|
Rating:  -
An informal and informative handbook that's a fun read. Hey, nobody's perfect, but I'd like to think the ones who control the news would try a little bit harder. The authors do a good job of explaining why we shouldn't take TV news at face value.
Rating: -
An academic and a TV journalist combine forces to take on the most powerful and pervasive force in our daily lives and dissect its influence in a way no one's thought of before. Who'd think that a society so bombarded with information would be the least informed in the world? This book explains how-- and why. And it's quite prescient, having been written a few years ago, in showing how "news' and "entertainment" combine to form something that tastes great but is less filling. It's worth a read for anyone who suspects that "they" are not telling us what we need to know or want to know-- but what "they" decide" we should know. This is the Rosetta Stone of the Infotainment Age.
Rating: -
The last thing I thought I'd ever need was a book telling me how to "watch" TV news. Boy, was I wrong. The meaning, the subtext, the background, and the message were all there in front of me-- it took a little guidance to "get it." Postman and Powers are two righteous TV dudes who know how to peel the onion of telecommunications and expose the inner workings that, until now, sailed clear over my head. I have to thank my J-School professor for being cool enough to make it part of the required reading list. Rather, Brokaw and Jennings-- watch out! We know your secrets now! Five stars.
Rating: -
This is a Fodor's Guide to the tube: perhaps the first book since McLuhan's to truly cut through the static and reveal exactly what the media are "really" selling us. I admit, I was initially attracted by the cover, but once I started reading, found myself enthralled by the analysis of what on the surface seems so clear-- the many layers of agenda that come between communicators and viewers. It was only upon finishing the book that I realized I'd read an actual journalistic "textbook," though one that's so entertaining, it's tailormade not only for the classes-- but for the masses!This is a reference book that should be in every home--stacked alongside Maltin's Video Guide and the instructions to the VCR. I've found myself reading it while watching the News at 10... then hanging in til 11 for more, just to see what I'm really watching. Postman's academic credentials and Powers's experience as a legendary TV newsman add up to a literary anchor team that, on the screen, would bring us the real story every night! With "How to Watch TV News," the Postman rings with twice the Powers of any other guide to the hidden agendas of a medium that infiltrates every living room in the nation.
Rating:  -
I decided to buy Postman's book after reading a two page revelation that local news shows (the authors emphasize that they are "shows" not to be mistaken as public utilities) are cast to appear as a family. Dad is the main anchor and there is usually a "mom." The "kids" include a light-hearted weather person and a boyish-cute sports person. The show needs the audience to feel a sense of stability from this on-screen family to counter the chaos they describe in terms of news. Fascinating observation. I buy the book. Unfortunately, there are only five or six similar flourishes of insight amidst a sea of cynicism. And I agree with a previous reviewer's assessment of the authors' shallow prescription.
Television Show
Collectibles
Movie Searches
|
|
|
Search for posters,
art prints, photos, collectables, merchandise, toys, t-shirts
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Join the Nielsen//NetRatings Research Panel and you could win a new car, a dream vacation, a dream home makeover or $50,000 Cash!
TV Guide
Program listings, celebrity profiles, industry
gossip, movie reviews, puzzle.
More
Entertainment
& TV Magazines
This site is
Hosted
by Bluehost
Read
my Bluehost Review
Original Superhero & other designs for t-shirts, bumper
stickers, prints, mugs, and other cool merchandise. |
|
