical wasteland that is satellite TV). There is however one gem among all the dross - and it's a local one! BBC Radio Ulster's Sunday morning programme Sunday Sequence. It looks at local and world religious and ethical issues with intelligent debate from local and other experts and academics and covers an amazingly wide range of topics. This is radio at its best and the latest show can be downloaded from its site for a week after broadcast. It's presenter William Crawley also has a very insight blog entitled: Will and Testament.
posted by voluntarysimpleton at 2:39 AM
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