The Media Television is to news what bumper stickers
are to philosophy. Laughter on American television has taken
the place of the chorus in Greek tragedy.... In other countries, the business of laughing
is left to the viewers. Here, their laughter is put on the screen, integrated into the
show. It is the screen that is laughing and having a good time. You are simply left alone
with your consternation. In the case of news, we should always wait
for the sacrament of confirmation. News is what a chap, who doesn't care much
about anything, wants to read. And it's only news until he has read it. After that, it's
dead. A good newspaper is never nearly good
enough, but a lousy newspaper is a joy forever. Television was not invented to make human
beings vacuous, but is an emanation of their vacuity. If we had had the right technology
back then, you would have seen Eva Braun on The Donahue Show and Adolf Hitler on Meet
the Press. Public Opinion The people will stand for anything. What they can't stand for,
they'll fall for. Today's public opinion, though it may appear light as air, may
become tomorrow's legislation - for better or for worse. Government in the last analysis is organized opinion. Where there is
little or no public opinion, there is likely to be bad government, which sooner or later
becomes autocratic government. Public opinion is a compound of folly, weakness, prejudice, wrong
feeling, right feeling, obstinacy, and newspaper paragraphs. Laws that do not embody public opinion can never be enforced. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can
succeed. Consequently he who molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts
statutes or pronounces decisions.
Top of Page | Table of Contents | Home Page Compiled by Angelo Moscarello, Contributing Editor and Website Designer and Bill Blackman,
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