This powerful writing of Postman and Powers describes function as well as the impact television has on American culture. As I read the article, there was no convincing me, I was in complete agreement with their claim that, “All news shows, in a sense, are re-creations in that what we hear and see on them are attempts to re-present actual events, and are not the events themselves”. (P.482) With that in mind, the use of language, stationary pictures and moving pictures, having differences, are necessary tools in order for the news caster to interpret, or re-create, an actual event for the viewer. When a person listens to the language of a broadcaster, the presenter uses words to describe, evaluate or infer what is unknown to the viewer about an event and the viewer interprets a verbal description based upon personal satisfaction. With stationary pictures, which show a moment in time, viewers subconsciously adapt still photographs to one particular idea. Moving pictures bridge a gap between language and stationary and with the aid of music; moving pictures can bring drama to the set even before a word is spoken and set a mood. With all these aspects together, viewers must take these broadcasts and understand what they are seeing is a personal analysis and must use the information given to evaluate the depth of the information portrayed.
Resource:
Rosendale, L. (2008) Pop Perspectives, Readings to Critique Contemporary Culture. New York, NY. McGraw-Hill.
No comments:
Post a Comment