In ‘The Peek-a-Boo World,’ chapter 5 of Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman argues that the 19th century saw America begin to develop a shallow and sensationalist culture that only took information and media at face value. In support of his argument he makes the following three points: that telegraphs allowed insignificant information to be easily conveyed, thus cheapening media as a whole; that penny newspapers used more readily accessible information from telegraphs to begin printing countless sensationalist headlines; and that the popularization of photographs began to draw people to superficial images rather than the articles that they were intended to be supporting. Postman first argues that the invention of the telegraph in the
The 1920s became known as an era memorable for being a time when new products, new ways of marketing and advertising, and standardization gave the country new ways to interact, enjoy themselves, and introduce them to new products. Although very common today, standardization of mass culture like magazines, radio, movies, music, and sports were exciting new innovations to the people of this time. Not only did they distract from the monotony and stresses of work but they created celebrities that people aspired to be like.
One reason for the outspread of muckraking was the explosion of journalism. From 1870-1909 the number of daily newspapers circulated boomed from 574 to 2,600 and the number of subscribers from 2,800,000 to 24,800,000. With this increase, newspaper owners and editors needed new bait to reel in its subscribers. The newspaper editors wanted to replace ordinary town gossip with gossip about the latest events of the city. Therefore, in newspapers they placed the most shocking events and kept the rural mind drooling for more. As newspaper circulation grew, the large newspaper depended much less on political parties and could now even challenge them. Newspapers played on the new human interest, the concern of the wealthy with the affairs of those below them, status-wise. This "story of the poor" became the basic outline for muckraking (Ho...
In Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman alerts us to the dangers brought about by the way television conditions us to tolerate the brevity of visual entertainment. His message is that with each new technological medium introduced, there is a significant trade-off. His primary example was the medium of television. TV is structured to provide information to the viewer on a platform which is both quick and entertaining. This discourages any viewer subjectivity, allowing television to shape and dictate [politics, education, religion, and journalism] the essence of our discourse. Except for a few pages of "enlightenment", the entire book was a conglomerated resource of evidence to support his hypothesis. Important facts underlined generalizations to present logical and agreeable viewpoints.(e.g. "Television is our culture's principle mode of knowing about itself. Therefore... how television stages the world becomes the model for how the world is properly to be staged..."( Postman 92) In other words, how life is depicted on television is how we expect life to be.) And in most cases some truth could be found in Postman's statements (e.g. "For no medium is excessively dangerous if its users understand what its dangers are.") (Postman161) Postman's final critical point was not merely enlightenment, but was a message to his reader and a solution aimed at educators: "the point I am trying to make is that only through a deep and unfailing awareness of the structure and effects of information, through a Bibbs 2 demystification of media, is there any hope of our gaining some measure of control over television , or the computer, or any other medium." (Postman 161) I agree. Until we begin to quest...
Look Who’s Talking is a comedy, family, and romance film that features Bruce Willis, who plays the voice of Mollie’s son Mikey as the main character, John Travolta as James, Kristie Alley as Mollie, and George Segal as Albert, the dishonest father of Mikey. Look Who’s Talking is a film related to the physical development in infancy. Mikey uses his inner voice to express how he feels and observes life as a baby. This film is an outlook on how most babies who cannot express themselves vocally might view and perceive society. There are several developmental theories and influences of society and culture that are underlined psychological issues related to the film.
He contends that the “news of the day” was not possible until the invention and mass use of the telegraph. As the culture further embraced new electronic mediums, first radio and then television, the legitimacy of such information began to decline (p. 8). It is not that Postman is against mediums as television per say. What he calls “junk programs,” entertainment for the sake of entertainment, has value as amusement. Nonetheless, it is when subjects of a serious matter, news, politics, and religion become vehicles for amusement; there Postman sees a fundamental decline in the culture (p.
In “Wires and Lights in a Box,” the author, Edward R. Murrow, is delivering a speech on October 15, 1958, to attendees of the Radio-Television News Directors Association. In his speech, Murrow addresses how it is his desire and duty to tell his audience what is happening to radio and television. Murrow talks about how television insulates people from the realities in the world, how the television industry is focused on profits rather than delivering the news to the public, and how television and radio can teach, illuminate, and inspire.
Peek-A-boo is a game which involves two individuals, where one individual hides their eyes and face from their counterpart and then surprises them by simply uncovering their eyes or face and saying the phrase "Peek-a-boo, I see you". When the game of "Peek-a-boo" is played with a baby, the baby shows approval by being surprised as he/she smiles and laughs. Evidence of early stages of social, physical, cognitive as well as emotional growth and development is observed as the baby reacts with excitement, and mimics facial expressions. Within the early months of development of the fetal brain functions, simple emotions such as smiling or laughing while playing games such a "Peek-a-boo" reveal the development of the brain. Consequently, the neurons,
Postman has valid points when he claims that television and media are destroying the American society. Postman is right to assume that television is manipulating the way Americans think. However, television can provide Americans with both right and wrong morals. Since this book was written in 1985, Postman could not have predicted the influence technology has on the current American population. The theory he applies to television is similar to the theory he probably would have used on modern day media. The dependency we have on media reiterates Postman’s thesis that Americans are losing critical thinking skills and basic human values.
Prior to the Neolithic Revolution, news and traditions were passed down over time by word of mouth. With each additional person, the tale got altered based on that person’s point of view and values. Overtime, these common methods of interpersonal communication, such as the ways humans communicated and what they communicated about, shifted with the change in technology. However, the altering of information remained the same. Much like the oral tradition, modern day media has a way of altering reality. In Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, he argues that the media, both on television and in print, have negatively affected and altered the way societies communicate. Together, the varying mediums cause phenomenon’s in the world to
Throughout the different parts of Peekay’s life, he seems to have a lack of true parental influences. From growing up without his parents and always moving around, Peekay has been shaped by people that have entered his life. Whenever some sort of adult figure would come into the picture, such as Hoppie and Doc, he would immediately consider them to be his idols. Since he didn’t have a true parental figure, he would try to emulate any adult he met. By looking up to these people, he would learn from their guidance. This eventually shaped who Peekay became because most of his moral values are advice from past idols. Peekay’s achievement of the power of one and development as an individual is caused by the
The form of communication created by the television is not only a part of how our modern society communicates, but is has changed public discourse to the point that it has completely redefined it, argued Neil Postman in his convincing book Amusing Ourselves to Death. He viewed this as very harmful, and additionally so because our society is ignorant of it as they quickly becomes engulfed in its epistemology. When faced with the question about whether the television shapes or reflects culture, Postman pointed out that it is no longer applicable because "television has gradually become our culture" (79). What kind of culture is this? Postman warned that it is one in which we are instructed and informed through the form of entertainment, and that through such a medium, we are becoming dulled, ignorant of real issues, and amused right into a very possible culture death. Today, sixteen years after the book's publication, he would probably have a similar message (though possibly more passionate) to say about our present culture, especially in the areas of education and the nightly news, which have grown progressively worse.
The public was further angered by something called “yellow journalism”. Yellow journalism refers to writers such as Joseph Pullitzer and William Hearst trying to outdo each other with screeching headlines and hair raising “scoops”. Where there were no headlines, the yellow press would exaggerate and fabricate stories to get readers interested in their newspaper. For example, Hearst once wrote about Spanish Customs Offic...
Newspapers, and magazines both helped people stay and touch, and know what’s going on around them. The shift from print-based journalism to electronic media began in the 1920s. Competition between newspapers and radio was minimal, because the latter was not yet an effective news medium ("History of American Journalism”). A lot of the newspapers gave foreign and domestic news weekly. They gave more diversity by featuring poetry and religious sections, since most writers had those views. There was a new way of presenting newspapers during this era, and that was the tabloid format. Tabloids were half the size of a regular newspaper, and they were soon to be known as magazines. Some of the popular magazines were Reader's Digest, Time, Vanity Fair, and even Vogue. Magazines like Time were informational magazines with detailed current events, while magazines like Vogue set fashion trends ("Mass Media”). These forms of media were essential to the nation being open to new ideas, and knowledgeable to everything that was
Prior to the 1980s, sensationalism in news was primarily conceived in terms of story content, referring to news coverage of ‘crime, violence, natural disasters, accidents, and fires, along with amusing, heartwarming, shocking, or curious vignettes about people in the area’ (Adams, 1978). Since the 1980s, stories dealing with celebrities, crime, sex, disasters, accidents, and public fears have been constantly labeled as sensational (Ehrlich, 1996). In essence, news stories that ‘violate a comfortable psychological distance between audience members and their perceptions of events in the physical world could be considered sensational news stories for their potential to provoke more sensory and emotional reactions than what society generally deems proper to experience (Grabe, Shuahua & Barnett,
Television is a vital source from which most Americans receive information. News and media delegates on television have abused theirs powers over society through the airing of appealing news shows that misinform the public. Through literary research and experimentation, it has been proven that people's perception of reality has been altered by the information they receive from such programs. Manipulation, misinterpretation, word arrangement, picture placement and timing are all factors and tricks that play a major role in the case. Research, experimentation, and actual media coverage has pinpointed actual methods used for deceptive advertising. Television influences society in many ways. People are easily swayed to accept a belief that they may not normally have unless expressed on television, since many people think that everything they hear on television is true. This, however, is not always the case. It has been observed that over the past twenty to thirty years, normal social behavior, even actual life roles of men and women and media, regulatory policies have all been altered (Browne 1998). Media has changed with time, along with quality and respectability. Many Americans receive and accept false information that is merely used as an attention grabber that better the show's ratings and popularity. Many magazines and Journal reviews have periodically discussed the "muckraking" that many tabloid shows rely on to draw in their viewers. This involves sensationalizing a story to make it more interesting, therefore increasing the interest of the audience. "Along the way, all sorts of scandalous substance and goofy tricks appear, but not much mystery in the logic," (Garnson 1997). People often know that these shows aim to deceive them, but still accept the information as truth. Many times, people have strong opinions on certain topics. Yet, when they are exposed to the other side of the argument, they may be likely to agree with the opposite view. As Leon Festinger said, "If I chose to do it (or say it), I must believe in it," (Myers 1997). This is an example of Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory, which pertains to acting contrary to our beliefs. Television influences many people to change their original beliefs. It has the viewers think that the majority of other people hold the contrary idea. Once these views are presented, people have the option to hol...