Postman Politics Chapter 9 Summary
Right as I start reading into chapter nine I find myself still agreeing with many of Postman’s points he makes; the first of these being Postman making the comparison of politics being similar to that of a spectator sport. This comparison was intriguing to me personally considering I had never looked at it in such a way. As Postman says, many people in society know how to understand and watch a sport. He makes the comparison to politicians as athletes and how we understand politics the way we understand the scoring in a sports game. Just as a professional athletes rightfully becomes more popular based off their on field performance, a politician needs to be elected based off their performance. The other simile Postman makes in the chapter is comparing politics to that of show business. …show more content…
The direct comparison he makes to television itself is with commercials. Postman tells the reader that the main priority of a politician’s campaign is to sell themselves through these commercials. The same can obviously still be said for politicians today. Come election time on any channel we are constantly flooded with politicians campaigning for themselves or campaigning against their competitors. Obviously with the amount of television the average American watches, these commercials alone could possibly sway a person who is unaware of a particular politician’s “performance” to side with them. To me, this chapter truly supports Postman’s thesis in how media and television can in fact have a negative effect on American society; in this case through
Chapter Summay By George Washington Plunkitt Of Tamany
614 Words | 3 PagesA scenario gets presented in the book where Plunkitt buys a parcel of land that is to be purchased by the authorities and later sells it to them at a high price making high profits. He justifies this form of corruption by stating that what he did was to take advantage out of a situation. He calls it “politics business” and uses the inside information to his benefit. Plunkitt is so wise that he conducts corrupt activities without soiling his reputation. He still maintains his name as a good public loving
Brief Summary Of The Excerpts Freeman's 'Affairs Of Honor'
1143 Words | 5 PagesAlexander Hamilton dies, but then comes back to life in the next chapter as an influencer in the election. Despite the perceived disjointedness of the final chapter, Freeman justifies her description of the election of 1800 because it “…reveals the link between early national politics and the ‘party systems’ of later years”
Review Of Hardball By Chris Matthews
864 Words | 4 PagesIn each chapter he explains the rule, not by writing out how to follow it, but by giving numerous examples of people who did and did not follow the rule. These examples drive the points home, ensuring that readers understand how it can be done. The great part is these rules can be used not only as guidelines for those trying to make their way up the political ladder, but also for those who want to understand politics better, as well as for others who want to rise higher in a field. Some of the ideas might even be helpful for the average person in their day to day
Newton Minow's Speech 'Vast Wasteland'
604 Words | 3 Pages" In this statement Minow makes an excellent point, perhaps even unintentionally foreshadowing what was to come in America with the rise of mass media, the point that people can be persuaded to action by nothing more than a mere television. Although disturbing, this notion has played out in America at an alarming rate, in essence brainwashing the majority of our population. We see it all the time, people in an uproar over events that have zero effect on them just because they saw it on the television, or when people obsess over
Analysis Of Amusing Ourselves To Death By Neil Postman
573 Words | 3 PagesIn Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman makes no secret of his contempt for television. It is easy to draw a parallel between that and Jon Stewart's disdain for CNN, which he expressed freely during appearances on Crossfire and Larry King Live. Similar to how Postman felt about television, Stewart felt about CNN: each man felt that that form of media (???? Figure out the right word choice here) was causing more harm to society than it was serving the public good. When Ted Turner founded CNN in 1980, he did so in order to occupy a niche that was not being filled by television programmers.
Greg Hardy
473 Words | 2 PagesThe argument can be made that, instead of appealing to the lowest common denominator in the public, at least some media should give the more informed and critical segment of the people what it wants (Lazere 305). The people are considered to be the largest segment of the audience and that should be enough evidence for the media members to make the news tailor made for the viewing public. When confronted with said evidence, most media members blame it on education. “One professional consultant who pioneered these formats justified them by claiming, “People who watch television the most are unread, uneducated, untraveled and unable to concentrate on single subjects more than a minute or two.” (Lazere 306).
Amusing Ourselves To Death By Neil Postman
1453 Words | 6 PagesPostman explains how the “Age of Television” requires all communication to take the form of entertainment and he says "all public discourse increasingly takes the form of entertainment", giving the President, Ronald Reagan, ”a former Hollywood movie actor”, as example, because he was the king of man who was always worried about his appearance than his ideas. Referrring to Marshall McLuhan’s aphorism, ” the medium is the message”, Postman suggests that is not accurate and calls it “ in need of amendment” because he thinks that the medium is the ”metaphor” for culture and he also suggests that McLuhan was limited in saying this thing. To affirm this argument, he opines: “For on television, discourse is conducted largely through visual imagery, which is to say that television gives us a conversation in images, not words. ”(7), and by this quote, we see how is strengthened the idea that the "Age of Typography" has turned into the "Age of Television". In reality, giving the two ”Ages”, we can say that in the world are two cultures: an oral culture and a written culture, because none has replaced the other one, but both continue to exist.
A Rhetorical Analysis Of Neil Postman's A Brave New World
1429 Words | 6 Pages(p. 452) This helps the audience to see that just as described in A Brave New World American’s are allowing their everyday lives to become amusements that have no substance in reality. By using this and other examples, Postman helps the audience to see the logic of his argument because they are to see the truth for themselves based on their own experience and
Neil Postman's Essay 'The News'
158 Words | 1 PagesIn The Essay “The News” Neil Postman demonstrates the problems with News on TV and the Psychology behind it of why our society continues to watch. Postman displayed many points that becuase television news is must appeal to everyone in a short amount of time; the coverage is often shallow and gives a false impression of the world. Neil Postman describes the time restrictions of (22 mins) because of commercials overtaking the news. This reflects “The News” as we know it to become a big piece of entertainment that has nothing to do with the intellectual information that affects our lives. The lack of in-depth look on News nowadays draws an Appearance vs. Reality that the News isn’t what It should be.
Latin American Stereotypes Essay
940 Words | 4 PagesMurrow Political Bias in media is one of the most rampant examples of bias in terms of its influence on mindsets of people. The statement above by Edward R. Murrow makes total sense in today’s world. Political Bias is at its peak during elections. Public has to vote for candidates and much information about the candidates comes from media. Media, during these times, takes this advantage.
The Assault On Reason Analysis
847 Words | 4 PagesAs a result, televisions control the people, people spend most time watching tv. News stations show news of celebrities, rather than news about congress or politics. News stations are run by companies, people that run-in politics, the stations are to show what they want them to show. Also ads are bought for politicians to get their polls up in the elections. Politicians are searched out to be millionaires to buy their own ads.
Neil Postman Rhetorical Analysis
1280 Words | 6 PagesOne of the big examples he used was how television has affected not only children but also the school system. Postman does not show both sides to his argument, but instead he goes straight into the burden that “television may bring a gradual end to careers of school teachers” because teacher were the first to invent the printing press (pg.3). Consequently, Postman then goes on to say that teachers are blind to this reality, losers, for not seeing of the negative outcome coming their way and instead seem to be enthusiastic toward this new
Amusing Ourselves To Death Chapter 1 Analysis
1309 Words | 6 PagesNeil Postman in Chapter 1 of "Amusing Ourselves to Death" aims to show how the television can manipulate a person 's decision in politics, religion, education and turn those into entertainment. Even today Postman’s ideeas stand strong and it is true that if an information is entertaining the viewer will not look at the autenticity or what the origins of it are. Probably as expected, the more the technology advances, the more the manipulation from the television is taking place. This is done by: changing how people think, making their brain numb by not allowing them to have an opinion and interfering in their family life and in people decision-making process. The only way to save ouselves from living under the control of the television is simply
Cultural Studies: Adorno And Stuart Hall
1435 Words | 6 PagesIn The views of The Birmingham School, media culture induces individuals to conform to the established organization of society but it also lends resources that can empower individual against that society. (Kellner, D (1995)) In conclusion, calling attention to mass media, cultural studies relates to how the audience can decode the messages put forward by the media. More specifically in relation to their individual socio and economic background. This in turn can lead to the rejection of the dominant ideology.
Limited Effect Theory Of Mass Communication
862 Words | 4 Pagesand what’s wrong can be influenced by the type of television show we watch. An example of how powerful the media can be on peoples lives is German propaganda. Through creative film makers and enthusiastic radio personalities they were able to persuade the German men to enlist in
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