Postman begins by positing that television is not just a mere extension of print. He says that it is closer to an extension of the telegraph and photography instead of the printing press, and then asks, "What is television?" The answer, he says, is that it is technology with an agenda. In this way, the printing press and television are similar. They have bias in how they are generally used. Television is used to convey great entertainment, and it is thus exported around the world. Television could be used to be a bright spot in a difficult life; however, it has become much more than that.
The language is fragmented and reduced to what we could now call soundbites, making it difficult to receive satisfactory knowledge from television. There are some programs which attempt to achieve this sort of intellectual discourse, but they are few and far between. Television is so influential because it is more than movies and the radio and music; it encompasses all discourse.
For what reason did television develop the bias that it has?
Why has American television been so popular when the same can not be said for television of other cultures?
Could television have been a more "intellectual" medium if given the chance?
Has it become more or less intellectual since the time of Postman's writing?
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