"...if I were to pause here, tell you that I will return to my discussion in a moment, and then proceed to write a few words in behalf of United Airlines or the Chase Manhattan Bank. You would rightly think that I had no respect for you and, certainly, no respect for the subject." (104)
If there was a murderer in your block and the news leaves you confused by going to commercials RIGHT when they are going to give information on the person, wouldn't that make a person wait? And wouldn't that make the news "entertaining" instead of "serious"? They just played with the viewers mind, and because they have to wait and watch all the commercials, it'll make the viewer sit and wait. And Postman makes a good point it is disrespectful to the audience; if shows and movies do that its not as bad, but when it comes to important news it is.
Honestly I never thought that viewings could be disrespecting the viewers. But after reading your post I understand completely what you mean. Now that I think about it I believe Postman was right. If I were in danger I would want to know about it before it would be too late. And if the only way I would be able to find out the complete information on any situation is by watch television programs commercials ARE disrespectful when the public could be a stake. I do think there should be limited commercial interruptions during the news and important programs. I understand "Who am I to decide what important and what isn't" but the people who have to power to air these type of public informational television programs should seriously consider the public. They should be able to know if whatever they are airing will cause people to fret if the don't hear all the information they should. And commercials maximize the percentage that people may or may not stick around to hear about issues and situations that could save or put there lives in danger.
ReplyDeleteI've also never though about it as disrespecting the audience, the way Postman descirbed and usd an example of it, it's very true. When it coes to things like t.v programs: such as cartoons, reality shows, or just entertainment t.v; I wouldn't really consider that as disrespecting the audience, it's just that companys and products need to make their advertisement. With te news or a movie, that would be disrespectful because, in the news like postman said, "...if I were to pause here, tell you that I will return to my discussion in a moment, and then proceed to write a few words in behalf of United Airlines or the Chase Manhattan Bank. You would rightly think that I had no respect for you and, certainly, no respect for the subject" (104). Then that is a great example because it concerns our own lives. If we're in grave danger and the news is informing us and they take a break for commercials it's disrespecting ur lives and it shows the media must not really care. With movies that just maes us lose interest or makes us more suspenceful. For example, I could be watching a movie and I'm really into it and they decide to pause for commercal, on one hand that's a greatway to keep a viewer hooked, but it disrespects me because it feels like they don't care about how much I was enjoying it. That quote was eye-opening and helped me realize how the media might feel about us the viewers.
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