I was struggling with a decision on an offer to change jobs. I liked my current job. It was creative and challenging. I liked my staff. We were making a difference through the radio and television programs we produced. I was leading workshops — Television Awareness Training (TAT) — in the U.S. and an occasional foreign country. TAT focused on the harmful effects of children and adults who were heavy viewers of shows with a lot of violence.
Research indicated that heavy viewing of violent television shows changed the viewers’ perception of reality. They had more guns in their homes. They didn’t venture into nearby cities. They were more fearful of persons who didn’t look like them.
I was president & CEO of the Media Action Research Center (Marc) that developed TAT, produced 30-second commercials that showed adolescents alternate ways of resolving conflict without violence. This led to broad news coverage and invitations to testify before the House and Senate communications committees.
Television Networks insisted their violent programming had no negative effects. But children learn by observation. PBS shows Sesame Street and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood showed how powerful television is.
And so, I was torn. I had five years until retirement. The offer was to become the president and CEO of a new start-up, The Odyssey Cable Network. It was sponsored by a coalition of 67 national faith communities. It presented challenging programs without violence.
As I was riding up an elevator to my 19th floor office, a woman got on with me. She was a staff person with a national faith community. As she left the elevator on her floor, having just learned she was going to retire, I quickly asked, “What are you going to do in retirement?”
She replied, “Join the Peace Corps.”
I was stunned. I thought if she can do that, I can certainly take a risk on this new cable channel.
I decided to leave my current job and go to Odyssey. While I changed jobs, it did not change my purpose and mission: to create television programs that affect viewers’ lives positively! “To make Faith visible on television.