Understanding Society, Culture, and Television

"A rare treat - a calm, balanced and well-informed review of the myths and realities surrounding the nature of the medium [of television] and its audience....Combining the lucidity of a Neil Postman and the scholarly instincts of a Herbert Gans, Monaco has written a book destined to become a classic in the field."-W. Russell Neuman, Professor Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania "Paul Monaco has more faith in individual intelligence than in the seductive power of television. He considers television an efficient form of popular entertainment, and lauds its increasing diversity in the late 1990s. Monaco rejects imitation and cultivation theories of TV influence, and strongly opposes recent government initiatives in media regulation (e.g., the v-chip). His book is stimulating and fun. It should interest a very broad audience."-Peter Lev, Professor of Mass Communication Towson University ?[A] stimulating read for an undergraduate course intended to debunk the common supersimplication that TV causes behavior....[T]he book has insightful (even passionate) and certainly constructive messages about the roles of public education, politics and government, and advertising.?-CBQ "YA stimulating read for an undergraduate course intended to debunk the common supersimplication that TV causes behavior....YThe book has insightful (even passionate) and certainly constructive messages about the roles of public education, politics and government, and advertising."-CBQ "[A] stimulating read for an undergraduate course intended to debunk the common supersimplication that TV causes behavior....[T]he book has insightful (even passionate) and certainly constructive messages about the roles of public education, politics and government, and advertising."-CBQ

PAUL MONACO is the Department Head of Media & Theatre Arts and Professor of Cinema/Video at Montana State University, Bozeman. He is the author of several books on the cinematic arts and the history of culture, as well as being a filmmaker and video producer. As a producer/director for Montana Public Television, he has been responsible for numerous productions which have shown on public television, both regionally and nationally. Among these productions are Home to Montana, Bison in the Killing Fields, and Women, War, and Work (co-produced with his wife Dr. Victoria O'Donnell).

Preface The Art and Nature of Television Storytelling and Television Television and the Aesthetics of Power, Virtuosity, and Repetition Social Dimensions of Television Common Themes and Contemporary Commentary Agendas, Politics, and Television Globalization and Television Television and Civil Society Wellsprings of Our Discontent with Television Television and Advertising Television and Government Television and Contemporary Culture Art for Whose Sake? What Everyone Must Know About Television Afterword Bibliography Index