Green Politicians Do 24-Hour Stint in Front of the Boob Tube

Do Green politicians even watch TV? One might think they'd rather spend their time on more worthwhile and earth-saving pursuits like separating their trash or setting up a network of eco-friendly natural food cooperatives.

But four members of the environmentalist party -- Fritz Kuhn, Grietje Bettin, Wolfgang Wieland and Anna Lührmann -- are turning themselves into couch potatoes for a full day and night. They're sitting themselves down on two couches in a gallery in Berlin's trendy Mitte neighborhood and doing some serious channel surfing.

"What does TV do to us?" the four ask themselves on the Greens' Web site. "Does it make us dumb and boring? Does the boob tube instruct? Is children's programming actually appropriate for children?"

The four politicians apparently want to know the answers to these questions, and more. Or, maybe they just want to log some time in front of the idiot box. Politicians' schedules, according to the party's media expert Bettin, don't allow much time for TV. They want to see what they're missing.

The whole gamut

But it's not just nature documentaries these friends of the earth will be checking out. They're going to experience the entire spectrum: trashy talk shows, staged court TV, dramas, sports and, yes, a few animal shows.

But who's got control over the remote?

"Umm, that could be a problem," Bettin told ARD public television, which in a somewhat self-referential move, sent out a TV reporter to cover the TV viewing.

But Kuhn, who heads the Greens' parliamentary group in the Bundestag, underlined the seriousness of the endeavor. Since Germans on average watch 3.5 hours of television a day, TV plays no small role in their lives.

"It's important that we have informative, quality television," he said. "We need to look closely at what's going on."

After enduring 24 hours of German television, he might find he's glad that he doesn't have much time to spend with remote control in hand.