TRUTH

to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives.” —James MadisonAs a production associate at NOW,Khadijah White ’04 has contributedimportant ideas to the program.servative media, especially talk radio,includes members of communist groupsopenly dedicated to America’s destruction.”Less strident criticism of Klinenberg’s—and the movement’s—emphasis on ownershipconglomeration comes from MichaelSchudson ’64, professor of communicationat UC–San Diego. Writing in the ColumbiaJournalism Review, Schudson acknowledgesthat ownership matters but says there areother factors that affect the quality of informationfound in the press and on the air.These include public taste, which mediacompanies may try to “anticipate and channel”but cannot control; “professionalnorms, values, and courage” among journalists,who, unlike their corporate bosses, arewilling to “risk their lives covering Iraq” or“track down the expert who might explaincancer clusters”; the “public legitimacy” ofthe media and its natural foil “public disaffectionand protest”; and “the climate ofopinion within which the media operate”—including the current influence of scienceand religion, modern society’s tolerance fora certain “coarseness of public expression,”declining deference to “conventionalauthorities and canons,” and the broadlyendorsed “view of the United States asmulticultural.”Finally, Schudson writes, “the degree ofconsensus in the political elite matters.When there is significant, open disagreementamong politicians, the media areempowered and emboldened to report critically;when politicians close ranks, as theydid … in the wake of Sept. 11, the media haveno constituency for pressing alternativeviewpoints.”Five weeks after she pitched thestory on HPV and cervical cancer, KhadijahWhite is wrapping up last-minute productiondetails for Vaccine Debate.She conducted much of the initialresearch and set up interviews with a pediatrician,his 14-year-old patient, and the girl’smother. The story also featured RepublicanState Representative Patricia Birkholz, whointroduced legislation requiring the vaccinein Michigan. Peter Sprigg of the FamilyResearch Council argued that vaccinationshould be entirely voluntary. Another conservativeis quoted as saying, “This is tellinggirls that they can be promiscuous and stillbe safe.”“We were looking for the best voices onboth sides of the issue,” White says. Askedwhat she hoped the impact of NOW’s storymight be, White paused, then said: “Ideally,parents will see this, and fewer girls will dieof cervical cancer. As a woman, it’s beengood to help get this story out there. We tryELEFTHERIOS KOSTANSto provide the information people need tomake good decisions. A lot of the [healthcare]agenda has been set by men who willnever experience cervical cancer—andwomen need to be heard.”White says “it’s fun to find somethingand watch it come to life.” At NOW, she’scontributed to stories such as one showinghow laws intended to prevent voter fraudoften make it more difficult for minoritiesand the elderly to cast ballots and anotherthat investigated health-insurance policiesthat turn out to cover very few of the costsof being sick.But, she says, there’s often not enoughtime to do justice to a subject the way shewas taught at Swarthmore: “It’s hard, comingout of Swat…. I want to get as muchinformation out there as possible. I’malways concerned that we haven’t saidenough. Still, this is a place where you cangive voice to people who don’t get heard.”It had been a good week for White, whojoined NOW after teaching for a year inBrooklyn. The HPV story aired on Feb. 23,and she was credited as associate producer.The vaccination controversy heated up whenGovernor Rick Perry issued an executiveorder on Feb. 5 mandating the immunizationof girls in Texas, so “it’s fortunate thatwe went ahead with it,” White says. And, inpreparation for a future program, she hadhung out for most of a day with actor andactivist Danny Glover, who had unexpectedlyhelped her with something that’s been onher mind since she left Swarthmore. Likemany young college graduates, White isunsure about her future—it seems as ifthere are almost too many possibilities.“[Glover] told me that he had ‘kind offallen into acting.’ It wasn’t what he had setout to do. He said, ‘I always knew that whatI wanted to do is to be of some use.’” Whitesays. “That’s what I want to do, too—to beof some use. I believe that all paths leadsomewhere, whether it’s teaching, journalism,whatever you do.“He also told me that acting had been anunexpected revelation for him. I wrote thatdown. I guess I’m still looking for my unexpectedrevelation.” TFind links to NOW programs and otherresources mentioned in this article at the BulletinWeb site: www.swarthmore.edu/bulletin.march 2007 : 29