What sort of discussion works best?
Friday, 10th November 2006

Dear friends,

In the discussion forum today, Enda draws our attention to an interesting article by Sr Joan Chittester on the style of public discussion in America. It's well worth reading as it has implications for the style of discussion we want to be fostering in the Church, and in our community here.

Also interestingly, in the news this morning it seems there has been a fairly dramatic shift in the Catholic vote in the U.S. Congressional elections of recent days. One might hope that the community is becoming weary of affairs of state being decided by the emotionalism of talk-back radio. Talk-back radio is not actually about discussion and debate. It is about attracting listeners to a cock fight which, in turn, attracts advertisers. And the advertisers basically do not care what the bait is just so long as they can get their name, or products, in front of the largest number of listeners at the cheapest cost per listener.

Talk-back radio is predicated on anger and the other emotions. It deliberately seeks to make people angry, weepy or sentimental. Many people participate in internet discussion forums also seeking some emotional release: to vent their anger about this or that, to prove their loyalty or patriotism. One wishes George Orwell were still alive to be commenting on the phenomenon.

Having a serious discussion though is hard work. To have fully absorbed all that was on the CathNews discussion forum yesterday would have taken the average person at least four hours of listening and viewing. Most people cannot afford that time amongst all the other priorities in their lives.

I don't know how we address this constant dilemma. As editor of Catholica Australia I do find it a dilemma in deciding how much we can afford to publish each day without literally causing overload in the audience we seek to attract.

Have a great day wherever you happen to be ... in life, and in our world.

Forget the Pope - Saddam must 'swing before he sings'! Cliff casts a very cynical eye on the behaviours of a number of the key groups who've had a lot to say about prosecuting the War on Terror. He asks if they have a motive for wanting Saddam to "swing before he sings"? [more]

Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher
Catholica Australia