Too Boring To Blog?

Controversy & Outrage in the Media

Bethany Downes — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:40:42 +0000

As I was preparing to turn off the telly on Sunday night and head to bed, I flicked to the ABC, and stumbled across the annual Andrew Olle Media Lecture for 2009. This year the speaker was Julian Morrow, founder and executive producer of The Chaser. His lecture was on the very relevant topic of controversy in the media which has seemed inescapable in recent years; from The Chasers’ “Make a Realistic Wish” sketch, to Kyle Sandilands’ multiple faux pas’, to the Hey, Hey It’s Saturday black face incident, it seems as though Australians have become obsessed with being offended, and making a huge fuss about it as well.

However, is this offence justified, or is it just the media stirring up a small, but vocal, section of the community? In his lecture, Morrow presents some interesting stats on the rate of official complaints to the BBC about a Russell Brand show before and after the controversy was generated by the British media. Should Christians be standing up against offensive media, or should we be upholding our democratic right to free speech? Should we be outraged? Should we complain? If stereotypes are anything to go by, Christians already do their fair share of complaining, we are the up-tight, narrow-minded fun police. But is there a certain point when we need to say enough is enough, and have we reached that point yet?

As Christians, we shouldn’t go out of our way to offend people. The message of Christ will cause offense to the world because of its very nature (Mt 13:53-58), however, we are to be gracious in delivering the message (1 Pt 3:15-16). But this doesn’t apply to the world, so where should we stand? Can it be as simple as if it offends you, then don’t watch/listen to it?

Morrow brings up an interesting point of the difference between the primary and secondary audiences.

“The primary audience is mainly people who want to watch a show or at least chose to for some reason or other. They come to content through the platforms of the original broadcaster, whether it’s TV or radio, or the various catch-up technologies. The primary audience at least approximates in some way the target audience for content.

By contrast, the secondary audience come to access controversial content because it’s controversial. The secondary audience is often tends to be the very opposite of the target audience.

Today, thanks to widespread broadband access and social media applications, in particular YouTube and Twitter, the secondary audience is now much bigger and much closer than it has ever been before… it’s now easy for them to access controversial content online. And one of the problems with giving people the ability to make up their own minds is that they do.”

I really recommend that you read or listen to this lecture because Morrow gives some really helpful insights into this issue. You can access the written version at http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2009/11/06/2735643.htm, I haven’t been able to figure out how to listen to it, but if you go to that page, I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out. This really is food for thought.

Should I get my nose pierced?

Bethany Downes — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:37:52 +0000

Recently I’ve been considering whether or not to get my nose pierced. My reasoning behind this is that I often get bored with my appearance and want to do something different, so I figured getting my nose pierced would remedy this, at least for a little while. My main apprehension is that I’m not sure if I can pull it off, I’m not really sure if I’m a nose pierced kinda gal. Hmmm, this is a difficult decision, so let me know what you think. Yay or Nay to getting my nose pierced?

Getting my nose pierced will be just the beginning...

Why am I here?

Bethany Downes — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 10:46:46 +0000

I’m definitely not the world’s most interesting person, in fact, I’m far from it. I’ve been reading blogs written by friends and acquaintances, people who have a lot to say on many interesting subjects. I’ve never felt that I would actually have anything worthwhile to say in a blog that anybody would be bothered to read. Am I being too self-deprecating? Probably. “Too boring to blog” is a little ‘woe-is-me’, but I guess this is how I feel about this whole blogging venture, so why not be honest?

But maybe I do have something to say, something which will help shape peoples ideas and understandings of the world around us. I certainly hope I do. Maybe we all do, but we are just too caught up in our own lives to actually stop and listen to what others have to contribute. Maybe that’s what attracts so many people, myself included i guess, to this whole blogging phenomenon; it’s an opportunity to be heard.

And thus my blogging journey begins, as I step with trepidation into the unknown. Deep breath, and GO!