Bucks County Herald – April 29, 2010

Civility Part Four Philips Mill w/speaker Delli Carpini

Dear Friends,

Good morning. Last Friday, Mighty Betsy and I attended the Annual Forum at Phillips Mill, just north of New Hope. The topic was “The Changing Face of American Politics: Talking Together or Talking Ourselves Apart?” Dr. Michael Delli Carpini addressed a capacity crowd about the growing problem of uncivil discourse.

As you know, it’s a subject that’s close to my heart.

Charles Huchet, the Forum Chairman, asked me to introduce Delli Carpini, the Dean of the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania. Later, Mighty Betsy reminded me that I’d fumbled the ball and didn’t give an adequate background of the speaker. As usual, she was right. I couldn’t read the small print on his biography.

Delli Carpini is a real star. His B.A. and M. A. are from Penn and his Ph. D. from the University of Minnesota. Prior to joining Penn’s faculty, he was a member of the Political Science Department at Barnard College and was a Director of the Public Policy program at the Pew Charitable Trusts. “His research explores the role of the citizen in American politics, with particular emphasis on the impact of the mass media on public opinion, political knowledge and political participation,” his bio explained.

I was particularly interested in one of his research interests: “The causes and consequences of the blurring between news and entertainment in the United States.” When you hear and see commentators from the conservative right…like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glen Beck, and Bill O’Reilly…or from the left, like Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and Chris Matthews, you have to ask whether they are news commentators or entertainers?

Delli Carpini has written four books and more than six papers on this subject. “Talking Together, Public Deliberation and Political Participation in America” tops his book list. One of his papers, “Unchained Reaction: the Collapse of Media Gate keeping,” caught my eye. I’ve been saying for years that the editors of newspapers and networks are not pressing politicians for the facts. For example, the press did not keep President George W. Bush’s feet to the fire as he convinced America to invade Iraq (according to me).

I asked Huchet how the Forum Committee identified the topic and the speaker? “There were 13 on the committee,” he began. “We surveyed the Phillips Mill membership and came up with a few topics but we couldn’t agree on any of them. One of them was civil discourse.

“But there was conflict within the group,” Huchet continued. “Actually it [the disagreements] gave power to the topic. My wife had taken courses at Annenberg. I guess that’s how I came up with the speaker. I called the Dean’s office and spoke with Dr. Delli Carpini. I asked him if there was someone that could speak about civil discussions from people with different points of view? He said that he’d be happy to be the speaker.

“One of the committee members said ‘we don’t need a fuzzy academic boring us,’” Huchet laughed. Judging by the enthusiastic audience response to Delli Carpini and the active participation during the question and answer portion, the committee didn’t have to worry about the Penn Dean. Not only was he informative, his power point presentation was laced with humor and irony.

The questions that Delli Carpini addressed were: (1) What do we mean by uncivil discourse? (2) Are we less civil today than years ago? (3) Why is it happening? (4) Why should we care? And (5) What can we do?

Uncivil discourse is not disagreement, he began. “Americn history is full of uncivil discourse,” Delli Carpini continued, “but it appears to be on the increase. There’s a mixing of news and entertainment on talk shows 24 hours each day.”

He identified the new media environment, high stake policies and a historic moment of transition for why uncivil behavior was happening. Delli Carpini mentioned globalization, identity politics, and the shrinking influence of white males for the reasons.

What can we do about uncivil behavior, he asked? “The media is part of the problem,” Delli Carpini answered. “So are elected officials, special interest and advocacy groups, our education system, parents and citizens.”

He believes that America must rebuild public education. And, we are no longer the sole super power, Delli Carpini reasons. “We can’t push other nations around,” he said. “We need to become more cosmopolitan, and we must increase manufacturing to balance our service economy.”

He was critical about the shrinking of news staffs. Delli Carpini told us that 20 years ago, there were 55,000 newsroom jobs; today 15,000 of them are gone. It’s expensive to staff investigative reporters.

I wondered whether the American public has become so polarized that it reads or tunes into media that mirrors their own personal views? He agrees.

“America is getting its news from different sources,” he added us. “In 1980, 80 percent of us watched news on three television stations: ABC, CBS, and NBC. Today, it’s just 10 percent.”

“Are we less civil in our daily lives,” one listener asked and then, referring to road rage, she answered, “Just look at how we drive.”

“There’s less thoughtful discussion in the home,” another opined. “We don’t talk at the dining room table anymore.”

You don’t have to look far to see anger. One of my friends sent me 11 pages of bumper stickers as evidence. “Osama and Obama…both have friends that bombed the Pentagon,” read one. Here are a few more examples: “Liberal logic…terrorists have rights, Christians don’t;” “The biggest threat to our American way of life is our own President;” “Roses are red, violets are blue, Obama’s a Commie and Pelosi is too!” “If Obama Fails, America Survives.” And finally, “Proud Member of the Angry Mob.”

It’s enough to make one weak!

Finally, friends, the Phillips Mill Forum is an annual event. Beginning in 1937, the Forum only missed one year and that was during World War II. “We like edgy topics,” Huchet told me. “The Forum is about engaging thinking. But it’s important to be cautious. After all, how much ‘edge’ can the audience take?”

Clearly, the Phillips Mill membership is not afraid of edgy topics.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith