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
19th century began to lessen the value that people placed on literature and communication. Previously people were forced to rely on the physical transportation of letters and documents, a process which required considerable time; as a result reliable information and good reading materials were scarce and when they were available a great deal of value, and by extension scrutiny, would be placed upon them. However, with the advent of the telegraph people could now learn about current events and modern literature with significant ease; literature and news where no longer critiqued like a gourmet meal, now they were merely devoured and forgotten like small hunk of bread. Postman further posits that the 19th century saw newspapers began to exploit the information from telegraphs for the sensationalist headlines. One of the flaws inherent in long range communication is that the information it transmits may not be of immediate importance to who receives it, “a man in Maine and a man in Texas could converse, but not about anything either of them knew or cared very much about”, newspapers rectified this issue by only publishing “important” stories with eye-catching headlines (Postman 67). People were naturally drawn to drawn to these sensationalist headlines and as a result they had less time to thoroughly analyze serious intellectual works of literature. Finally, Postman attests that the population of photographs led to people consuming more and more low quality work rather than intricately written works of fine literature. As photography gained popularity many writers and newspapers began to use photographs to supplement their works and attract buyers, but in doing so they made it debate much more difficult. Pictures do not present arguments, they only present irrefutable information “no opinions-no ‘should-have-beens’ or ‘might have beens.’” to stimulate discussion or debate (Postman 73).
In his editorial "Words Triumph Over Images," Curtis Wilkie blames today’s media for being “reckless” and “a mutant reality show”. He believes that television and radio are “unfiltered”, which causes the quality of journalism for newspapers to be unmatched. Yet, it is unfair to label all media that is not print as lesser because the quality of any media relies on the viewers and the individual journalists, and in drastic situations like a hurricane, reporters may have many road blocks. Any of these aspects can affect the quality of journalism, which invalidates Curtis Wilkie’s claim.
“Living the American Dream” If you look up the meaning of the American Dream, you will keep finding definitions similar to this one: “the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.” The real meaning of the American Dream, however, varies from whom you ask. Many people argue that the American Dream is alive and well, whereas others might argue that the dream is pretty much dead. If you ask me what I think, I personally believe that the American Dream was once a farfetched goal of the people of America, where people dreamed of going from rags to riches. Though the dream might still be alive, it is no longer what it used to be.
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.
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 “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.
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.
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...
The many evils that exist within television’s culture were not foreseen back when televisions were first put onto the market. Yet, Postman discovers this very unforgiveable that the world did not prepare itself to deal with the ways that television inherently changes our ways of communication. For example, people who lived during the year 1905, could not really predict that the invention of a car would not make it seem like only a luxurious invention, but also that the invention of the car would strongly affect the way we make decisions.
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
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
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,
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...
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,