A weblog for Pete Ellertsen's mass communications students at Benedictine University Springfield.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

COM 150: Discussion question, TV and reality

Here's the question: How does TV affect reality affect TV affect reality affect TV ...

And so on ad infinitum.

A couple of links:

Neil Postman, a media critic who taught at New York University, had this to say about the segue or transition, "Now ... this," that you hear so much on the TV news. Follow the links and see if what he said is true, and if it's true of the Internet too.

Here's a webpage with links about Postman's writing. Surf around and see what you learn. He died a couple of years ago, but he had a lot to say about TV, media, technology and how they combine to reflect the world we live in.

So ... to get back to the question ... how does TV affect our reality and how does reality affect TV? And vice versa.

8 comments:

J-Stan said...

There are many way that reality affects our TV and many ways that TV affects our reality. For instance, cartoons. These give you the immage that you can do the exact things that they do on TV. This shows a big problem to how TV affects our reality. Some ways though that reality affects TV is that reality gives all these different types of scenario's to put on TV and they change everyday. Our world basically is almost like a TV show.

Kandy said...

TV does have a major affect on the way we think. It puts a certain perspective on the way we might look at a certain topic. Although we may not being hearing the whole story. A lot of our real life reality is on TV these days. Reality TV shows are some of the most popular TV shows today. If peoples real lives were not interesting we wouldnt spend so much time watching and hearing about it on TV. TV may even portray the way some people act in real life. Causing some to want to be more like those that are on TV.

Nathan Pfleger said...

I think reality affects tv because mainly what is put on tv is about real life events that have happened, like shows "CSI" or "Law & Order." But I also think that what goes on these shows affect reality because it opens up the eyes of many to what is actually happening in the world today to people who are sheltered.

Jared Zueck said...

Television affects rality everyday because people try to pursue or do the things that others do on tv. Such as Jackass. Many people impersonate the people on the television show because they believe that it is cool and fun to do. Reality affects what we watch on tv because if something bad happens in real life such as a school being shot up or a plane being flown into the side of a building what we watch on televsion is put through gatekeepers to keep those images out of our heads. The previous shows that had terrorists and gangs shooting up places didn't matter until certain instances happen.

ahorton said...

T.V. has a major affect on reality. A lot of people that watch certain television shows are hooked, for example you always her people talking about their favorite shows they Tevo'd. In another example Reality television, is very affective especially for the ones who are in the shows. Their personal lives are fully exposed to the world.

ahorton said...

T.V. has a major affect on reality. A lot of people that watch certain television shows are hooked, for example you always her people talking about their favorite shows they Tevo'd. In another example Reality television, is very affective especially for the ones who are in the shows. Their personal lives are fully exposed to the world.

ahorton said...

T.V. has a major affect on reality. A lot of people that watch certain television shows are hooked, for example you always her people talking about their favorite shows they Tevo'd. In another example Reality television, is very affective especially for the ones who are in the shows. Their personal lives are fully exposed to the world.

Keith Evans said...

TV affects our reality more than any other type of household appliance. This is because of the fact that most people spend he majoirty of their day in front of the TV. Cartoons affect children and how they view the world in their creative minds. Also, TV can have an effect on reality because of the presence of "reality TV" which has replaced real life for TV reality which may or may not be legit.

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About Me

Springfield (Ill.), United States
I'm a retired English, journalism and cultural studies teacher at Springfield College in Illinois (acquired by Benedictine University and subsequently closed). I coordinate jam sessions for the "Clayville Pioneer Academy of Music" at Clayville Historic Site and the Prairieland Strings dulcimer club, and I sing in the choir and the contemporary praise team at Peace Lutheran Church in Springfield. On Hogfiddle I post links and video clips for our sessions and workshops on the mountain dulcimer (a.k.a. "hog fiddle"), as well as research notes on folklore and cultural studies, hymnody and traditional Anglo-Celtic and Scandinavian music. I also posted assignments and readings in my interdisciplinary humanities classes. The Mackerel Wrapper (now on hiatus), carried assignments and readings for my mass comm. students. I started teaching b/log when I chaired SCI-Benedictine's assessment committee, and reopened it as the privatization of public schools grew increasingly troubling and closer to home.