• Difference between medium and technology (according to Postman)
  • TV technology is used around the world (though it varies)
  • It can vary from one culture to another, greatly–what does TV ‘mean’ to the average American?
• Is a change in medium important  Or are they all just ‘extensions’ of the previous media? Some examples:
  • horse buggy and automobile–just an ‘extension?’
  • typewriter and computer
  • 45 rpm record, MP3, video
  • arrows, cannons and nuclear warheads
  • books and TV??
• Can serious subjects be discussed on TV (depth, quality, entertainment demands, expense, language and audience, attention span)?
• How is information processed?
  • TV is ‘real time’ (for the most part . . . there is recording technology, Netflix, etc.)
  • images vs text–is there a difference in how the brain processes?
  • Does recording technology change the crucial relationship between television and advertising (e.g., if it’s possible to ‘skip’ the ads)?
• How important is the image in determining TV news content?
• Postman, TV and show business

(in)Famous debate moments

• Nixon and Kennedy
• Carter and Ford
• Carter and Reagan
• Mondale and Reagan
• Mondale and Reagan (the ‘age issue’)
• Quayle and Bensten
• Clinton and Bush, Sr.
• Bush then and later
• Bush and Kerry (town hall)
• ‘Bush vs Kerry‘
• Palin and Biden
• ‘Palin and Biden‘
• More highlights
• Obama and Clinton (good for oppo research)
• Obama and McCain (‘safe and clean’ nuclear power; ‘clean’ coal)
• Romney and Obama
• Marshall McLuhan on the Carter/Ford debate
• CNN talking heads

TV presidencies

• choosing candidates
• ‘likeability’
• manufacturing the ‘right’ persona (McCain the ‘maverick’ vs Obama the ‘change agent’)
• campaigning, advertising

TV and show business

• Postman’s argument–show business isn’t just good for business (meaning what?)–it is the tail wagging the dog.
• People come to expect to be entertained
• Entertainment and production values take priority over content. As Marshall McLuhan once said, the medium becomes the message.
• Consequences? If people rely on TV–at least those who even bother to follow the news–and TV news is driven by entertainment values, what do we get for political discourse?

TV News??

• But first ….. Walter Cronkite
• Edward R. Murrow
• Welch vs McCarthy
• And now ….
• Opening teasers , KIRO, KOMO, KPIX ,
• More teasers (WCNC, WCNC, WCAU)
• Hard-hitting news
• Yet sensitive …

Unique TV distortions

• Pirate stories (aaaargghh matey)
• Online predators (NBC; Fox; stalkers
• Cyber bullying; CNN;
• Workplace murders; other violent acts;
• Satanism
• Carjacking New Orleans
• Time covers
• So . . . . can we use concepts from this course to understand this?? There are two issues here–one is, why choose these ‘baits’ or stories, and the second is, what are the effects on the public?