Viewers Like You

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Overview

When most people think of public television they envision educational or cultural programs and slow-moving conversations between knowledgeable experts. We are told that we ought to watch these worthwhile alternatives to the time-wasting commercial amusements that populate primetime, and yet ratings show we rarely do. Despite the current of frustration about television that runs through American life, most Americans bypass the redemptive "oasis of the wasteland" for the sitcoms, serial dramas, soap operas, music ...
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Viewers Like You: How Public TV Failed the People

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More About This Book

Overview

When most people think of public television they envision educational or cultural programs and slow-moving conversations between knowledgeable experts. We are told that we ought to watch these worthwhile alternatives to the time-wasting commercial amusements that populate primetime, and yet ratings show we rarely do. Despite the current of frustration about television that runs through American life, most Americans bypass the redemptive "oasis of the wasteland" for the sitcoms, serial dramas, soap operas, music videos, game shows, and popular news programs churned out by the culture industries. This book traces the history of public broadcasting, questions public television´s commonsense priorities, and argues that its tendency to reject popular culture has undermined its capacity to serve the people it claims to represent.
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Editorial Reviews

Library Journal
Conservatives have branded public television as elitist, while liberals decry its dependence on corporate sponsorship. As with television itself, however, the issues are rarely black and white. Seasoned writer/ producer Smith and Ouellette (media studies, Rutgers) agree that public TV has failed miserably, but they disagree on just what it has failed to do. Ouellette sees in public broadcasting the potential to correct social injustice. PBS, she argues, has historically projected the views of the dominant (white, male) culture, while minorities, women, and blue-collar workers have been either ignored entirely or depicted as humorous or pitiable. She believes that public TV should embrace mass culture rather than trying to rise above it. Her ideas, though intriguing, are frequently obscured by social science jargon ("The history of KTCA problematizes geographic essentialism"), making the book appropriate for academic libraries. A refugee from the world of public broadcasting, Smith sees public TV as an art form whose potential has been repeatedly squelched by lawmakers and business executives. In sharp contrast to Ouellette's pleas for cultural sensitivity, Smith cites political correctness as a major obstacle to innovative programming. The authors' divergent views are best illustrated by their attitudes about the early-1970s program The Great American Dream Machine: Ouellette complains that the show poked fun at "the lowly, feminized masses," while Smith praises the show's "verve, style and originality" and intimates that it was dropped because of its controversial content. Smith envisions a national production center that would develop programs with backing from a national trust fund, unconstrained by government oversight. Smith's opinionated rant is more fun to read than Ouellette's work, but too much of the text has only marginal relevance to his thesis. The extraneous diatribes against affirmative action, local school boards, etc., make this an optional purchase for public libraries, though it may be appropriate for communications collections.-Susan M. Colowick, North Olympic Lib. Syst., Port Angeles, WA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780231119429
  • Publisher: Columbia University
  • Publication date: 8/1/2002
  • Pages: 300
  • Lexile: 1650L (what's this?)
  • Product dimensions: 0.81 (w) x 6.00 (h) x 9.00 (d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Cultural Contradictions of Public Television 1
Ch. 1 Oasis of the Vast Wasteland 23
Ch. 2 The Quest to Cultivate 67
Ch. 3 TV Viewing as Good Citizenship 105
Ch. 4 Something for Everyone 141
Ch. 5 Radicalizing Middle America 175
Epilogue: Public Television, Popularity and Cultural Justice 217
Notes 229
Index 265
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