Adam's Apple
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Interesting quote from Edward R. Murrow about television at end of this article.
Think Simon's a Cad? Just Turn Him off
By Kelly Jones-Sharp, The Indianapolis Star
March 11, 2006
Nowadays slings and arrows are standard fare -- prime time, daytime, all the time. "American Idol" isn't the first or only uncivil television show. But it marks the highest low point of a decades-long trend as we have increasingly allowed our airwaves to be populated by broadcasts that insult our intelligence, manipulate our pocketbooks and usher into our homes irrational fears.
I was recently reminded of how bad things have become by a bit of history shown in the acclaimed film "Good Night, and Good Luck." In a speech, legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow, played by David Strathairn, discussed the state of television in 1958 and warned: "Our history will be what we make it. And if there are any historians about 50 or 100 years from now . . . they will . . . find recorded in black and white, or color, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live. . . "
Well, here we are, decades of decadence later, trading "Gunsmoke" for "CSI," and "I Love Lucy," "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" for "Fear Factor," "The Biggest Loser" and "Wife Swap." More than twice the number of viewers tuned into "American Idol" than the 2006 Olympic Games, and it's a good bet significantly more people know the names of the 12 final "AI" contestants than our nine U.S. Supreme Court justices or the handful of lawmakers who represent them at home and in our nation's capital.
Why parents would tune their tots into "Idol" or any number of other equally trashy "reality" shows rather than "Nova" or "Nature" or "Masterpiece Theatre" is beyond me. If kids really do emulate television behavior, we are potentially looking at a generation of ill-tempered brutes.
for full article:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060311/OPINION/603110332/1002
Think Simon's a Cad? Just Turn Him off
By Kelly Jones-Sharp, The Indianapolis Star
March 11, 2006
Nowadays slings and arrows are standard fare -- prime time, daytime, all the time. "American Idol" isn't the first or only uncivil television show. But it marks the highest low point of a decades-long trend as we have increasingly allowed our airwaves to be populated by broadcasts that insult our intelligence, manipulate our pocketbooks and usher into our homes irrational fears.
I was recently reminded of how bad things have become by a bit of history shown in the acclaimed film "Good Night, and Good Luck." In a speech, legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow, played by David Strathairn, discussed the state of television in 1958 and warned: "Our history will be what we make it. And if there are any historians about 50 or 100 years from now . . . they will . . . find recorded in black and white, or color, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live. . . "
Well, here we are, decades of decadence later, trading "Gunsmoke" for "CSI," and "I Love Lucy," "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" for "Fear Factor," "The Biggest Loser" and "Wife Swap." More than twice the number of viewers tuned into "American Idol" than the 2006 Olympic Games, and it's a good bet significantly more people know the names of the 12 final "AI" contestants than our nine U.S. Supreme Court justices or the handful of lawmakers who represent them at home and in our nation's capital.
Why parents would tune their tots into "Idol" or any number of other equally trashy "reality" shows rather than "Nova" or "Nature" or "Masterpiece Theatre" is beyond me. If kids really do emulate television behavior, we are potentially looking at a generation of ill-tempered brutes.
for full article:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060311/OPINION/603110332/1002
