“The Temptress of Television…”

About a year ago i discovered the fantastic world of podcasting. I was in awe of the amount and range of subjects there is on the vast seas of the web… Of course, like the rest of the web, there was also an abundance of crap.

One of the greatest surprises was the “turn off your television” podcast. As the title clearly states, he has a not so positive view about the use and effects that television has on people. The podcast is critical of the benefits of TV, the influence that the American media (mainly TV-networks) has on American society. The podcast is very inspiring and it has in many ways affirm my belief that television is a “bad thing”. Ron Kaufman is the main driving force behind the podcast and site.

I have always had a problem with television. As a child living in America, i watched way too much TV – i would even go as far as too say that it was abuse. Especially on Saturdays, i would get up at 5 A.M, so i wouldn’t miss out on all the cartoons. The mere willingness and consumption of time has since always filled me with respect for the “temptress of television”. And i have taken the consequences – got rid of my TV. This is a great ting – has given me time to do the things i should be doing and things that are worth doing.

In one of the podcasts Ron Kaufman, highly recommends “Four arguments for the elimination of television” by Jerry Manders. I just finished the book and this is a definitely a “must read”. It’s amazing to think that the book was published back in 1978 but the book is as relevant as it was back then. His arguments are sound, relevant and easy to comprehend.

Especially the “Eliminate personal knowledge”, section was very inspiring. The main argument is, that when you are passive receiving from the tv, you are absorbing, but not able to put it in some point of reference. How can you relate to what you are receiving? The answer is only in part, the experience is shallow compared to reality. The media is not able to convey the debt of senses that you otherwise can get. A great ex-ample is looking at the moon, a sea view… – these are shallow if viewed on TV, but can be worthwhile event in reality.

You are being entertained, and not interacting with people. In the wider context you are slowly degrading your social abilities and knowledge how you fit in to the wider natural system. In the extreme, it can make it impossible for humans to separate the natural from the artificial, real from unreal.

Manders context is of course the American media and is still heavy influenced by advertisement and the private ownership of the media. In Europe there has been a tradition of state owned tv/radio channels, but in the last twenty years these institution have come under pressure as a wide new range of private channels have come. In here lies the problem.

How can the private compete against public funded media? The justification of this, is the so-called “public service obligation”, in where there has to be a healthy body of good, informative and more marginal programming.

DR (Danmarks Radio) has been one of these state owned channels who have for the moment been able to convinced the populous. I am on the other hand, not satisfied. DR has fought with teeth and nails to uphold good ratings. They have been a victim of there own success. To get good rating the have sacrificed their own right to exist, by lowering the quality of programming to a wide degree. I do not have a television, but when my eyes wonder on the different channels i cant see the difference between the public and private. It is the same, bulk of programming. Endless reality shows, game shows, snappy news coverage and so on. The only difference is the lack of advertisement.

If you are interested in Manders book, you can probably borrow it at your public library or buy it on Amazon. Good reading…

DR – please turn your television off!

Now, in Denmark you have to pay a licence fee (dk: ”licens”) for having a television and radio. The income goes to finance the Danish public broadcasting network (Danmarks Radio). The “licens” has recently been expanded, to also include computers and mobile phones with a Internet capacity. DR has a public service obligation – to inform, cultivate and educate the citizen. This, service obligation is in fact the justification for DR continued existence and financing.

The expansion if the licens is in many ways not just; you are paying for a service you aren’t using (non-tv/radio users). The new licens is priced at about kr. 2000,- annually and will target the people that now don’t have to pay. Students will be hurt hard by this – you can’t study today without a computer and access to the internet.

In the pre-2007 era, you had a chose. You pay, if you had a TV/radio or you go without. Now there is no choice, the licence is mandatory if you have a computer. This is a shame, it doesn’t seem just to me.

DR is a remnant of the old days, where they were “the only show in town”, and has all tell tale signs of an old rigid state monopoly. DR has tried to reform themselves, but they still lack the dynamics you need to preform in the modern media landscape. DR has two TV channels, four FM channels and a range of DAB channels as well. The only truly informative channel is the radio channel P1 (FM).

DR has increasingly come under pressure from a wide rage of commercial channels and has responded by lowering the standard to uphold their ratings. Reality and game shows… basic entertainment without real content. The product they deliver is near identically to what the commercial channels show and it makes you think. You might as well watch some of the commercial channels. DR is in a fix – how far should they go and can their existence be justified?

I understand that we all have to pay for the common good – but do we all have to pay for bad television?