Let it be, Neil.

It was with a recommendation of a colleague that I read Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death. Postman wrote this book in 1985, but the book is not completely outdated. This book proved to be an interesting read that mentioned few points with which I agreed and an underlying cynical tone that I found to be annoying.

When Postman discussed the idea of censorship and the fact that books faced censorship by the governments around the world throughout history, he also discussed the tyranny that corporations have over the television airwaves. With a quick visit to the Columbia Journalism Review and a click on "Who Owns What", anyone would be surprised to see the massive number of different radio and television stations that are owned by the same few large corporations. Postman has a point that even though the government does not regulate the material on the airwaves, corporate companies definitely have the power to do so.

When Postman makes other accusations such as television is useful only for presenting “junk” entertainment and that Sesame Street is detrimental to education, he sounds like a parent complaining that McDonald’s made his kids fat. Sure, sitting a child in front of a television and expecting him to learn solely from the Cookie Monster is not going to benefit him. Television watching, like anything else, has to be done in moderation. In addition, his idea that because television shows are entertaining, there is a pressure on teachers to be entertaining, as well, is slightly far-fetched. I think that any teacher or student will agree that lessons with attention grabbing aspects are simply more fun for all parties involved. Why does television have to be an antagonist? At least children have shows like Sesame Street to watch so that they aren’t exposed to the spring break of shows on MTV.

It has to be understood that television, though it is a useful tool for disseminating information to the masses, was never viewed as solely an informational tool. Sure, when television first started replacing radios, it was informational and more than likely boring. People were probably so intrigued that they were watching rather than only listening to their news that even the informational aspect was lost in the mere entertainment that television still provides to its viewers. When Americans come home from work, they want to be amused.

Let it be, Neil.