On Television - Softcover

Bourdieu, Pierre

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0745652166 ISBN 13: 9780745652160

Publisher: Polity, 2011

Synopsis

On Television exposes the invisible mechanisms of manipulation and censorship that determine what appears on the small screen. Bourdieu shows how the ratings game has transformed journalism - and hence politics - and even such seemingly removed fields as law' science' art' and philosophy. Bourdieu had long been concerned with the role of television in cultural and political life when he bypassed the political and commercial control of the television networks and addressed his country's viewers from the television station of the College de France. On Television' which expands on that lecture' not only describes the limiting and distorting effect of television on journalism and the world of ideas' but offers the blueprint for a counterattack.

About this title

Review:

Television permeates our culture like no other medium. Sitcoms, sports, murder trials, fast-food commercials, and distant wars are beamed into our homes in an endless stream. Given its pervasiveness, and the ways in which it shapes our view of the world outside our homes, it is vital that a rigorous critical apparatus exists to help us understand what all this TV means. On Television is a transcript of two lectures given by French critic Pierre Bourdieu, in which he expresses his concern that television in its current form is "a threat to political life and to democracy itself." He argues that television provides only the illusion of freedom, and that almost every image that reaches the screen is thoroughly mediated by corporate and political interests. The desire for larger audiences results in a medium that caters to the shortest attention span, and the news is reduced to a series of prepackaged sound bites and sensational video footage. On the networks, if it bleeds it leads.

Bourdieu's critique may be dismissed by some as excessively pessimistic, and he offers few solutions to the problems that he describes. Yet although the end may not be as nigh as Bourdieu imagines, the influence of television continues to grow, and this is a fascinating contribution to an increasingly important debate.--Simon Leake

About the Author:

Pierre Bourdieu is a professor of sociology at the Collge de France and the director of studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, in Paris. His most recent book is Acts of Resistance.

About this edition

• Publisher: Polity
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0745652166
• ISBN 13: 9780745652160
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112