Fault Lines Chapter VII

Chapter 7: Perspective Exercises

Fault Lines trainers have used the exercises in this chapter as a warm-up or ice-breaker for workshops. The warm-up helps us understand what shapes our perspectives and our blind spots, and those of the audiences we serve.

A. Test your Fault Lines acumen

1. A young television reporter covering the 60th anniversary of D-Day in France interviews an elderly veteran:

Reporter: How old are you, sir?

Veteran: I'm 81 years old.

Reporter: That's 81 years young.

Veteran: Up your a- -!

This example often elicits laughter. Yet we all can empathize with the young reporter. This was live TV, and this segment was aired repeatedly. By treating the older man with condescension the reporter missed the chance to use the generation Fault Line as a story frame to provide context. Thus viewers missed an opportunity to learn from the veteran's perspective about revisiting a battle site that played a major role in history. On the other hand, perhaps the veteran perceived the reporter as a callow youth, hence the crude dismissal.

2. I'm half Indian and half New Jersey.' - a 6-year-old boy born in the U.S. but who has maternal roots in India; paternal roots in Europe.

In a charming way, this child is confusing ethnicity and geography. His statement also shows how a child of mixed ethnicity views his identity as an American. And it spills into the generation Fault Line. Biracial children now are encouraged to discuss their heritage in ways not known to previous generations.

3. What perspectives can you identify in this 'Baldo' cartoon?

'Baldo' is a comic strip about a Latino family in Los Angeles. The father has a T-shirt-screening business. His wife is deceased; his aunt, 'Tia Carmen,' lives with the family and helps him take care of his teen-age son, Baldo, and elementary-school-age daughter, Gracie, who wants to grow up to become president of the United States.

There are at least three perspectives in this cartoon: that of youth, that of the adults, and that of the authors of the report. The kids are so assimilated into American culture that they 'speak hip-hop,' which is typical of kids of their generation. But to Tia Carmen they are speaking a 'foreign language.' What's implied in this cartoon is that the 'authors' of the report have missed the point.

B. What do you know and why do you know it?

I. He's an 80-something crooner whose career was revived after appearing on MTV during the 1990s.She's a 20-something singer who has adopted a 1940s style. They've sung a duet on Saturday Night Live.

Who is he? Who is she? What song did they sing?

Tony Bennett and Christina Aguilera teamed up to sing 'Steppin' Out with My Baby,' written by Irving Berlin for the 1948 movie 'Easter Parade.' These two artists are crossing generational lines in their appeal. New generations have discovered Bennett; Aguilera has changed her style to go back 60 years. Together, they make great music. One participant in a Media Academy training session asked: 'Who is Tony Bennett?' when his name came up in a similar exercise. She was in her 20s and not familiar with him or with his most famous song, 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco.'

We cannot make assumptions about what our audiences know and do not know and about their frames of reference. Before the duet on SNL and the two recent CD's released by Tony Bennett singing with artists such as Aguilera, many older people likely did not know who she was. Now, perhaps, they do.

1. Who made famous the phrase: 'And That's the Way it Is'?

The late Walter Cronkite, the CBS News anchor from 1962 until he retired in 1981. In his day, according to a poll, he was considered 'The Most Trusted Figure in American Public Life.' TV Land cable network included this phrase among the 100 greatest catch-phrases on TV.

Yet, a generation has grown up without Cronkite's influence. During a Fault Lines training session, a participant brought up a song titled, 'And That's the Way it Is.' Turns out, there are several with that or similar titles, recorded by Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, and the 'boy band' LFO. Again, think about the generation Fault Line, perspectives and frames of reference.

2. When young people say something is 'tight to death' what do they mean?

It means something really good or really 'cool.' It is important to understand youth slang - so much of it appears online - to better communicate between generations -- or as one Media Academy participant bluntly put it, 'So we'll know what the hell they're talking about.' Remember, each generation has its own slang, but some words, such as 'cool,' are recycled over generations.

3. If you say you are standing 'on line' at the movies rather than 'in line' you likely live in what city?

New York. What's the point? Though we are globally connected, we still retain local and regional language and tastes that reflect our geographic roots. By the way, a Google search of 'on line vs. in line' yields a bunch of, what else, 'online' blogs, posts and discussions.

4. If you say, 'We might could do that,' where do you live?

The southern U.S. from Florida to Texas. This is an example of the colorful language of this region - language with a lilt and cadence, not to mention this 'double modal' construction. Again, it's part of the character of a place and how people communicate.

5. What network TV show is based on a Latin American telenovela? What is a telenovela?

"Ugly Betty," based on the Colombian telenovela, 'Yo soy Betty, la fea.' A telenovela is like a soap opera but with a defined story arc that runs for, say, six months, then ends. 'Ugly Betty,' uses satire to explore gender, generation, class, geographic and ethnic issues.

6. What is Medicare Part D? How does it affect you?

It's a federal program to subsidize the cost of prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries in the U.S. - people age 65 and older. The choices are so confusing, as is the combination of public and of private payments, that many young people have been helping their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents understand how the benefit works.

Has your news organization reported stories along these lines, taking into account more than just the older generation? What other Fault Lines can be used to analyze this issue?

7. Ironworkers who built the World Trade Center and helped with the cleanup after 9/11 are known for 'walking high steel.' What ethnic group are the majority of these workers from?

Members of the Mohawk Indian tribe from the Canadian-New York border, who built the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the George Washington Bridge, and the World Trade Center.

For more than 120 years, six generations of Mohawk Indian ironworkers, known for their ability to work high steel, have helped shape New York City's skyline. They commuted to New York from their reservation in Canada each week to frame the city's skyscrapers and bridges. After September 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center towers collapsed, the sons and nephews of these men returned to the site to dismantle what their elders had helped build. NPR broadcast a feature story about them and their families.

Impact: Stories about Native Americans often focus on negatives, i.e. alcoholism, drug abuse, isolation, lack of education, despair, gambling, convicted former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. 'Walking High Steel' is an in-depth look at a culture that has made a significant contribution to the built environment. The story explored all the Fault Lines. Here is the NPR story, an example of how to go past the obvious Fault Line, in this case, race/ethnicity, to report a story.

8. A haunting, vintage-style ballad written and recorded by country artist Vince Gill is about an ill-fated interracial relationship involving a white man, and a black woman from a real town established by African Americans in 1904. Name the song. Name the town.

The song is 'Molly Brown.' The town is Boley, Okla. In a dramatic twist, the white man's father shoots his son, who drowns in the river where Molly shows up in a wedding gown. Gill is an Oklahoma native and he was familiar with Boley and its origins. He has said the song 'just came to him.' Here, he identified a social issue, though fictional, in a real place where the races did not mix.

9.   a) In what year were you 10 years old and what was going on in the news that year that you remember? Or, b) what is your first recollection of 'news.'?

As a group exercise, this will yield a range of responses. Older baby boomers often talk about the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963; younger generations will recall when the Space Shuttle 'Challenger' blew up in 1986, which they watched on television in school. Future journalists may talk about watching the attacks of 9/11 as their first recollection of news.