Page 3085 - Church of God Publications

o you derive the bulk

of you r news and

public affairs under–

standing from television?

If

so, you may be missing a lot.

Neil Postman, a leading ana–

lyst of the electronic media in

the United States, makes this

clear:

"We possibly have the most

ill-informed electorate in the

West because people rely so

much on television for their un–

dersta n d in g of t h e

world. Americans know

of

a lot of things, but

about

very li ttle."

M r. Postman's critique

is predominantly directed

toward news dispensed on

American comme r cial

television. Yet his assess–

ment is valid, perhaps

only to a lesser degree,

for other modern West–

ern nations.

"Knowing impl ies a

historical dimension , an

inkJing of the implica–

tions," adds Mr. Post–

roan, who is author of the

book

Amusing Ourselves

to Death.

But television

news, except for special

programs and documen–

taries, is, by its nature,

deficien t in broad in–

depth analyses of major issues to–

day.

Television, he adds, "is a speed–

of-light medium, a present-cen–

tered medium. Its grammar, so to

say, permi ts no access to the past."

Mos t important of all, he says, is

that television, first and foremost,

is an entertai nment-oriented

medium. Therefore, news on televi–

sion must contain a high "excite–

ment quotient" to hold the atten–

tion of the viewi ng audience.

Simply put, sensational crimes,

natural disasters, wars and revolu–

tions "sell" the news.

The preeminence of excitement

over informat ion was highlighted

in the coverage of events earlier

this year in the Phi lippines.

That nation's general election in

February was, by Philippines his–

torical t rad ition, remarkably free

and open. Still, the picture con–

veyed by the television cameras

back to the United States and else–

where was one of almost uncon–

trolled intimidation and violence.

Why?

The answer was supplied by

Ol.v

American network writer-pro–

ducer. He was asked by an inde–

pendent newsman what he thought

were the long-range impl ications of

the election. T he network represen–

tative replied that he hadn' t had

time to think about that. What he

was interested in at the moment,

he admitted, was violence.

The same reoccupation with ac–

tion and unrest characterizes tele–

vision news coverage of the tumul–

tuous events in South Africa. The

electronic news media believe that

a revolution is in the air and they

want to be on hand to cover it.

Television has such power that

all sides in this conflict know they

must either tame it or use it to

their advantage. While the govern–

ment limits media access, its oppo–

nents go to great lengths to reach

the outside world, especially the

American public and Congress, by

way of the tube.

Yes, excitemen t and violence

sell; it is indispensable to television

in general. And in the presentation

of news, background information

only "clutters up" the visual pre–

sentation of events. T his is what

makes the electronic media so dif-

ferent from the print media.

British au thor and journalist

Paul J ohnson notes that "the emo–

tional impact of television ... is so

much stronger than the printed

word as to be different in kind

rather than degree. When a writing

journalist is describing a scene of

violence, he necessarily imposes a

kind of order on chaos by the mere

discipline of telling the tale in a

consequential manner."

Robert McNeil, noted public

television news producer in the

United States, says that the as–

sumptions controlling a news show

on commercial television

are "that bite-sized is

best, t h at complexity

must be avoided . . . that

qualifi cations impede the

simple messagc, that vi–

sual s timulation is a sub–

s t itute for thought, and

that verbal p1<!cision is an

anachronism."

T he t urbulent situation

in South Africa, for ex–

ample, críes out for a his–

torical dimension, but

television's demand for

action and simplification

does not permit this.

Despite its i nherent

limitations, the contem–

porary importance of

television news cannot be

dismissed. Its main value

líes in giving a visual- al–

beit superficial-presen–

tat ion of the important events and

personalities of the day.

lt

is easy to be "enter tained" by

news programs. Read ing, on the

other hand, involves effort, entails ·

concentration. Society as a whole,

unfortunately, has chosen the path

of least resistance.