Front Page Talking Points

FOR THE WEEK OF OCT. 26, 2009

TV shows set an example of volunteer service in new crusade

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1.gifLook for coverage of volunteers, a nonprofit group or a money-raising event in your area.

2.gifSee if you also can find a story or photo about a good deed or community improvement that shows how neighbors or local resources make a difference.

3.gifDiscuss or list ways the newspaper can support community service campaigns. Give any examples you recall of campaigns the paper leads or joins, such as during the upcoming holiday season.

You may notice an echo about volunteer community service as you click the TV remote control these days. The value of giving back is being promoted through story lines or actors' public service announcements on more than 100 programs across cable and traditional networks. The unparalleled iParticipate campaign, which started last week and continues through October, was organized by a major Hollywood charity called the Entertainment Industry Foundation .
It also promoted Make a Difference Day last Saturday, when groups and individuals nationwide cleaned up their communities, helped neighbors in need and did other volunteer work.

On "Hannah Montana," Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus) tries to win her school's charitable fund-raising campaign. Contestants on "Biggest Loser" volunteer at a Los Angeles food bank. Doctors on "Private Practice" give homeless teens free checkups. On "30 Rock," page Kenneth Parcell tried to adopt all the dogs at an animal shelter. And in a 30-second ad, Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman compares volunteers to superheroes. "Everyone needs a hero. Who will you look out for?" he asks.

The project matches President Obama's call for national service, a fact that led critics to say iParticipate was an abuse of the public airwaves and an effort to prop up liberal causes. In response, backers note that an online list of volunteer opportunities at inparticipate.org includes anti-abortion organizations, veterans organizations and the conservative group Tea Party Nation. "All of our political leaders have made national service a priority," says foundation chief executive Lisa Paulsen. "This is a nonpartisan initiative." Her group now is asking film and music executives to incorporating iParticipate into their work.

Organizer says: ""We thought we'd have 20 or 30 programs involved. It's just caught on like wildfire." -- Lisa Paulsen, chief executive of the Entertainment Industry Foundation

Columnist says: "You were not able to change the TV channel all week without getting lectured about the need to get off the couch and Do Something -- after your favorite shows are over, of course. Creeped out? You should be." -- Michelle Malkin, The Washington (D.C.) Times

Editorial says: "In further proof that no good deed goes unpunished, right-wing critics are coming unglued over this. They have bashed the initiative because of an internal memo that shows the foundation planned the initiative to respond to President Barack Obama's call for renewed civic engagement.. . . . The anti-Obama zealots ignore the good of this campaign." -- Las Vegas Sun


Front Page Talking Points is written by Alan Stamm for NIEonline.com, Copyright 2024

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Common Core State Standard
SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support.