Four arguments for the elimination of television /
by Jerry Mander.
- 1st ed., repr.
- New York : Perennial, 2002.
- 371 p. ; 22 cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Introduction -- 2. Argument one: The mediation of experience -- 3. Argument two: The colonization of experience -- 4. Argument three: Effects of television in the human being -- 5. Argument 4: The inherent biases of television -- 6. Postscript: Impossible thoughts.
A total departure from previous writing about television, this book is the first ever to advocate that the medium is not reformable. Its problems are inherent in the technology itself and are so dangerous - to the personal health and sanity, to the environment and to democratic processes - that TV ought to be eliminated forever. Weaving personal experiences through meticulous research, the author ranges widely over aspects of television that have rarely been examined and never and never before joined together, allowing an entirely new, frightening image to emerge. The idea that all technologies are "neutral", benign instruments that can be used well or badly, is thrown open to profound doubt. Speaking of TV reform is, in the words of the author, " as absurd as speaking of the reform of the technology such a guns."
9780688082741
Television broadcasting--Social aspects--United States Television--Psychological aspects