Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show BusinessTelevision has conditioned us to tolerate visually entertaining material measured out in spoonfuls of time, to the detriment of rational public discourse and reasoned public affairs. In this eloquent, persuasive book, Neil Postman alerts us to the real and present dangers of this state of affairs, and offers compelling suggestions as to how to withstand the media onslaught. Before we hand over politics, education, religion, and journalism to the show business demands of the television age, we must recognize the ways in which the media shape our lives and the ways we can, in turn, shape them to serve out highest goals. |
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Page 68
... called the " information- action ratio . " In both oral and typographic cultures , information derives its importance from the possibilities of action . Of course , in any communication environment , input ( what one is informed about ) ...
... called the " information- action ratio . " In both oral and typographic cultures , information derives its importance from the possibilities of action . Of course , in any communication environment , input ( what one is informed about ) ...
Page 123
... called " Walter Cronkite's Universe . " One would think that the grandeur of the universe needs no assistance from Walter Cronkite . One would think wrong . CBS knows that Walter Cronkite plays better on televi- sion than the Milky Way ...
... called " Walter Cronkite's Universe . " One would think that the grandeur of the universe needs no assistance from Walter Cronkite . One would think wrong . CBS knows that Walter Cronkite plays better on televi- sion than the Milky Way ...
Page 151
... called ) supplied funds to WNET for a similarly designed project called " Watch Your Mouth , " a series of television dramatizations in which young people inclined to misuse the English language fumbled their way through a variety of ...
... called ) supplied funds to WNET for a similarly designed project called " Watch Your Mouth , " a series of television dramatizations in which young people inclined to misuse the English language fumbled their way through a variety of ...
Contents
The Medium Is the Metaphor | 3 |
Media as Epistemology | 16 |
Typographic America | 30 |
Copyright | |
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advertising Aldous Huxley America amusing argument audience become believe Billy Graham called celebrities Charles Finney claims classroom coherent communication conversation course created culture Diff'rent Strokes Douglas eighteenth entertainment epistemology example exposition fact Frye Huxley idea implied intellectual irrelevant Jerry Falwell Jimmy Swaggart language learning Lincoln-Douglas debates literacy Marshall McLuhan matter means medium ment merely metaphor Mimi mind movie nature newscaster newspaper nineteenth century oral Orwell Pat Robertson photograph play preachers President printed word printing press problem public discourse question radio rational readers reason religion religious Reverend Robert Schuller rock music sense serious Sesame Street show business sion social speech story symbolic tele telegraph television commercial television program television screen television show television's thing tion tradition truth typographic viewers visual Walter Ong watch writing written word York