Letters

Media Standards Australia (letter)

Denise Den-Bakker

Contents - Jun 2004 - Buy a copy now Editorial: Pentecost: As it was in the beginning ... - Michael Gilchrist Abortion: 'Pro-choice' issue emerges in US presidential campaign - Michael Gilchrist News: The Church Around the World Marriage: Statistics highlight the precarious state of marriage and family - AD2000 REPORT Theology of the Body: Why the silence on the Church's moral teachings? - Audrey Dillon Society: Why Chesterton is needed now more than ever - Dale Ahlquist Education: Chavagnes en Paillers: a Catholic college with a Catholic culture - Paul Russell The importance of beauty in the Liturgy - Christopher Pearson Poetry: The power and beauty of religious poetry - Star-Life, Identikit, Ministers - Bruce Dawe Poetry: The power and beauty of religious poetry - Cast fear behind thee, I am come! - Marion and Delia Craig Letters: New Liturgy document (letter) - John Schmid Letters: Disrespect (letter) - John Casamento Letters: Behaviour at Mass (letter) - Michael Ryan Letters: Options (letter) - Maryse Usher Letter: Signs of hope (letter) - Daniel Attard Letters: Priestly vocations (letter) - Monsignor Robert Egar Letters: The Passion - Suffering (letter) - Dr Arnold Jago Letters: The Passion - Not overdone (letter) - Monique Onezime Letters: The Passion - No ordinary man (letter) - Jony Joordens Letters: Faith and reason (letter) - John Kelly Letters: Gospel Dating - The Jesus Papyrus (letter) - Paul R. Smith Letters: Media Standards Australia (letter) - Denise Den-Bakker Letters: Name changes? (letter) - Frank Mobbs Letters: US Survey (letter) - Errol P. Duke Letters: Catholic books (letter) - Frank Carleton Events: Window Shopping for Non-Catholics - Fr Paul Newton Books: The Free Press, by Hilaire Belloc - John Ballantyne (reviewer) Books: The Outline Of Sanity, by G.K. Chesterton - Peter Westmore (reviewer) Books: Catharine With An 'A', by Edna Keir - Joan Graham (reviewer) Books: Looking Again at the Question of the Liturgy, Reform of the Reform? - Paul Russell (reviewer) Books: More new titles for 2004 from AD Books Reflection: The Holy Spirit: like a bed for the weary traveller - Fr Leo Duck

Thank you for the wonderful publication that you are.

It was inspirational to read Robert and Carmel Garrett's letter in the April AD2000. I say this because I was overjoyed to read that someone feels as passionately as myself about the effects of the media upon our culture. The culture that we permit by our silence is the one in which we must live.

You have echoed my own concerns: What will it take for us to take action? Will we continue to tolerate family life being destroyed, or hear Our Lord's name blasphemed over and over?

There are many people who share our concerns regarding the extreme proliferation of sex, violence, criminal behaviour, drug abuse and foul language. The trouble is that we rely upon the same few reliable people or organisations to speak out. The media tires of the same old names.

If every person who reads this would simply write to the daily newspapers and complain about the advertising of sexual services; the reporting of crude and disgusting material; the sexually suggestive or explicit material or whatever else we know to be morally wrong - then the media owners might think twice about such public opinion - against them.

Write to the Advertising Standards Board. Write to the Office of Film and Literature Classification whose responsibility it is to give ratings to movies. They have the power to disallow/ban movies; but with what they allow through in this country, one must wonder how bad a movie needs to be!

Write to Commercial Television Australia about the standard of programs and advertising.

If you are unsure or unable to express your opinions about what you see, read, hear, etc, then you could contact Media Standards Australia (MSA). It is a group of people who share a common concern for the amount of sex, violence and illegal, immoral material which people are being bombarded with in all media.

Media Standards Australia can take your concerns about advertisements and programs to the regulators and save you the effort of trying to figure out the long and complicated process of complaining.

We are trying to raise the standard. Will you add to the numbers? We use a lot of paper, ink, phone calls, emails, Internet, etc, visit Members of Parliament and speak publicly. All we ask is a $10 annual subscription and your name as a member. The MSA website is www.mediastandards.org, email: viewers@mediastandards.org

My own email is denbakker@bigpond.com

DENISE DEN-BAKKER
Frankston, Vic

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 17 No 5 (June 2004), p. 15