Now, This by Neil Postman - Article Example

Now….This… By Neil Postman The words” now…this” are perilous and portentous English words. They have added aconjunction that does the opposite in connecting anything to anything. Moreover, they do a total separation of everything from everything. These words serve as a metaphor as used commonly in television and radio newscasts. The words are used to indicate the disconnection or irrelevancy between what one has seen or heard and what one is about to see or hear. It also depicts irrelevance to anything someone expects to see or hear. The phrase gives an understanding of the world’s mapping by fast advancement of electronic media without purpose and order. The understanding is also tolerated. There is no destruction so cruel, no tremor so ravaging, no political error so high-priced--for that matter, no ball score so provoking or weather description so threatening--that it cannot be erased from minds by a newscaster saying, "Now . . . This." (Postman) What the newscasters purport is the previous matters have been thought about for a long time. Therefore, it is necessary for alteration of the scene and perception of the viewers. This can be done by changing what preoccupies the mind with a new idea or news fragment. This is done in the mentality of commercialization in terms of promotion and marketing to meet the current demands by the community. This process of thought does not take more than an hour in psychological mind. Television and radio are mediums that are used by a discrete event in every halt an hour to disseminate separate contents. The contents may have separate contexts and emotional characteristic structure from the follows and precedes it. Because the media promotion takes place in minutes and seconds, maybe because the audience can be manipulated through the communication platform of imagery and words, the structuring of programs is done in a way that each segment of 8 minutes’ ability to stand as a separate complete event. (Stewart) News in the television is merely entertainment. It is engulfed with a cast of actors who are admirable and credible. Analytically, the Television news anchors are mostly women of the age gap from 20 to 45 and are exceptionally beautiful. It also includes men who are handsome, who are not bald, fat, have neither long noses nor closed eyes. In the definition of truth, the ultimate propositional test of the teller determines the television’s credibility. This means that if the society trusts in the teller then what he or she says is classified as the truth. In other words, the truth in the news is determined and accepted by the community depending on the teller’s formed image. Many people in the present world do not realize that society’s problems are mostly rooted in the medium via which they are introduced and discussed. However, in a critical look on how the society obtained information before the current century, and how daily issues were discussed, the complete contrast between now and then is a clear wonder of unnoticed consecutive happenings. The crisis develops gradually in a deep downward destruction trend since the birth of the information age. The way serious issues of the present times is treated as nothing but entertainment fodder is a clear indicator that media has watered down the value of information. Television plays the biggest role. Those who were brought up while having the privilege of its daily use have experienced tremendous damage in a universally common manner in the recent times. Therefore, the damage goes unnoticed. Neil Postman examines this problem in his book known as Amusing Ourselves to Death, and provides a dire warning of the repercussions of living in a culture that has television dominance. The introduction of the internet comes twenty years after the introduction of this book. This provides more relevancies in proving Neil’s work in today’s world that before. (Ackermann) Postman’s principle assertation revolves on a comparison between dual imagined literatures of Utopian societies that are remarkably different. This is in the early half of a century. In both Orwell’s and Huxley’s societies have different settings but both have been brainwashed into personal belief of happiness in simple ways. Postman confirms that it was wrongly understood by Orwell while it was rightly understood by Huxley. In essence, the society has allowed deterioration resulting to environmental death both intellectually and spiritually despite rejecting slavery by higher authorities. Postman’s foundational claims are constituted by proposition that the use of media determines the forms of conversation. Similar issues that were discussed in the earlier year may be discussed today but in a more different aspect than it was then. The age of the 19 century people was predominantly printed word hence their public conversation was anchored on this. In the present age, culture is dominated by business. Therefore, the sophistication of conversation today has suffered because of culture. What has changed is not what we talk about rather it is the way in which we think and talk about issues. Cultural content has shifted from written words that had rational inherent appeal, to electronic medium via television which has exclusive passionate appeal. Postman does not condemn the entire programs that are shown in the television that are designed purely for entertainment. However, he is concerned with the programs that purport to present things that are intended to be seriously significant such as news, educational programs and religious broadcasts. The biasness of the television in valuing entertainment has tarnished serious cultural areas into pockets of show business. This has resulted to dire suffering of the public life. This is evident; by the way, vital programs in the television are shortened by successive advertisements within the program’s time frame. This leaves the program with minimal span to deliver the intended information. Political process has emerged to be the most damaging thing impacted through the television. It is related to the commercial television characters that are termed to be America’s political fundamental metaphor of discourse. The book is extremely relevant today especially in the present YouTube era more than it was in the Show Business era. The new are of YouTube is working its tenuous effects on society’s epistemology. It may take time for the effects of this new technology to be realized. However, they will eventually be common and widespread to a point that they will be invisible in the same manner that television effects are on society’s minds. Works Cited Ackermann, John. Now...This;. New York, 19 September 2006. Television. Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death. United States: Penguin group (U S A) Incorporated, 1985. Stewart, Jon. Thoughts of the Philosopher monk. United States, 27 October 2010. Media. Read More