After hearing all the negative outcomes of what technology has done to our society from Neil Postman, I've realized how certain he is that humans are driven to misconception when watching television. One of the things I became aware of is how lightly we take the news. When people watch the news, they hardly realize how dangerous or devastating an event is. For example, if someone was to see a car accident take place on the freeway while watching the news, they probably wouldn't say much of it since it's something that happens daily and it's nothing new to many people. We hardly take into consideration of how worried the family members may be for their loved one who got seriously injured in the accident or how devastating it was for someone to have their life taken away by a drunk driver. Most of the news stories we hear and see are to inform people what is going on around them. However, what's the reason behind informing someone of a tragic event or devastating earthquake if the majority of those who are listening and watching are not going to help in the matter? Why do we continue watching news, if we know there's nothing we can do to help? If the issue on the news has nothing to do with us, why are we so interested to listen? As Postman says, it's most likely we enjoy the news because it brings entertainment to people.
Friday, July 15, 2016
Entertaining News
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This can be a lot to take in but the news might just be around to prevent future incidents from happening. Just as history is used to teach us some of the many cruel things that a person can do or experience. In a sense it is here to help prevent a tragedy from reoccurring. Such as the holocaust or fanatical terrorism. Not only to advise us of what has happened in the past but to make sure that we understand the consequences of our actions and put a stop to it.
ReplyDeleteI don't think "entertain" is the right word to express how we view tragic news. Yes, we can't do anything but watch and do nothing to help, but we watch it more to be informed about what is happening around us than to keep us entertained. Watching a car accident take place, a shooting, or a car chase on the news isn't exactly what we want to see on the television screen. We just watch because we are shocked to see something like that happen in reality and we want to know what is happening in the world. It certainly is not entertaining for me to watch tragic things happen to people on the news. We just want to know and be informed about the important things that go on.
ReplyDeletePostman explains in Amusing Ourselves to Death that the television uses the term "Now...This" especially in the daily news. This term causes society to act this way. Our attention is always redirected towards something else either by a commercial or another report. We are not able to fully understand and think about the report. This has plagued our society.
ReplyDeleteTo add on to Andrew's "Now...This" comment, the news today is also really filtered. American news does not show us all the explicit and vulgar information that Latin new is known for doing. I noticed this personally while watching the Today show. One second they talked about the situation in France, and then the next they talked about puppies! As a result we don't take in the severity of the situation because we get distracted by the next thing they are trying to shove in our face. Yes the Today show is considered a talk show, but that drastic change of subject can be found anywhere, especially on news channels.
ReplyDeleteWhile the news does have the intention to inform the public of what is going on, there are times when what is covered is more entertaining then informative. This is true when such events such as a car chase taking place is only shown for hours at a time instead of more important matters. A car chase gets the title of "breaking news" and is the only thing available on multiple channels, despite other things going on at the time. I can definitely see why the news can be considered entertaining.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree when you say that the news is just "entertainment". I, for one, don't like to turn on the TV and listen to grieving families when a relative dies in a car crash or is shot in the middle of the night. The news is for people to know what's happening around the world so we don't repeat those same mistakes. If we aren't informed on what's happening around us then we would be very ignorant.
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