This paper examines Chapter Seven of Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death, applying his critique of television news to real-world examples from CNN and local broadcast news. The paper argues that Postman is correct in characterizing television news as fragmented, context-free entertainment driven by celebrity anchors, sound bites, and visual spectacle. Drawing on examples such as CNN shows like "News Night with Aaron Brown," "Crossfire," and CNN Headline News, the analysis demonstrates how the news industry's embrace of entertainment values produces what Postman calls "disinformation" — a misleading picture of the world assembled from rapid-fire, decontextualized facts.
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The paper models applied textual analysis: it takes a theoretical framework from a primary source (Postman's critique) and tests it against independent evidence. By mapping Postman's specific claims — celebrity faces, musical punctuation, the "now … this" transition, forty-five-second stories — onto actual CNN programming and local news conventions, the writer demonstrates how to use a scholarly argument as an analytical lens rather than simply summarizing it.
The paper opens by introducing Postman's central thesis and immediately conceding then dismissing the strongest objection to it. It then works through Postman's key claims one by one — format, celebrity, fragmentation, disinformation — each illustrated with a CNN or local-news example. The conclusion widens the lens to the corporate ownership structure underlying the entertainment-news convergence, ending on a pointed rhetorical flourish borrowed from Monty Python.
In Chapter Seven of Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman critiques television news, arguing that its flashy format has reduced reality to fluff for entertainment value. While there are some exceptions to Postman's perception of television news, in general he is correct in claiming that television news is "news without context, without consequences, without value, and therefore without essential seriousness … news as pure entertainment" (100).
At first it may be tempting to disagree with Postman's harsh criticisms of television news, especially those based on his claim that most newscasters must have faces fit for magazine covers. A cursory glance at some reporters reveals that at least a few are overweight and comparatively unattractive. However, most, if not all, television news anchors have what Postman calls "credible" faces; otherwise, they would be doing radio news. Postman's critique of what so many Americans hold dear — television — is sadly accurate.
Most television news, from local nightly broadcasts to 24-hour services like CNN, is designed to hold viewers captive not with intelligent discourse but with sound bites and bits of information stripped of any broad context. Postman provides a perfect example of such fragmentation when he describes how television news handled the Iranian hostage crisis. He asks, "Would it be an exaggeration to say that not one American in a hundred knows what language the Iranians speak?" — in spite of the constant imagery and tidbits broadcast on the evening news (107).
The chapter title "Now … This" alludes to the brief phrase uttered in transition from one news segment to another, or from a news segment to a set of commercials. According to Postman, the phrase "serves as a compact metaphor for the discontinuities in so much that passes for public discourse in present-day America" (99). Television news is indeed comprised of fragments tailored for short attention spans — segments that are, as Postman observes, punctuated by musical cues and other random sensory input.
Although few anchors use the exact words "Now … This" to signal a transition, the meaning is implied through phrases like "We'll be right back," or through a simple change in tone of voice. These bits and fragments are arranged magazine-style, with catchy titles. As Postman states on page 112, "magazines have taught television that nothing but entertainment is news."
Although Postman does not suggest how television news could be improved to meet his high standards for public discourse, his observations are correct. One could object to his critique on the grounds that television operates within a limited time frame, and that in order to inform people the media must be sufficiently entertaining. After all, there is nothing inherently wrong with entertainment value. However, CNN solidifies Postman's claim that television news is the "idiot's delight" (99). For twenty-four hours a day, CNN delivers bits and bytes of information that amount to entertaining but superficial fragments of news. Prime-time anchor Aaron Brown even devoted part of his show to reading headlines from newspapers around the country — news doesn't get any briefer or more "now … this" than that.
News on CNN is also divided into named "shows," underscoring its connection with entertainment television. News Night with Aaron Brown is followed by Lou Dobbs Tonight. These individual programs are listed separately in television guides much as 24 and The Shield are listed side by side. Furthermore, CNN falls squarely into the television news pattern of making "celebrities of your newscasters" (Postman 106). News Night with Aaron Brown and Lou Dobbs Tonight are two of the most blatant examples of how anchors become prime-time celebrities, as is the Nancy Grace news show. As Postman notes, Grace has a magazine face — blonde hair, high cheekbones. Even shows not named after their anchors contain major news celebrities. Paula Zahn Now is a CNN program whose anchor's name graces the title; Zahn, like Grace, is blonde and conventionally attractive.
As is often the norm in the entertainment industries, men are held to a different standard than women. Lou Dobbs displays a comb-over yet seems trustworthy enough to hold viewers' attention. Likewise, Larry King's thinning hair has not prevented him from achieving high celebrity status. Adding emphasis to the confluence of news and entertainment is the fact that Larry King and other newscasters have played themselves in cameo roles in films.
"Crossfire" is a supreme example of news-as-entertainment and the cult of the television news celebrity. Notable figures such as Bob Novak and James Carville argue like a pair of professional wrestlers, providing little more than spectacle. Like professional wrestlers, the Crossfire crew offers scripted commentary along binary lines: one takes the Republican side, the other the Democratic side, and issues are rarely resolved. The debates fuel the show and provide the entertainment that keeps viewers coming back for more.
Each hour of CNN is divided into entertainment segments with titles that boost the celebrity status of their broadcasters, such as Anderson Cooper 360 and Wolf Blitzer Reports. To spice up the news reports, anchor segments are punctuated by filmed pieces from field reporters that add visual and auditory discontinuity. These field segments extend the length of individual stories but, as Postman points out, offer little in terms of true depth. As with the Iran hostage affair, the news stories discussed at any length result in little actual awareness of the underlying issues. For all the airtime devoted to the war in Iraq, few citizens truly understood what was happening in modern-day Mesopotamia.
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