TV and Citizenship

Johnson’s Great Society’s biggest feat was the war on poverty

● Medicare, housing, schools, and infrastructure were also a big part of the war on poverty
○ Aimed at helping poor, rural families
● Public radio and public tv was also a way to keep those poorer families included
A Welcome Guest in the House
● National Association of Broadcasters
○ Historically represented owners of local tv stations
● 1957
○ Made a case for public tv
● Look for themes about citizenship and regulation
○ Being informed un society
○ Challenge to believe in freedom and truth
■ Use tv to distribute hegemonic ideals
○ NAB- the guest in your house
■ Makes it clear that there are forces at large that threaten our free and
truthful way of life in US
○ Communism threatens freedom
○ Freedom is THE CORE value
■ Free enterprise
○ TV news must presented fast, accurate and fair
○ Citizenship is required to participate in political scene
○ Broadcasters have a responsibility to provide coverage to produce an informed
and enlightened citizenry
■ You need tv and broadcasting to be an informed and enlightened citizen
■ Teachers even use tv as a teaching tool
■ You need tv to become enlightened and a high status member of
society--there is no way to achieve this
○ Your tv set will always be a “welcome guest in the house”
○ They promise to regulate themselves justly
■ You can even send in letters because they care about YOU lol
Ongoing concern of commercial nature of tv and the impact on citizens
Vast Wasteland Speech
● May 9,1961
● Newton Minow, FCC chairman
○ Idea that the FCC will take an activist role in tv
● National Association of Broadcasters Convention
○ Minow says that if tv regulates themselves responsibly, the FCC won’t have to
regulate them. So far, they haven’t been doing so hot.
● “Vast wasteland,” which was originally titled, by Minow, “Television and the Public
Interest” (Minow particularly cared about the public interest aspect)
○ Commercials nature of broadcasting, game shows, violence, sitcoms, lack of
educational content, unrealistic families, loud commercials
 ● Anti-elitism erupted in the 1950s when people like Minow were trying to get public
interest focused programming
○ “This elitist egghead says that tv is garbage, but you like tv, right?”

Television and governing

● TV as a ‘laboratory for democracy’
○ Tv is exploring the role of democracy in programming and asking audience to
participate in this
■ Documentaries, for ex
● Window versus mirror
○ Window: educational technology that will let you see things that you never would
have been able to see before
○ Mirror: the mirror (tv) is the standard, are you up to par with those
images/messages?
○ This debate highlighted the collapse in boundary between citizenship and
consumerism
■ Being a good citizen is being a good consumer
● Governing through freedom
○ Michael Foucault
■ Society has gotten really big, not everybody is within reach of intense
social control. Yet, you need everyone to behave themselves, conform ,
and get along with centralized gov.
■ Came up with the concept of governance through freedom as a solution
● “I don’t necessarily think that’s a good idea, but I’ll let you make
the choice”
● Hopefully, citizens make the right choice, and tv is essential for
getting messages out about what a good citizen is
McCarthy: Citizen Machine
● 1950s civic education on tv: debates, dramatizations, documentaries
● Segregation (racism) was key area of concern
● Early example of “soft power”
○ Same concept as governing through freedom
○ This type of power was really important, especially in the 1950s, in getting people
to do what you want without them feeling like they’re in a totalitarian gov (like
Soviet Union) and that they’re still in a democracy
TV and Governance
● Not just culture of the image or positive representation
○ More about how we interpret representations and images
○ Cultural effects of tv- tv becomes a soft mode of power
● Bottom up mode of power
○ Not just a few people in power creating content for tv, but now everyone is doing
it, individuals included
● Suited to large population with democratic values and rhetoric of freedom
 ● Individual versus collective idea of civic life
○ More emphasis on individuality, not so much on civic life anymore
○ The choices you make in your own life, make sure they are working toward the
standard of citizenry
New Modes of Governance through tv
● Neoliberalism
○ Approach to economics; extremely liberal economics; pushing back against any
government involvement/intervention whatsoever
● Lifestyle tv and citizenship
○ Shaped the way that people understood themselves as citizens
● Politics culture of lifestyle tv
○ Citizenship is less centered around getting involved with politics, writing
legislators, going to demonstrations, joining civic groups, etc., but is now about
your lifestyle and relationships
● Current examples of Reality TV shows that aim to demonstrate positive civic virtues
○ These reality tv shows help certain individuals, but not the general population
○ Ex. “Cops”, Courtroom shows, “Dr. Phil”, “Extreme Home Makeover”, “Biggest
Loser”