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Interview with Judy Rodgers
Entrevista
"The seeds of the new world are living in the
midst of the chaos and cacophony of the old one"
- Judy
Rodgers
By Manoel Fernandes Neto, Rosa Alegria and Brigida Fries
"History tells us that breakdowns - small and large - are often the
catalyst for the emergence of a new world order". The statement is by the
coordinator of the projectc "Images and Voices of Hope", Judy Rodgers, that
will be in Brasil next Saturday, 24th of November, participating of the event
Imagens e Vozes da Esperanca, that will take place in Rio de Janeiro.
Former Executive Vice-President of a division of New World Knowledge
Entertainment, ex-director of programming of CBS/Fox Video and the department
of sports programs of Twentieth Century Fox Video, Judy will meet in the
event journalists, artists, intellectuals, editors, professionals conected to
the media. The challange is imense: to dialogue and define the positive
impact in transmission of data and description of facts. This global
conversation is taking the media planetary. Events already occurred in the
cities of Sao Paulo, New York, Boston, Miami, Providence, Seattle, Chicago,
Santiago do Chile, Tampa, Toronto, London, Ottawa, Vancouver, Capetown, Seul,
Denver, Orlando, Dallas and Los Angeles. "Images and Voices of Hope is an
agent of the community and transformation. It gives us an opportunity to
reflect on the impact of our messages and images and about what we could do
collectivelly if we thought about media and arts not merely as businesses,
but as agents for the benefit of the world", says the communicator that on
the 26th in Sao Paulo also participates of the Workshop "Spirit in Business"
for presidents and directors of companies at Espaco Nutrimental, with the
support of World Business Academy, Instituto Ethos e Brahma Kumaris . But how
to create positive images of the world after September 11? How to syntonize
histories of hope without abandoning reality? These and other questions were
answered by Judy Rodgers by email, exclusively for Nova-e and Midia da Paz,
when she was preparing to her trip to Brasil.
For her, the moment has come to implement these transformations: "After
three years of meeting with artists, media professionals and journalists in
countries all over the world I have no doubt about the strong will of all of
us to be agents of benefit." See the whole interview:
Nova-e - What is your assessment of the moment the world is facing
today, the attention being towards war, vengeance, and prejudice? What would
be, in your opinion and despite all that, the alternatives for people to
continue believing that real peace is possible?
Judy Rodgers -The world is in a delicate balance at this moment. No
matter what our country of origin or spiritual affiliations, it is clear that
many of the long-running divisions between the Northern World and the
Southern World, the so-called "first" and "third" world, the Moslem,
Christian, and Jewish Worlds have come to a head. We have forgotten what we
have in common and have succumbed to a kind of partisanship that serves none
of us.
History tells us that breakdowns - small and large - are often the catalyst
for the emergence of a new world order. I believe the seeds of the new world
are living in the midst of the chaos and cacophony of the old one. It is up
to us to develop the capacity to see them for what they are. Epochal change
never shows up as a parade down the main street of our largest cities. It
ripples across the consciousness of the world, stirring individuals in their
intimate conversations and appearing first in small gatherings and peripheral
publications. This is true whether you look at the start of the world's great
religions or the birth of a new national order as happened in the last decade
in Poland. Real peace is a consciousness that each of us reclaims in the
privacy or our heart and head. Once we have done that, we begin to have the
capacity to see the emergent order in ways that those around us often cannot.
Nova-e - How can we think of a world that we want and see it as a
real possibility in a context of negative images?
Judy Rodgers -Negative images can serve a very similar function to
breakdowns. They can tear at the fabric of our complacency and introduce a
sudden awareness that catalyzes us to action. The image of the young man
facing the tank in Tianamen Square was such an image. The image of the young
girl running naked down the street in Viet Nam was another. For many people
the World Trade Centers burning in the heart of New York City will be another
such indelible image. The first image produced a groundswell of support for
the Chinese students. The second one caused citizens of the United States to
harden in their opposition to the Viet Nam war. This final image of the World
Trade Centers created such an outpouring of support that the American Red
Cross and the United Way, both of whom created funds to help those devastated
by the tragedies of 911, finally had to admit that they were unable to spend
the money that they had received.
However, while a negative image can be a powerful agent of transformation,
a stream of negative images has the reverse affect of numbing the viewer and
causing us to recoil in fear and helplessness. A constant diet of negative
images cannot produce the real generativity the world needs at this time.
Nova-e - What is the meaning of the global dialogue that the
project "Images and Voices of Hope" has been implementing? What have been the
results?
Judy Rodgers -Images and Voices of Hope is an agent of community
and transformation for the journalists, media professionals, and artists who
collectively constitute the "world media system", if I can coin a term. It
gives us an opportunity to come together to reflect on the impact of our
messages and images and on what it is we might do collectively if we thought
of media and the arts not merely as businesses but as agents of world
benefit.
Many of the outcomes of this project have been dispersed in many locations
of the world. Often we will hear later about a radio program that aired in
Argentina or a community project that started in Chicago. There are a number
of results that we are aware of: art exhibitions on Hope in Providence Rhode
Island sponsored by the Rhode Island School of Design, a film festival in
South Florida, two television specials through the Public Broadcasting
System, a youth-sponsored initiative in Santiago, etc. Nova-e - With the
Internet approach, which are the main responsibilities of the new opinion
makers who use this medium, fantastic in its facility of dissemination? Judy
Rodgers -What comes to mind immediately for me was the outpouring of letters
that circulated on the Internet after the attacks on the World Trade Center
and the Pentagon in September. With each passing day there were more letters
and essays and most of them were quite reflective, asking what role the US
might have played in arousing this level of anger, expressing gratitude to
the firefighters who rushed back into the World Trade Center to attempt to
help people escape, and explaining that Moslems are a deeply peace loving
people. This ability of the Internet to support rapid and widespread
dissemination of ideas in the moment is extraordinarily powerful. Nova-e - In
your opinion, to what extent have the commercials, news, radio programs, TV
shows, and movies influenced the attacks on September 11th in the United
States? Can we make a correlation?
Judy Rodgers -There is quite a bit written about the impact of the
media on society and obviously this is one reason why Images and Voices of
Hope has come into being - to acknowledge the powerful role played by the
World Media in influencing the consciousness of people on all continents. The
most important response we can have is to acknowledge the extraordinary
influence of public images and messages and to ask what we might do to use
this influence in the most positive way possible. Nova-e - As Images and
Voices of Hope spreads globally will it influence the world public
authorities so that they take measures to combat social exclusion and read
for peace on Earth? How do you see this challenge?
Judy Rodgers - We just spoke above about the immense influence of
public images and messages on the thoughts and actions of the world. If the
media has the capacity to contribute to the violence and anger and fear of
the past, it certainly has the capacity to contribute to peace, compassion
and courage in the future. This kind of shift doesn't happen through
proclamation. It happens because thousands of artists, media professionals
and journalists make a commitment to dedicate themselves and their work to
being agents of benefit for the world.
Nova-e - Bringing to the real practical level, what may appear
utopic for many, in your opinion, what are some positive references in media
today? Judy Rodgers - After the attacks of September 11, there was an
outpouring of inspiring writing and photography in the media. Time Magazine
ran the wonderful and widely circulated story of the airplane pilot to
appealed to his passengers to "think like a family" during the course of the
flight. Newsweek Magazine ran a whole issue on heroes and acts of heroism.
The Christian Science Monitor has always stood out as a special case in
journalism. I believe their motto is "to harm no man and bless everyone."
There are new start-up publications such as Yes! Magazine about positive
futures and Hope Magazine. There are also many powerful television specials
and films. After three years of meeting with artists, media professionals,
and journalists in countries all over the world, I have no doubt about the
strong will of all of us to be agents of benefit. The most important thing
that we can do, beyond whatever we do in the course of our work is to
patronize the media business and media outlets that are working as agents of
benefit and to encourage our friends to do the same. This will address the
perception that people only want to read about bad news and violence.
Em portugues
Manoel Fernandes Neto, journalist, is the publisher of NovaE - digital
magazine and publishing and content director of MFN Comunicacao . He is also
the Midia da Paz publisher. See more:
Colaboration: Rosa Alegria - alegria@uol.com.br , Brigida Fries - Brahma
Kumaris
English e Portuguese:
Sandra Costa e Daniela Soares, Brahma
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