How To Watch TV News, Revised Edition
How To Watch TV News, Revised Edition
Neil Postman and Steve Powers
Anyone who relies exclusively on television for his or her knowledge of the world is making a serious mistake. Just as television can show things about the world that cannot be experienced through print, print can reveal complexities …and facts that are not possible to show on television. Therefore those who have not read about the world are limited in their capacity to understand what they see on television… Preparation for watching television news begins with the preparation of one’s mind through extensive reading. – From the Introduction
Today, this message is still appallingly true, but with the Internet and the abundance of cable channels, the problems have proliferated. This revised edition reveals the shocking ways in which media is manipulating our worldview.
Contents
Are You Watching Television, or Is Television Watching You?
What Is News?
Getting Them into the Electronic Tent
Donuts, Bigfoot, Mules and the Bird
Behind the Scenes
The News Director
Reenactments and Docudramas, or No News Is Still News
The Bias of Language, the Bias of Pictures
The Commercial
Television in the Courtroom
What Does It All Mean?
What Can You Do?
Where Do We Go From Here?
