03/08/2008

Multiple tasks affect the brain

CARLOS EDUARDO LINS DA SILVA
ombudsman@uol.com.br

How the relationship between youth and the media will evolve and with what effects, only the future knows; what is crucial now is to pay attention to the matter

The supplement Century 21 Youth last Sunday is an example of the type of useful information for the public which, among the media, only a big news organization can offer.

Without structure, money and well-paid journalists, you can't do high-quality surveys, editing, texts, illustrations, photos and graphics like these. And no other medium is willing to do this sort of thing for consumers more than printed newspapers.

The results of the study, the object of arduous praise by dozens of readers to the ombudsman, are, it is easy to assume, debatable.

The basically conservative profile of today's Brazilian youth left many happy and many others discouraged. Different from their counterparts in the United States, where similar studies indicate growth in support for "progressive" principles, "leftist" ideals seem to be declining by Brazilian youth.

But the ideological question will be better discussed by political scientists. This is a place to contemplate the relationship between youth and the media. The Datafolha survey shows that TV is still the favorite medium of youth, but the Internet is advancing and is already the leader in some segments.

Among boys ages 16 to 17 and 18 to 21, and among boys and girls and social classes A and B, the Internet is the favorite medium by the biggest numbers. In the richest group, it has a 43% to 26% advantage over TV.

What does this mean for the intelligence and culture of this generation? Many people worry a great deal about the notion that spending hours in front of the computer screen could make youth stupid the same as fears in the past about TV, movies, radio, and even books.

The available scientific research is incipient and inconclusive. It notes a growing decline in quality and quantity of information about history, geography and politics among those whose priority for information is the Internet in countries such as the United States and France.

But this does not necessarily mean, as some assume, that these people are becoming stupider than previous generations. It is possible that they don't know the information, but know how to obtain it, such as people who stopped memorizing multiplication tables when calculators allow them to make tabulations without committing them to memory.

There are some conclusions which, however, already seem to be a consensus. One of them is the fact that occupying the brain with multiple tasks, typical of the liturgy on the Internet, changes the way of thinking and incorporating knowledge negatively for the individual.

Multiple tasks (being at the same time on Google, Facebook, YouTube, Skype and Outlook with the TV on and listening to music for example), force the brain to divide its processing resources, even when activities are not carried out in only one part of the brain.

There are studies which show that this impairs learning and memorization. Others suggest that it accelerates aging of the brain.

The influence of this characteristic by the Internet is spread by other communications media. TV inserts an infinite amount of information simultaneously on the screen together with the main program. The graphic project adopted by Folha starting in 2006 tried to mimic the diversity of information together, with the objective of attracting the attention of youth tied to the Internet, still not knowing if it was successful.

Datafolha showed that 26% of youth prefer the Internet, 33% TV, and 19% printed newspapers. How these trends will evolve and with what effects only the future knows. What is crucial now is to pay attention to the matter.

Small, but important

One of the vices of redemocratization in Brazilian politics is the attempt to guarantee through laws equality among political parties, independent of their size and relevance.

For example, this makes it unfeasible to hold electoral debates on TV that are minimally comprehensive and significant since, through judicial instruments, the promoters must accept the presence of candidates in excessive numbers, many with no legitimacy.

Opportunists gain politically or monetarily from compulsory time given to free ads and the chance to expose publicly what legislation they offer.

Printed news media, by not being public concessions, have every right, even a duty, to separate the wheat from the chaff, even if they are often pressured to act in accord with the principle of supposed equality.

But it is necessary to not confuse size with representation. There are small parties which represent expressive sectors of society, with indisputable importance. That is the case of the Liberty and Socialism Party (PSOL). The party only has three members in the Chamber of Deputies and one senator. But it was in third place in the 2006 presidential election, with 6.5 million votes, almost 7% of the total.

More than this, it has a real program, follows respectable principles and imposes an ethical code of conduct on its members.

Throughout coverage of the campaign for municipal elections this year, Folha has at times relegated the PSOL to a smaller space than its political size merits.

TO READ

"Remote Control - Language, Content and Participation on TV Programs for Adolescents," various authors, Cortez Publishing, 2004 (starting at 14.25 reals, or US $8.90) - collection of articles about the relationship between TV and adolescents

"Adolescents and the Media - Psychological Impact," by Victor C. Strassburger. Artmed Publishing (Rio Grande do Sul state), 1999 (starting at 35.20 reals) - good review of literature about the influence of media on youth

"The TV That Your Children See," by Bia Rosemberg. Panda Books, 2008 (29.90 reals) - advice about how the country can help its children in their relationship with TV

TO SEE

"The Dreamers," by Bernardo Bertolucci, 2003 (starting at 19.90 reals) - masterpiece about youthful movie lovers in Paris in May 1968

"The Last Picture Show," by Peter Bogdanovich, 1971 (29.90 reals) - good account about youth at the time when TV replaced movies

"The Summer of '42," by Robert Mulligan, 1971 - moving tale of the life of youth in the era of radio

TOPICS MOST COMMENTED DURING THE WEEK

1. Century 21 Youth section
2. Commentary about Batman movie
3. Operation Satyagraha

WHAT THE NEWSPAPER DID RIGHT

Consumer protection
Report on July 31 puts a reporter in the role of consumer and tells about typical experiences of readers facing a hostile consumer protection service

Farc
Newspaper offers a serene and factual focus to deal with doubtful accusations of dangerous relations between the Farc (Colombian rebel group) and Brazilians

AND WHERE IT WAS WRONG

Gilberto Gil
Headline on front page Thursday to a report anticipated for weeks, with a lack of political, economic, social and cultural effect, was silly

Food subsidy
Report on July 26 inappropriately condemns as an important electoral innovation the social program, which answers resulting criticism

Randy Pausch
Newspaper ignores the death of the American professor who became a worldwide icon on YouTube for his elevated attitude facing a terminal illness

Environment Ministry
Like all media, Folha follows the herd with self-serving scoops from the Environment Ministry, always seeking good photo ops

-Translation by John Wright