Page 175 - Key Words in Religion Media and Culture

158 Joyce Smith

The solidarity felt is simultaneously rooted in the recognition of what is
common to the human condition, as well as that which is specific to a given
public. Here I lean on news judgment, the hallmark of journalism: Why
will I care about this story? The answer lies in how relevant it is to my life
(a requirement of utility and empathy) and yet, how different it is from the
everyday world I inhabit (the need for novelty).
Unfortunately, much of the discussion in the global public is the result
of conflict, at least as it appears in the news. As Adams notes, it matters
whether the public sphere is “described as a place of hospitality or a war
zone” (Adams 2006: 19). However, here religion and news have something
in common.

Religion is significant for Habermas precisely because it is the realm
where the hyperbolic is identical with the everyday; it is where traditional
aspects of human life, including commitments to peace and practices of
hope, are most intensely expressed.
(Adams 2006: 19)

Eickelman and Anderson are among those who suggest that by decreasing
the gap between producer and consumer, new media create new public
space. This may be true, but if the space is perceived to be only the size of a
phone box (regardless of its interior spaciousness), it does not make much
2
of an impact on the global public. And as they themselves acknowledge,
publicness does not necessarily translate directly into participation in the the
public (Eickelman and Anderson 2003: 6). The globally broadcast Live Earth
Concert of July 7, 2007 was exceptionally public, but its ability to generate
action was disappointing.
To return to the concept of social sin, once the sin is known to exist,
it becomes a further sin not to confront it. And this failing is shared by all
those in the know, not just by the originators. So once brought to screens
worldwide, Darfur and Rwanda become responsibilities of the global public,
not only the scourge of the religious, local publics.

Monica and Hanif do eventually meet again, but online, where she admits
to being in the wrong FirstMate, and Hanif apologizes for getting so
wrapped up in The Economist that he didn’t look for her. But they do
chat about the Burmese protests, and Monica fills him in on what Rachel
in Thailand has heard. Hanif suggests that the next time they try meeting
at a new coffee shop his friend Karl recommends…