In the chapter titled "Now...This" I found it simply amusing that Postman wrote how seemingly crazy our news shows are. They jump from subject to subject and hadly show any emotion. There is always a happy jingle playing in the background that takes away from any seriousness the subject may have. The people who set up the news have no rhyme or reason why the reports go in the order that they go in; nothing flows and nothing is smooth.
Postman says it simply: "..television news show...features a type of discourse that abandons logic, reason, sequence, and rules of contradiction." (104)
He goes on to tell that this theory has different names in different ares: Dadaism, nihilism, and schizophrenia.
Isn't it funny to think of our television set having a disorder?
It's even funnier to think that many people would never accept that statement.
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2 comments:
I find this supposed "schizophrenia" disorder our news suffers from as comforting, as I'm sure many of you subconsciously do as well.
Honestly, if your favorite news stationed opened with scenes of rotting bodies, scattered bullet-shells and photos of politicians cohorting with mafiaosos, panic would ensue and disassociation from our government would as well.
Listen, I've boasted a distaste for our beloved US government as much as any dissatisfied individual, but sometimes ignorance truly is bliss. If newscasters were to show emotion during disasters, a vast majority of viewers would becoming immediately uncomfortable.
Why else do automated messages during any sort of incident speak in a monotone manner?
If any of our office-workers had grabbed the microphone during the summer-school earthquake, sobbing and screaming, though the 'quake was minor, would you feel safe?
All I'm saying is, the monotone speech and upbeat piano riffs are understandable.
I never really thought of how our television had schizophrenia but it makes sense.
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