Mander's Four Arguments For The Elimination Of Television

In "Vast Wasteland," Newton Minow gave a forewarning speech about television and the public interest. Minow is correct in his statement for these reasons: the influence of viewers, public interest, and the future impact of television.

To reinforce his view that advertising can be destructive to the lifestyles of consumers, Lasn

In the essay Advertisements R Us, Melissa Rubin does a satisfactory job persuading readers who may not share the same view or analysis of the advertisement as her. Rubin does this by including plenty of historical context into her writing. This works by providing sound reasons and evidence to back up her analysis about what the ad was trying to do, which was to sell its product to the most profitable group of people

The spread of television has affected American households universally, which started in the 1940s but has continued to make a dramatic surge. There is a trend at that is being captured across televisions in households everywhere. Politics, reality television, social media and public information is being broadcast from household to household. Television has in a way become a mode of how we think and interact with each other. Television is starting to leave that bubble where it was strictly entertainment, now television is becoming a source of what we must believe. The consumer demand for television as spiked dramatically, in the way we view ourselves and perceive others in the world around us is through a television screen. Although we are

In the book, The Worst Years of Our Lives, Barbara Ehrenreich describes the current American response to the modern television. She believes that television had changed overtime as over a decade ago, a majority of things shown on television were things people could do themselves. Today, however, television is full of violence, close-range shooting, racing, etc. This worries her because today's people are unable to do what they see on television and eventually become "couch potatoes" when they watch for hours at a time. Her belief is that there's no reason for a person to continue watching television due to the boredom and jealousy it causes.

Another way television misleads its viewers is by the way that they present candidates for an election of politicians. They spend all their time and money trying to put together a commercial that only puts down the other candidate. How are voters supposed to know whom to vote for if all they are presented with is negative ideas about each candidate? Television also tries to persuade us to vote for a certain proposition. Voters are also lured into voting for or against a proposition by listening to the music being played in the background of the commercial. An example of this type of situation may be the campaign on proposition 5 dealing with the Indian Casinos. They play sad, and convincing, music in the background of their commercial so the viewers can soften their hearts and vote “yes” on their proposition. Television is powerful enough to make our shopping easier. Actually, it is making us lazier. TV stations such as the Home Shopping Network make shopping as easy as dialing some numbers on a touch tone phone. People are also convinced to buy a certain product because a celebrity is presenting it. For example: if supermodel Cindy Crawford presents make-up, ladies will buy it and wear it because they believe that it will make them look like her.

Television is an electronic telecommunication device that transmits pictures and sounds. Since its inception and release into society, the Television has grown to become extremely popular. The undying devotion to this medium has helped shape many aspects of human life. It has become a tool for education and entertainment. Businesses have found an efficient means to access the wider public through advertising. Advertising is a paid form of publicity aimed at a large audience by businesses with a view to increasing sales. Advertisements, unlike propaganda, have clearly stated sponsors. Through advertising, businesses can communicate with the user of their goods and services. The television allowed for the exponential expansion of advertisement. While older media is still used for advertising, Television’s ability to transmit moving picture and sound put it well above print media and radio (Messaris 2)

Rather instead we are actually left with the author’s notion television is not yet a fully utilized tool. Through the use of these rhetorical strategies the author has created a convincing argument against a widely held belief of the general public, effectively evoking critical thought unto the public and possibly even changing the view in whole. Even though these strategies alone do not make an argument, when used in order to support one you canget a very effective persuasive, even informative, piece like the one presented

The first suggestion that Postman gives is that a person must abandon any type of argument that television may be taken away. He writes that Americans will not abandon the many conveniences that are brought on by the vast forms of technology. They cannot be stopped from creating a more sophisticated technology item to substitute it.

Television, more so than any other form of communication, has been the ultimate tool of the propaganda effort. It is the trustworthiest

This theme of consumerism is one of the strongest driving forces in the novel, which explains why the role of the television is so important. “TV’s commercial emergence coincides with the ‘golden age’ of Fordism.” (McCarthy 2) The television thrives merely on the ratings that bring about an enlarged group of commercial viewers, and the more viewers, the more money is brought in through commercials and advertising. Although many people believe that they themselves are not influenced by advertising, no one can escape the brief moments of mind-numbing product awareness being drilled into their heads.

TV, more commonly known as ‘television’ is one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. In ancient Greek tèle means ‘far', and in Latin visio means sight. From my perspective and many people of the world television has changed the way we live. Television has brought many amazing things, however nothing is perfect.

Over the last forty to fifty years, television has been a major topic of discussion. Specifically, many debate societal benefits to television watching. One widely accepted opinion is that watching TV makes people dumber. People have referred to it with terms like the “idiot box” and do not feel that watching TV has any benefit at all. They feel that it is a waste of time and people need to spend their hours more wisely. Others are of the opinion that TV is actually has societal benefits. From this perspective, they claim that the development of the structure of the programs now requires one to intellectually participate in watching television. Essentially, the argument is whether TV is a beneficial societal force or is it simply a

As television channels in the 1960’s continued to display numerous violence, American comedy, and offensive commercials, television programming offered scanty, enjoyable shows for the general audience. Newton Minow, the Federal Communications Chairman (FCC) from 1961 to 1963, argued for a better quality of television in his “Address to the Broadcasting Industry” to over 2,000 members of the National Association of Broadcasters. As a result, it generated a national debate about the quality of television programming. Throughout his speech, Minow argues for better television programming since other means of communication offer better content, children are exposed to only violence and cartoons, and the

Television, a telecommunication medium some may not survive without. Today’s generation may refer to television as a technological norm; delusional of a world where television was non-existent. Notably, television unites the nation through local or world events, politics, education, and entertainment. Philo Farnsworth, “Father of Television,” invented the television; the electronic transmission of fixed or mobile images. Furthermore, Farnsworth’s invention influenced a new form of media. Young Farnsworth’s scientific, technological imagination as well as, competitive battle with a major-league corporation, RCA, enticed the growth of one of the most popular media mediums; television.