"Televisions Power of diffusion means that it poses a terrible problem for the print media and for culture generally. Next to it, the mass circulation press that sent so many shudders up educated spines in earlier times doesn't seem like much at all. By virtue of its reach and exceptional power, television produces effects which, though not without precedent, are completely original."
I decided to use this quote from Bourdieu's chapters because it explains the immense power television carries, because of its efficiency in delivering and communicating information. The printing press and writing in general acted as gatekeepers to academia and general information. In order to understand something that's written you need to know how to read in the first place, which a large portion of the population in the past hasn't been able to do. Television allowed for the communication of information to anyone that understood that given language, in our case English. It created opportunities for those less fortunate and or illiterate, who otherwise wouldn't have been able to read the news in a paper. This new platform also revolutionized the way news was delivered. Before television, newspapers had extremely long articles with few pictures, nowadays after television, the news even on paper is delivered with a short caption and a few pictures. Instead of talking to the people, newscasters talk at people telling them how and what to feel, and what to think about whatever it is they are talking about. The television also used the method of dramatization which draws in way more viewers than a boring fact-based piece would. Television has completely revolutionized the way "news" is delivered. For the better? I wouldn't say that, but its definitely more entertaining than reading the newspaper. Through television media companies learned to capitalize on their viewers' fear and anxiety. Instead of giving short facts about a given topic, they phrase their statement in a way that makes you feel like danger is present, in other words, they rely on fear-mongering. I mean Fox's 10 pm news network starts their program off by asking, "Its 10 pm, do you know where your children are?" What kind of question is that? It is strange.
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