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Summary Of Greg Beato's Amusing Ourselves To Depth

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The news; a common part of the American household since newspapers were first produced. But the news the public reads may have more effect than just informing. The newspaper then grew into the television news hour and from there the Internet. There are so many ways of getting the information on events going on around the world and locally and some sources have Levine popular because of their entertainment value. In Amusing Ourselves to Depth, Greg Beato informs about the information and entertainment value of the “fake news” shows and publications. Neil Postman and Steve Powers focus only on the television news and the ways it can manipulate the audience. Though “Television News: The Language of Pictures” and “Amusing Ourselves to Depth” both …show more content…

Postman and Powers’ insight into the news world explains that when a news program distorts the truth either by altering or creating new facts the audience is defenceless to know what is accurate (406 Postman Powers). The general public trusts the news to give accurate reports on the goings on of the world and without truthful information it is difficult for most people to get the real story about any happening. Since people believe the news and are getting fed misinformation the public is completely uninformed on current events that it is important they know about. Greg Beato informs, “During the last few years, multiple surveys by the Pew Research Center and the Annenberg Public Policy center have found that viewers of The Daily Show and The Colbert report are among America’s most informed citizens” (390). The research done contributes to the ideas that Beato ties throughout the article, though “fake news” it is still a source of information that many americans learn from on a daily basis. American citizens enjoy getting their news from a comical way they turn away from the traditional news that older generations relied on. The common news also waters down the content of broadcasts while “The Onion” and other comical news sources use brutal honesty to get information to the public. Postman and Powers highlight the fact that television news has to use more action on screen to maintain the attention of their viewers and Beato concentrates on the brevity of the articles but how they are not repetitive and boring. Beato explains that it is impossible to predict what The Onion will release because they have always been so unpredictable but how they only wish to express the blunt truth to the world ( 391). Even though the publication relies mostly on the written world they hold the reader's attention

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