Assignment Question
Write at least 3 paragraphs 1) Media Scholar Neil Postman wrote Amusing Ourselves to Death in 1985. It explored changes in the relationship of audience to media (specifically through television content, which was then the most prominent mass media form). Summarizing his thesis, he writes (in the 20th Anniversary Edition of the book, published in 2006): Argument is limited to saying that a major new medium changes the structure of discourse; it does so by encouraging certain uses of the intellect, by favoring certain definitions of intelligence and wisdom, and by demanding a certain kind of content — in a phrase, by creating new forms of truth-telling. Explain in an essay — using specific examples from assigned readings and additional research you have done on your own –what he means by “truth telling” and how this has occurred in at least three of the media channels we have discussed this semester. If you wish to learn more about Postman’s work as background for your essay or support for your argument, here is additional source material:
➤ Summary of Postman’s bookhttps://medium.com/@dsilvestre/lessons-from-amusing-ourselves-to-death-by-neil-postman-962221ee622 ➤ A likely copyright-infringing full text of the 20th Anniversary Edition https://archive.org/stream/AmusingOurselvesToDeathByNeil203/Amusing+Ourselves+to+Death+by+Neil+-203_djvu.txt, the actual
➤ An 1985 interview with the author https://www.pbs.org/video/the-open-mind-are-we-amusing-ourselves-to-death-part-i/
➤ Amusing Ourselves to Death is readily available, including in the CCNY library and in bookstores (Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. Penguin Books, 2006.)
➤ Additional written reviews and commentary are also available with an internet or library database search.
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