by Gayle Cue, Bangalow, NSW
“The power of media, whether direct or indirect, is a real power which acts on us, which modifies our behavior, our tastes and probably our thoughts. Like all authority, it cannot be applied at random. Otherwise, that power could become arbitrary and irresponsible. The power gives media people responsibility comparable to religious or political responsibility. In their own way they contribute to the establishment and maintenance of a human community. The well-being of that community should be their first concern.”1
As a community radio broadcaster I had felt this responsibility in my heart for many years, although I had not articulated it so succinctly. Then I came across this quote in a book so I typed it up on an A4 piece of paper and framed it… and hung it in Bay FM Community Radio, just outside the On Air studio to remind the 60 presenters who have a program, of the power of opening the microphone. It hangs there to this day.
It appears that many of our print media publishing houses need a copy too as they have done a disgraceful job of cut and pasting half baked stories for the purpose of inciting fervor in the community. For the most part, the articles are spiteful and damaging not only to those they denigrate but are a great disservice to the many who would benefit from exposure to the truth of what Universal Medicine is presenting.
Reference:
1: “The Dalai Lama’s Book of Daily Meditations; the Path to Tranquility” compiled and edited by Renuka Singh
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
The quote from the Dalai Lama is a great one calling for greater respect and responsibility. “In their own way they contribute to the establishment and maintenance of a human community”
This really brings all of us back to responsibility … how are we contributing to the world? Whatever we are saying, doing or thinking – is it supportive of ourselves and our community, or is it harming and divisive?
I agree Richard, we would never have such a corrupt media if we all equally took the well-being of our community as our primary concern.
The quote shares the power of wisdom, even in a small paragraph it encompasses what the foundation for the media should be. Such a foundation is something that nurtures whole communities, and grows values such as integrity, decency and truth. The Dalai Lama’s life and wisdom is centred around the care and concern for others, as opposed to the self focused foundation that is the base of corruption.
This is about responsibility in expression, which is also applicable to our own expression on a personal level. We do not appreciate the power we have hence the responsibility that goes with it.
Well-being should always be the north. Yet, different people hold different images/understandings of it. That is why, it is so important to offer a one unified vision on this subject.
That is because we have valued individualism above brotherhood that we now have different views, simply because what is in our heart is universal.
Power responsibility and wellbeing are 3 words that really stand out here. Media wield ginormous power and can heal or harm with the strike of a pen (or keyboard). So really the responsibility they hold for the wellbeing of all is paramount. By all means call out that which is not true and that which does not support the community, but do investigations with respect and decency. Importantly make corrections and apologies when you have it wrong. That also shows respect to the whole community and shows that you can be trusted.
Amazing Gayle, as the complexities and way of living from the media has become one of gossip mongering that needs to be exposed along with all the other corrupt ways that have infiltrated our social structures.
I wonder if this is what they wanted when they set out in media and then they got waylaid by money and power.
I love this too, it keeps us accountable for what we produce and I love also that you have this at your community radio station. We should send it to some of the media moguls that dominate the media landscape and influence our decision making every day!
“The well-being of that community should be their first concern.” This is the part that is sorely lacking from our media representation, if there was true care and integrity involved it would be impossible to write and print stories that are ultimately going to lie, hurt and lead astray everyone who reads them.
If the actual qualities of wise words are not embodied and lived they are merely words – a fact we should all appreciate.
So this is well said — for humanity needs truth in order to stop thickening the illusion by lies. Hence we all have a responsibility to what we bring to each other from our every day conversations to an article on any social media account. We are responsible for what we bring or not bring. Thank you for pointing it out so well that we all need to pay more attention in detail to our input to our community. For it enriches us more than we can think of. Especially if we start applying loving input.
When those who are in the position of power wield their power with no responsibility, they are just bullies.
There are a lot of people saying the same thing and yet not much is yet changing. That would signal to me that this message needs to go deeper into our communities, deeper into our relationships to pull out more support. As someone recently said to me the media can only publish what we are still tuning into, in other words if we stopped the demand the supply would have to change. This line struck me, “The well-being of that community should be their first concern.”
A great insight, Ray, and so true – for something so obviously corruptive and harmful to carry on so long despite many being aware of its harm only means we are liking what we are getting out of it.
That’s what we are saying by the conversation and action needs to go deeper as we all have a certain level of awareness around this but are still ‘entertaining’ it. This don’t just stop or go away we need to make the steps first or bring the awareness to what is truly happening first and then from there our movements from that point do the rest. We are so often use to having a ‘whinge’ about something and then throwing our hands in the air and saying similar to, ‘what’s the point we can’t change it’ or ‘it won’t change it anyway’ etc etc and this is what stops us from seeing deeper. We can’t just keep having the same reactions or conversations and hope that something changes. There needs to be more and more awareness bought to how we are with all these things and from there we can see more and more.
The feeling that we are but one and we cannot make a change because we are but one is why we have the media, the politics and the disrespect in our relationships that we do. Standing up and being prepared to speak when something is not right takes practice.
Thanks for sharing this great quote from the Dalai Lama, Gayle. If only our print media publishing houses took heed!
This deliberate misinformation that is spewed out by much of the print media is a lesson for us all to be aware of the messages we are giving out when we indulge in gossip.
Great to see and feel the responsibility and integrity expressed here Gayle.
If we had the well-being of the people at our heart the world would change dramatically. In the end it is so simple and yet we keep investing in a world that we do not like.
They are the wisest words I’ve heard about the truth of the media. Go the Dalai Lama, and Go Gayle Cue not far behind!
Kapow on calling out and nailing the disservice and harm caused by poor journalism. The power of the media does indeed have the ability to modify our tastes thoughts and behaviours and as such holds an enormous responsibility to not abuse such power.
Right on Gayle – maybe all broadcasters and news papers should get one of those printed lovingly on a christmas postcard?
The well-being of community should be our first concern – always, whatever our profession is. But who – truly! – could say that they do not act for their own comfort? To really serve humanity we have to change our way of living and being with each other into an integer action and expression. I am on that way and still learning how much I am acting for myself, blaming others…this is challenging but also a blessing, because I take it so. Thank God for Universal Medicine, Serge Benhayon and the students of The Livingness, who are supporting me through this stony road, always there to reflect me, lighting up my way so I can see more clearly. …If I choose to see and take this responsibility that is ours anyway.
Gayle thank you so much for sharing this wonderful quote from this powerful man – The Dalai Lama.“The well-being of that community should be their first concern.” That is really what counts and it seem that most of the media unfortunately need this reminder . . .
What a great quote you have shared Gayle, I hope that one day soon the media in general comes under intense scrutiny by the public, but I doubt the media itself would acknowledge such a thing by printing the truth about itself. It reminds me of a quote “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The Dalai Lama is both a wise and sensible man, his words “The well-being of that community should be their first concern.” about the media are absolute truth.
It seems that responsibility has gone out the window when it comes to today’s media, expressing and delivering truth is no longer its intention but feels more like the misinterpretation of truth to me. Thank you Gayle for exposing it and speaking up about what is truly going on.
It does really highlight how self-centred we are at times. Being ruthless as long as it benefits us…The media gets a good story, no matter the damage it does.
haha. To some, he just may be a cult leader. The ridiculousness of the media’s cult representation of universal medicine and Serge Benhayon is well pointed out here.
This was great to read. The Dalai Lama makes a completely valid point… One i think too many people just don’t care about or pay attention to enough.
“The well-being of that community should be their first concern.” This says everything and should be apart of everyones responsibility. If we all considered the power we have to affect people, especially the media, hopefully a lot of change would come about.
Thank you for sharing this piece of truth. Being in the media brings a high responsibility and it is so important to bring more awareness to that. It is big influence on how we live our lives.
Straight to the point here Gayle – these words by the Dalai Lama clearly express the power that the media has and their responsibility to use this power wisely. It seems that many news and media corporations have never read this and would do well to be reminded of this as part of their daily commitment and service to humanity.
Thankyou for this Gayle. Good to know that some people in media are authentic and know the power they wield for the public – for good or for harm. How many journalists publish with ‘ the well-being of that community should be their first concern.’
Indeed the role of the media has a lot to answer for.
It’s time to re-write our education system. How about religious, political and media people shared a class about community well-being?
Thank you Gayle for sharing the quote of the Dalai Lama, and your own version of the Hippocratic Oath for Broadcasters and the Media in general. Perhaps we need our Media to take their job of informing the Public more seriously by signing a version of the Hippocratic Oath especially worded for Media Reporting in all Newspapers , Radio and Television! Thank you Gayle for your own responsible reporting and example to all.
Thank you Gayle for sharing this power-full quote from the Dalai Lama. I especially loved this line about the media in his quote – ‘ The well-being of that community should be their first concern.’ – What a different world we would live in if the media took this level of responsibility and true care for communities everywhere.
Well said Gayle and the Dalai Lama.
This is a great quote, I love reading it, this wisdom and expression of truth is coming also from the Dalai Lama so it’s not only Serge Benhayon who can connect and know this truth, this proves the lies the media has told about Serge being a cult leader are absolutely false.
Thank you for sharing this Gayle. Hear, hear to the media making the well-being of the community their first concern ~ I look forward to this day.
Thank you Gail for sharing, we as the recipients of the media have sat back and accepted everything we were served without critical discernment. It is time we take the responsibility to not only remind all those in the media who need it but to stop accepting everything we know is not truth and not serving the well-being of a community and humanity as a whole.
Brilliant Gayle, there is so much truth in this quote, glad to know that there are those within the media who share and live this. I agree with you in that there are many within the media that could take a leaf out the Dalai Lamas book and begin to see the great responsibility they have in expressing truth rather than manipulating the public with lies.
Thank you Gayle for sharing the Dalai Lama quote, “The wellbeing of that community should be their first concern.” That is it in a nutshell.
Thank you for sharing this amazing quote Gayle which really sets out the responsibility that the media have towards the human community but I also agree with the other comments about how we contribute by talking up the drama in our lives. This is something I am consciously choosing not to be part of now but for many years it was one of the ways I tried to feel more connected with other people so I feel it is really important to share that there is another way of live our lives with authenticity which has no need of drama to make one feel more alive. A huge topic which it is so important to bring to people’s awareness.
Thanks for sharing this quote Gayle. It’s a great reminder for your colleagues of the responsibility they have in the media.
Reading the blog, I stopped at the word media. Media, I gathered, are intermediaries between ‘reality’ and the public. That is the source of their power. The power media has can be used in different ways. This is where what the Dalai Lama has so beautifully expressed applies in full, “The well-being of that community should be their first concern.” The Dalai Lama has just presented the future of where we are going, in spite of the fact that at the present many are walking in the opposite direction.
Gayle I wholeheartedly agree and could not have said it better, and what an extraordinarily powerful quote to bless all who read it. Thank you for sharing his inspirational and thought provoking wisdom.
Thank you Gayle – there is nothing more to say. The rest is livingness – let us show the world that there is an other way!!!!!
Thank you Gayle for sharing the quote from the Dalai Lama. What an amazing reminder for all of your colleagues to have the responsibility needed when speaking to the public. Its a shame that many press outlets don’t have the same quote hanging on their walls.
This was the section that jumped out at me too… I wonder how many journalists give any consideration to the well-being of the community they represent, as opposed to their own personal agenda’s, or simply being irresponsible because they can?
Thank you Gayle for sharing these words of wisdom from the Dalai Lama. A much needed message to be pinned to the notice boards of our publishing houses.
This is a great quote. Thanks for sharing this. It makes me wonder what well-being means to people? I feel that I might start asking.
Gayle, you are the beacon of what all journalists could inspire to be. College Media students should have this quote on the wall in all their classrooms.
Yes, I think you are on to it Joan. Great questions. As a general observation, I will venture to say that most people think emotional reactions prove you are alive. But emotional reactions are just that – reactions; not responses. When we can come from that still place within ourselves and respond to entertainment, films, comedians as well as the more difficult aspects of life on planet earth, that to me, is where the miracle of life is held.
I feel emotions have been made into the god to live by. It seems that every conversation I hear between people on the radio about entertainment, be they films, plays, concerts, comedians, as well as real life reporting about events, always comes back to measuring its success by the big emotional reaction it has created, almost as if no-one can feel truly alive without indulging in emotion. Is this because everyone is so numbed and de-sensitised that they cannot feel any more? And then we seek sensationalism to make us feel alive? This creates dramas which replay again and again.
The Dalai Lama is awesome. I love how he has made a connection between the responsibility of media, religion and politics. Thank you Gayle for your inspiring article and for your integrity within broadcasting.
I have several Dalai Lama “quotes”, sayings, thoughts that I have incorporated into my world view. One of my favourites is “Whenever possible, be kind. It is always possible.”
Thank you Gayle for another amazing quote which is a beautiful way to live.
Thank you Gayle for sharing this quote. It just goes to show that no matter what form of writing or expressing we use, we all have a responsibility and especially the media because so many people are shaped by it, affected emotionally by it and trust it to be a true source of information.
Hello Rosie, I feel your comments are more true today than ever before because of the huge footprint of the internet. We write something as a blog, or even as a comment, and it will be read by people we know and love AND by people who we have never met and never will. Our words and the energy behind them are entering into all these lives. Add to this the fact that our words stay available for – well, if not forever, for a very long time. Yes, we should keep this in mind, especially when expressing in written word.
I have loved re reading this quote by the Dalai Lama, it is so true and like Gayle, our media need it printed on their front doors reminding them of the power they hold. Having been visiting the southern hemisphere I have been struck by how sensational the news readers speak, the tone etc its like a big drama, it is like the razzmatazz has been given the most importance instead of truth and love. The impact on people is like the Dalai Lama says is very real and powerful. To be wielded with responsibility and love for all, not just for ratings.
Unfortunately, I feel the razzmatazz factor is worldwide….doesn’t matter which country or hemisphere. It is a global condition. Thanks to the wonderful world wide web, we are all living in the same neighbourhood in the 21st century. The decline of true reporting is a human condition that parallels the rise in illness and disease. It’s another manifestation of our choices. But it is exciting to know that if we each take responsibility for our own tolerance or acceptance of these matters we can make a difference. Comments in this blog are very inspiring. I loved Joan’s comment above, that the place to start is by cleaning up our own reporting to ourselves. 😉
Our media in recent years has become a very critical format, at what point did this way of reporting become so standardised. On top of this, at this current time there seems a lack of commitment to the foundation of news, which is presenting facts. A larger than ever amount of our media seems to be based on opinion and speculation, often without true representation of both sides of any story. It has become too easy for the media to churn out the stories they deem worthy, knowing we will accept whatever is thrown our way and swallow it without question. This is where our responsibility lies, to truly question what we are being presented, and demand a return to true investigative reporting without need for us to be entertained or satiated by what is presented, merely informed and enlightened.
Yes, humbling indeed it is when one is ready to admit responsibility for this mess! The less drama I choose to have in my life the more shallow the media, television, movies, music become and the less of a hold they have over me and my life.
That is a great parallel to draw……..as we stop ‘buying’ into our own drama, we also lose interest in the reported drama and so it follows that those sensationalised stories in the media become less important to us and have less of a hold over us.
Yes, Fiona. Taking responsibility is where it starts. Ouch.
Great point. When truth and integrity is lived from within only then can a true reflection be offered.
This is a wonderful observation AnneMarie.
Thankfully we have in you Gayle a journalist who can cut through the rot by so clearly and powerfully exposing the current journalism that prevails. A shining example of how journalism can be if integrity is embodied.
The well-being of the human community should be the first concern of the media according to the Dalai Lama. How awesome would it be if they wielded this power with the utmost respect for truth and their fellow beings as you do, Gayle, and stopped taking the sensationalist or mainly negative approach to reporting what is going on in society.
Is it possible that as each one of us stops being negative or dramatising the happenings in our lives, we are actually no longer feeding this hunger for sensationalised reporting that has huge numbers of people accepting, without discernment, what is being presented daily in most strands of the media?
Thank you to everyone who has commented on this blog. The “condition” of the current media (be it newspaper, magazine, television or radio) is something that should concern us all. But what to do about it?? Such a big question. I think Judy offers us a great place to start:
“Is it possible that as each one of us stops being negative or dramatising the happenings in our lives, we are actually no longer feeding this hunger for sensationalised reporting that has huge numbers of people accepting, without discernment, what is being presented daily in most strands of the media?”
Yes, Gayle and Judy, I realised recently that I was acting out dramas and making them sensational on very little evidence! So if that is what many of us do, then we deserve the press we get. To change within ourselves, now that is the place to start, clean up our own reporting.
I love this comment Joan……….”clean up our own reporting” for that is what we do, isn’t it? Everyday, we are our own personal commentator about what goes on around us. I’m going to have fun playing with this….listening to how I’m reporting on the world at large, how I’m reporting on humanity in action, how I’m reporting on my own actions!!
So true – great points you are making here. I too know the need to deliver a great and entertaining story in the hope for some attention and recognition. The thing is, telling these kind of stories never leave us feeling great – whereas expressing truth makes you feel amazing.
How true Gayle, there are so many of us fixating on the dramas in our lives.
We need to continue to find ways to make the media accontable for their untrue stories and character defamation. lt is unacceptable what lies and fictions they have invented about Universal Medicine just for the sake of sensationalism and attention. This is not integrity. That behaviour must be called out and the various perpetrators made to answer for their lies.
So true Judy ! what an awesome place to start. If we, as consumers, no longer call for the drama and gossip, the media will stop presenting it and change there ways. supply and demand.