Jib Fowles - Böcker

"The Case for Television Violence is a dense, dry and devastating dissection that surely counts as one of the most important books about American culture to appear in the last decade." --Andrew O'Hehir, "The Myth of Media Violence," Salon.com, 3/17/05The Case for Television Violence makes the provocative argument that television violence has been misinterpreted. Rather than undermining the social order, television supports it by providing a safe outlet for aggressive impulses. Media scholar Jib Fowles challenges the conventional wisdom by: 1) demonstrating that the scientific literature does not say what many believe it says; 2) calling attention to the viewing habits and behaviors of the reader and those the reader knows; 3) explaining that the anti-violence critique is most profitably understood as the signature issue in the conflict between high and popular culture and 4) situating the arrival of televised violence within the historical context of the disallowance of traditionally sanctioned targets of aggression.

The Case for Television Violence will intrigue scholars and students of Media Studies, Cultural Studies, Politics and Mass Communication.

Television corrupts our children, induces us to spend needlessly, and stimulates hostility and violence. Or does it? Jib Fowles sees television as a "grandly therapeutic force," that television is indeed good for you. He examines why nearly every American regularly watches television and why viewing is beneficial. Updated and jargon-free, Why Viewers Watch describes the overall effect of programming on the population. What do viewers get from television? What does it do for them? Why do academics negatively judge television? Using recent research reports, overlooked past studies, and fresh survey data to substantiate this positive role, Fowles first reviews the history of television and programming. After discussing what people expect from television, he explores how different types of programs satisfy different needs. Fowles also debunks many of the myths propagated by media scholars and "television prigs." With an easy-to-read style that is both entertaining and informative, Why Viewers Watch suits both the scholar and the student, the specialist and nonspecialist alike. As such, it is the perfect companion volume for courses in communication, journalism, sociology, and psychology. "The author does present another side to the complex effects debate--a side of which we should all be aware." --Et cetera from the First Edition: "An interesting--and challenging--book about television. So good it is surprising it has not received more attention. . . . There aren't many really good books about television, and [this] is one of the best." --Peter Farrell, The Sunday Oregonian "I would recommend this book to interested television viewers, media scholars, and professionals. Fowles' arguments are thought-provoking and sometimes compelling. The book is very readable and easily accessible to lower-division students. For those of us who spent our childhoods glued to the screen and believe we still turned out all right, this book will help alleviate our nagging guilt when we watch television. The book should help scholars reexamine our views on the impact of television's content and our suggested changes. Media professionals should find the book a testament to the positive aspects of their medium." --The Southern Speech Communication Journal

Is it possible that consumers exploit advertising even more so than advertising exploits and influences our culture? Author Jib Fowles argues that consumers look to advertising to provide them with images that can assist them in negotiating the personal dilemmas of advanced industrial life. Advertising and Popular Culture is the first comprehensive text to provide a balanced analysis of advertising and its companion, the popular culture, conveyed through the mass media. Reflecting current theories, this thoughtful critique uses excerpts from advertising campaigns to illustrate how modern advertising both draws from and contributes to popular culture. Fowles traces the role of advertising in our culture from its evolution as part of the culture of mass consumption in the late 19th century, the development of advertising agencies, and the creation of a consumer culture to an exploration of the major themes of American advertising. Advertising and Popular Culture represents a fresh and fully elaborated conceptualization of the services that advertising and popular culture provide. This text will be a vital tool in departments and schools of advertising, journalism, and communication where increasing emphasis is being placed on studying the cultural significance of advertising.

Fowles asserts that the appeals of mass advertising reflect the motivational state of the targeted audience and that these motivational states anticipate socio-cultural change. Using advertising of 1950, 1960, and 1970, Fowles determined that the unsatisfied motives of Americans do vary over time. From this data, he constructs a forecast of our socio-cultural state in 1980 and predicts an increasingly isolationist U.S.