Ex-CIA Official on Amusing Ourselves to Death. Neil Postman Updated

Is Donald Trump the problem or only the symptom of the disease amp160Itamp8217s too much to say that the late Neil Postman saw the futureamp160 But thereamp8217s no question that Dr Postman a professor of communications at New York University understood the trends that would get us thereamp160amp160Reflecting in 1985 on the eroding quality of television news and its effect on the American public Postman described our trajectory succinctlyamp160 amp8220Ignorance is always correctableamp8221 he wroteamp160 amp8220But what shall we do if we take ignorance to be knowledgeamp8221amp160 It requires a very unusual mind the renowned mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead once wrote to undertake an analysis of the obviousamp160 As the presidency of a realestatedeveloperturnedrealityTVstar flounders between confusion and crisis Postmanamp8217s strikingly prescient book which all but predicted the advent of Donald Trump 30 years ago represents just the kind of thinking Whitehead had in mindThe amp8220obviousamp8221 that Postman wrote about in 1985 of course wasnamp8217t Trump himselfamp160 The two cohabited New York City but neither Trumpamp8217s real estate deals nor his then nascent television antics are featured in Postmanamp8217s workamp160 amp8220Amusing Ourselves to Death Public Discourse in the Age of Show Businessamp8221 examines a far more important topic The social cultural and political impact of how we communicate on our capability to thinkamp160 Although it was written well before the mobile Web produced todayamp8217s mediamarinated world its analysis of why television has degraded our public dialogue is even more a mustread today than it was three decades agoPostmanamp8217s thesis is straightforwardamp160 Faced with the Soviet Union 20th Century democracies worried about the dangers posed by George Orwellamp8217s 1984like totalitarian oppressors who banned books and censored news when they should have been troubled by the leaders in Aldus Huxleyamp8217s Brave New World who didnamp8217t need any such heavy handamp160 They obscured truth and seduced thought with entertainment and addictive distractionsamp160 In Postmanamp8217s view Huxley nailed the real threat to democracy the use of the inane and amusing to exploit the greatest human weakness our nearinfinite capacity for diversionPostman used these two contrasting dystopias to make a powerful pointamp160 From the printing press to the telegraph to radio to television each new medium has changed the nature of our discourseamp160 For serious subjects that matter in our public life itamp8217s not been for the betteramp160 In 1985 television was his case in pointamp160 Unlike the printed word that demands the readeramp8217s attention and active mental engagement for amp8220viewersamp8221 the screenamp8217s ceaselessly changing imagery and disjointed delivery of information think the onair reporteramp8217s amp8220live from the sceneamp8221 the anchoramp8217s incessant amp8220breaking newsamp8221 or the news channel nonstop panels of crosstalking heads does anything butamp160While amp8220Amusing Ourselves to Deathamp8221 ranges broadly in addressing televisionamp8217s effects Postmanamp8217s examination of our national political life figures prominentlyamp160 His conclusion When it comes to providing a format for rational discussion of serious subjects television simply canamp8217t carry the freightamp160 amp8220Television speaks in only one persistent voice the voice of entertainmentamp8221 he wrote in 1985 with the result that amp8220the content of much of our public discourse has become dangerous nonsenseamp8221amp160 Fast forward to todayamp8217s social media and not only does his analysis still apply thereamp8217s no need to change a word in his critiqueTake social media and the newsamp160 With sixty percent of Americans turning to Facebook Twitter Reddit YouTube and other sites for some or all their news the competition for traditional print cable and broadcast outlets is obvious as is the hit to their bottom lines as social media and the news business increasingly converge1amp160 So too is the reaction from the executive suites at Facebook and Google to name only twoamp160amp160With their revenue built on the click and profitdriven notion that whatever the users like goes social media executives have done all they could to avoid acknowledging the civic responsibilities that comeamp160with their newsmenamp8217s roleThe adoption of credible journalistic standards as social mediaamp8217s role in the news business grows wonamp8217t be easyamp160 Transitioning editorial processes from managing cat video posts to ensuring the display of factual fair presentations of health care reformamp160or policing propaganda isnamp8217t simply a matter of tweaking an algorithmamp160 Nor is the development of effective means to prevent clandestine cyberattacks on our democratic system such as Russiaamp8217s intervention in the election last yearamp160 But from the fake news tsunami that washed over last yearamp8217s presidential campaign to Russian use of social media to broadcast their hacking results the consequences for the country of the failure to do so arenamp8217t hypotheticalamp160 Theyamp8217re already hereamp160As legacy and other news organizations find themselves increasingly driven to shape their stories to fit social mediaamp8217s varied platforms logic presumably should bring the leadership at Facebook Twitter and YouTube to recognize that along with their new revenue streams they need to embrace a responsible journalistamp8217s role2amp160 In fact regulators aboard already are sending that message loud and clearamp160 Impending German laws to curb hate speech and threatened sanctions over fake news testify to the fact European authorities are watching and fully prepared to levy significant fines for sites giving short shrift these public needsIf Postman could return to examine our brave new world he wouldnamp8217t be surprised nor any less critical of social mediaamp8217s failure to take its civic role seriously than was his vivisection of television 30 years agoamp160 And why notamp160 When broadcast news continues to be indistinguishable from entertainment when social mediaamp8217s editorial judgments are crowdsourced and clickbased and when politicians model themselves on celebrities and vice versa Postmanamp8217s troubling questions havenamp8217t agedamp160 Theyamp8217ve only become more profoundPostman wasnamp8217t the first to write about the consequences for a democracy if a media establishment failed in its duties to inform the publicamp160 Sixtyfive years before him Walter Lippmann arguably the most influential American journalist in the 20th Century worried about the same thingamp160 Lippmann had faith that the press would do its job but he also recognized the dangers if it didnamp8217tamp160 amp8220There can be no libertyamp8221 Lippmann wrote in 1920 amp8220for a community that lacks the means amp8230 to detect liesamp82211 httpwwwjournalismorg20160526newsuseacrosssocialmediaplatforms20162 httpswwwcjrorgtowcenterreportsplatformpresshowsiliconvalleyreengineeredjournalismphpClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Ex-CIA Official on Amusing Ourselves to Death. Neil Postman Updated

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Kent M. Harrington

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Ex-CIA Official on Amusing Ourselves to Death. Neil Postman Updated

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