THE WORLD OF TELEVISION
The word television comes from the Greek word tele, meaning “far,”
and the Latin word videre, meaning “to see.” In other words, television
means “to see far.” And when it comes to seeing far, nothing quite
approaches television, either in the sheer abundance of its programs or
the vast size of its audience. It offers a mammoth supply of news, fun,
art and sport at the touch of a button. It is the next best thing to curl-
ing up in front of a national fireplace.
“Deal or no deal?” “The tribal council has spoken.” If these catch-
phrases sound familiar to you, welcome to the club. The United
States has become a nation of TV addicts. Whether you are home
alone, snowbound, bedridden or trying to stave off boredom, televi-
sion is probably one of your favorite companions. It gives you the
time, the weather and the latest news. It plays, sings, whistles and
dances. It takes you to movies and theaters, concerts and operas,
prizefights and baseball games. It brings you face to face with floods,
earthquakes and fires; introduces you to presidents, kings, emirs and
sultans; and teaches you French, home decorating tips and first aid.
Unfortunately, it is also, as many critics have observed, “chewing
gum for the eyes.”
At its best, television can touch your heart and mind. It delivers
generous amounts of information and entertainment on command. It
can bring an entire nation together to celebrate (as it did at the dawn
of the new millennium) or to mourn (as it did following the devasta-
tion caused by Hurricane Katrina). At its worst, television can numb
us. Critics charge that it stifles conversation, promotes violence among
children and may be one of the causes of illiteracy.
Nevertheless, television remains a tremendously important medium
because it can reach enormous audiences. Consumer guides report
there are televisions in about 98 percent of all American homes. In
fact, we are rapidly nearing the day when there will be a television
set for every man, woman and child in the United States. This perva-
siveness has enabled television to reach amazing numbers of people.
In 1969, about 125 million Americans watched Neil Armstrong “take
one giant leap for mankind” on the moon. In 1985, a worldwide
audience estimated at 1.5 billion people watched Live Aid, a benefit
concert for famine victims in Africa. More than any other medium of
communication, television has the power to make all of us residents
of a single global village.The Tuned-In Generation
Unless you’re not a TV fan, you’re part of a tuned-in generation.
Recent studies indicate that American students watch an average of
23 hours of television a week. If you keep up that pace, you will have
spent a full year of your life in front of the “boob tube” by age 70. The
Nielsen Company, whose powerful ratings system determines the fate
of your favorite shows, reports that a television set is on at least six
hours a day in the average American home.444 MIXED MEDIA
OutTake
Wasted Words
On May 9, 1961, Newton
Minow, then-chairperson of
the Federal Communications
Commission, stunned a meet-
ing of professional broadcasters
by denouncing the quality of
television: “Sit down in front of
your television set when your
station goes on the air... and
keep your eyes glued to that set
until the station signs off. I can
assure you that you will observe
a vast wasteland.” That famous
critique of television came from
a speech that Minow gave, in
which he evoked T. S. Eliot’s
famous poem The Waste Land.
Thirty years later, Minow
observed that his speech
was remembered for only two
words:vast wasteland. Those
two words, however, were not
the ones he wanted remem-
bered. Minow was more con-
cerned with the public interest.
Echoing another well-known
phrase—this time from John F.
Kennedy—Minow explained, “To
me the public interest meant,
and still means, that we should
constantly ask, ‘What can tele-
vision do for our country?’”
Source: Adapted from “‘Vast
Wasteland’ Author Still Displeased
With TV” by Tim Jones, Chicago
Tribune.