Blow up the TV, and think for yourself

Reliance on TV news has given rise to such popular personalities such as Keith Olbermann, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Wolf Blitzer, and Lou Dobbs, among others, who draw in vast audiences that hang on their every word. In our media age, these are the new powers-that-be. Given the preponderance of news-as-entertainment programming, have viewers lost the ability to differentiate between news commentary and news reporting?

There is not much that the average viewer can do to change the nature of television news. While it cannot--and should not--be completely avoided, the following suggestions will help to better understand the nature of TV news and minimize its impact.

THIS JUST IN

TV news is not what happened. Rather, it is what someone thinks is worth reporting. Although there are some good TV reporters, the old art of investigative reporting has largely been lost. While viewers are often inclined to take what is reported by television "news" hosts at face value, it is their responsibility to analyze what is reported.

TV news is entertainment; the programs you watch are called news "shows." It's a signal that so-called news is being delivered as a form of entertainment. "In the case of most news shows," write Neil Postman and Steve Powers in their insightful book, "How to Watch TV News" (1992), "the package includes attractive anchors, an exciting musical theme, comic relief, stories placed to hold the audience, the illusion of intimacy, and so on."

The point of all this glitz is to keep viewers glued to the set so that a product can be sold. (The TV news hosts get in on the action by peddling their own products, everything from their latest books to mugs and bathrobes.) Although news items spoon-fed to viewers may have some value, they are primarily a commodity to gather an audience, which will in turn be sold to advertisers.

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Date published: 11/20/2009