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Synthesis Essay

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Kelly Vick
Synthesis Essay
The Effect that Television has had on The Delivery of News

Today our world is dominated by technology. With the use of it people can access the weather and breaking news in a matter of seconds. This information is available to us in the palms of our hands. For the most part people think that this is great, but there are others who are skeptical and believe that technology and the multimedia has a negative effect on society. In Neil Postman's book, "Amusing Ourselves to Death", he describes the consequences of living in a society that is dominated by television and the multimedia. Postman (1985) believes news on television is uninformative and only used for entertainment, however, Matt Quayle and Paul Grabowicz both believe the news on television is informative and is improving greatly.
In chapter 6 of "Amusing Ourselves to Death" Postman (1985) takes us on a journey through the history of technology. First Postman (1985) makes the distinction between a technology and a medium. A technology is merely a machine. A medium is the social and intellectual environment a machine creates. Postman (1985) speaks about the different uses we have for the television, such as a lamp, bookshelf, or even a radio. But in other places or countries the television is not as nearly as important to the people as it is to Americans. Postman (1985) believes that television provides the explanation for a world obsessed with image to the detriment of content. He argues that television conveys its dialogue in images, not words. "Its form works against the content." So television for Postman (1985) is completely devoted to emotional gratification and entertainment. It depends on changing images, and the viewing eye never rests. According to Postman (1985) the problem is not that it is entertaining, "but that entertainment is the format through which all experiences are mediated." Postman (1985) has not gripe with "junk television" because he feels that "serious television" is an oxymoron. As his claim that television as a medium is a dangerous and pernicious in not substantiated, perhaps a more relevant concern is whether or not we are using the relatively new medium properly. Postman (1985) and Mark Kelley (2012) both believe that television is shortening our attention span and is taking over our lives. Kelley (2012) wrote an article entitled "An apology to the 4G generation" apologizing to society about how much technology has taken over and is shortening our attention spans. The article opens up with " I really am sorry, the portable technology we've lured you into using laptops, cell phones, iPods', iphones and etc.- have shrunk our attention spans so much that you probably can't focus long enough to read this apology all at once". Postman (1985) believes that television is only at its best when it provides people with its so call "junk" and at its worst when it displays itself as a provider of important information. He states, "The new focus on the image undermining traditional definitions of information, of news, and, to a large extent, of reality itself" (Postman, p. 74). Even though Postman (1985) and Kelley (2012) have very similar views on the television and how it has brained washed us and shortened our attention spans, their views are not exactly the same. Postman (1985) believes that Americans utilize the television in more ways than entertainment; Kelley (2012) believes that society has a larger issue at hand other than television being bias. Postman (1985) in 1985 predicted that technology and television would brain wash us and shorten our attention spans, where Kelley (2012) is stating that television and technology has shortened our attention spans because of an addiction society has. Because Kelley (2012) states we have an addiction and just like any addiction it can be corrected. He thinks if Americans learn to use technology in moderation, it can be corrected but it will not be easy. He asserts the road to digital society is fraught with withdrawal, as it is with any addiction. In the modern day, televisions have interfered with logic by placing more emphasize on image using technology and not the message or issue in the message. This is a claim that the author Matt Quayle supports in his article “The Method of the Medium is in Motion” where he states that television news has the potential to support or affect higher public discourse level. In many cases visual imagery in television is largely responsible for conducting discourse (Quayle, 2010). Quayle agrees with Postman that television offers discourse using images rather than words by arguing that looking at the evidence gathered from broadcast and cable news which was not available at the time Postman wrote “Amusing Ourselves to Death”, the method in television medium including its production is in good motion in addition to a hope in the form of public discourse in this electronic age (Postman, 2005) taking us back to the claim that Lack of a technology to communicate a message results in people not paying attention to it thus without any medium to create form, news of the day does not exist. Postman brings to light an important point which shows that a news show is basically for entertainment purposes and not intended for reflection or education purposes (Postman, 2005). The same is pointed out by Quayle who notes that “more does not necessarily mean better” with reference to more junk news delivered on television using the latest technology in mass communication than before. Quayle (2010) believes that Postman's (1985) view point is not wrong but premature. He states "The goal here is not to disprove Amusing. The goal is to evolve it, to simply reopen the conversation." In both their articles, Quayle (2010) against Postman (1985) on the idea that subject matter in television is perceived as entertainment regardless of the point of view. Quayle disagrees with this claim by stating that in order to experience the reality of the present day life, it is necessary to go through the television age (Quayle, 2010). Postman’s claim that television serves people right by presenting junk entertainment and wrongly by serving people with important discourse like science, news, religion, politics, commerce or education is misleading (Postman, 2005). When conducting this research which was conducted many years ago it is clear to note that Postman (1985) used a sample size which was very small to prematurely conclude the potential of television as a medium of delivering news as it can be argued in this modern age of technological development. Quayle (2010) states the huge increases in number of cable channels has provided an opportunity for more focused and in depth programming. Twenty-five years later after “Amusing Ourselves to Death” was wrote, the news space for television news broadcast is full of news content just by taking a look at the business news sub-category (Quayle 2010).
Today our world is dominated by technology. It is believed our attention span is shortened and the cause it television and technology Postman (1985) and Kelley (2012) believe. Quayle (2010) also believes that television is for entertainment purposes, but believes Postman’s view is premature. All three articles are similar in stating television is for entertainment, but the difference is whether it is only used for entertainment or can we receive informative information from television. As a result of the rapid evolution in communication, programmers are changing to methods that expand outside the common thought field. In addition, as the industry continues to fragment at a faster pace, very few of the observed multimedia characteristics, technologies or attributes of the multimedia technology will remain intact. The fragmentations within the changing methods will result in a medium that will be in.

REFERRENCES
Neil Postman (1985) Amusing Ourselves to Death Chapter 6 The Age of show Business Pg. 83-98

Mark Kelley (2012) An Apology to the 4g Generation

Matt Quayle (2010) The Method of the Medium is in Motion

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