Let's Ban Television!

Now here's something I think we can all agree on, sceptics and conspiracy fans alike.

As those who've read my posts know, I'm what some of you would call a sceptic (others may prefer ruder names). I don't believe in the conspiracy theories so earnestly discussed on this web site, though I enjoy reading the discussions, and like to stir the pot myself on occasion, just for the fun of it.

Conspiracy theories have always been big in American popular culture – and right now, they seem to be bigger than they've ever been. They are no longer the obsession of a small, tinfoil-hatted minority; they've gone mainstream, and not just in the US either. They've gone global. They've gone mass market. They've gone mass media.

They've gone television.

And it's been happening for a long time. On TV, today, is where most conspiracy believers first encounter their pet conspiracies – sometimes in fictional form (e.g. The X-Files), sometimes as credulous 'documentaries' (stand up, History Channel and Discovery Channel, and take your bows), sometimes as paranoid ravings on talk shows like Jerry Springer's. Any of you can provide better and more contemporary examples than I just did; I don't watch television, you see, so I don't keep up.

But while conspiracy-specific programming has had its part to play, the mainstreaming of tinfoil hattery by television is actually the result of something a lot more insidious: the widespread confusion, now evident among conspiracy theorists and ordinary viewers alike, between television and reality.

I suppose I once helped cause this confusion; I am a former advertising executive, after all. But during my 25-odd years in advertising, I always believed that consumers and TV audiences were more intelligent and perceptive than they were given credit for. I held fast, as many admen of my era did, to David Ogilvy's famous dictum: 'The consumer is not a moron; she is your wife.'

Sadly, I have lost my faith in that statement. I can no longer attribute much intelligence to the average consumer, the average TV viewer. It has become appallingly obvious that habitual TV viewing by three generations of the general public has produced a world in which most people can't tell the difference between the sensationalised, consumerised, art-directed world of television and mass media, and the actual, physical reality their bodies inhabit – the reality of the objects and creatures around them, of actual events occurring within the range of their own five senses.

When people find the news on TV is as real to them as what is happening in their own backyards, when they think the gadgets and ideas sold to them by the media are as important as the concerns and relationships that feature in their own lives, they lose their anchors. Clueless and foundering, they will believe anything, grasp at any straw. They will support the most bizarre conspiracy theories, such as the claim that the Aurora theatre shooting was the work of the local police chief in cahoots with the Illuminati. :shk:

The world is full of real problems. When the general public takes leave of reality, it just makes it harder to solve those problems. Conspiracy theorists, of course, recognise this; here on ATS, they assert it all the time. Of course, in the view of sceptics like myself, it is they who have lost their grip on reality.

Be that as it may, you have even more reason to agree with me if you are a conspiracy theorist. Isn't the mainstream media the source of all misinformation, distraction and mindless noise, the tool most favoured by the Illuminati/NWO/Rotschilds/Masons/Jews/Bilderburgers/Bohemian Grove perverts/(your choice of fiend here) when they seek to bamboozle and distract the masses?

Well, then, let's get rid of it, so that the sheeple won't have to graze on lies and propaganda any more, and will be forced to see the truth of that aliens-abducted-Obama's-birth-certificate theory you've been researching all these years! I may laugh in the face of your theory, but on this, I'm with you: it's time to slay the dragon.

So come with me, friends, and let's strike at the very root of the evil: let's get rid of television, this monster of misinformation. Let's ban the box and get people back to the real world, before we all float off on a tinfoil cloud of misinformation, misconception and false aspiration for ever.

Come on, ATS! Let's all speak with one voice for a change. All together now...

BAN! THE!! BOX!!!

Great Thread. I think this song sums up the lunacy that is television.

I actually Banned The Box a year ago. I never watch TV anymore. Better news and info are available on the web. I love it when someone asks me if I have seen a TV show and I reply, I don't watch TV! People find it incredible that I don't care to know what 'smookie' is doing!

I dont watch TV, I made that choice in 2004 (possibly a little too late, the damage has been done). I can see some merit in you proposal and I do agree that the media literacy of the average viewer is so low that sensationalism has replaced substance. Would an outright ban on broadcast television save us from our own slothful stupidity? I doubt it, most households have an Internet connection, and the same one-way media is avalible via many different sources online. Remove television from the equation and we still have the corporate media defecating the same stools of entertainment, just over a different protocol.

I would rather see a banning of intellectually devoid programming on broadcast television; I have this feeling that the most intelligent viewing the average user experiences is Sesame St.

My 2 cents

reply to post by Pedro4077


that song brings back memories

I'm all for it,what a waste of quid...every things at your finger tips anyways so the difference is worse

reply to post by Astyanax


There would have been a time where I would have agreed with you, OP. But that time has passed. Just a brief glimpse of the intraweb stands testiment Intrawebz is the tv now. TV is no better or no worse than the materials displayed on the screen.

Where does ATS get much of its material? TV, internet, MSM.

Here we disect the cadaver left for us by the media outlets. We carve away the fat, toss out the useless offal and proudly display the hidden gem that was hidden.

A ban on tv would not eliminate the needless garbage, because many would just turn to www-dot-tv for their mind candy.

Instead, might I suggest refining the filter used when exposed to the outlets of media.

cheers,

beez

reply to post by beezzer

Do you feel, then, that there is some value in preserving television? What could it be, I wonder.

while i agree with most of the statements in the op, i don't think banning/censoring anything will work.
in fact it just might make us as bad as whomever or whatever we feel is the cause of ill in the world.

like others said, plus the tv is pretty much harmless these days compared to the internet.
people just took the sensationalist, over the top yet programed behaviour unto the web.

the people do define what's on the internet unlike tv, but still we were all raised by tv.

look at this site as an example

the most replied and viewed threads are either the most sensationalist titles or it's just the old divisionist threads pitting someone against someone else, usually science vs religion.

some say tv is just a tool to define and mold people into stereotypes and classes, tv tells people what to like, what to eat, what to dress, how to think, what to feel.
the internet is propagating exactly that aswell.

furthering division instead of unity, and that is the main issue, not tv and the internet on their own but on how they are tools in the everlasting conspiracy of keeping people separated, be it by beliefs, action or thoughts.

reply to post by Astyanax


Haven't watch television for over 3 years now and to be honest, the only down side is having to explain to friends why I have no idea what they are talking about when they are talking about a funny commercial...

I support your message 100%

BAN! THE!! BOX!!!

Peace

Originally posted by Astyanax
reply to post by beezzer

 

Do you feel, then, that there is some value in preserving television? What could it be, I wonder.

Television is a media tool. Like any tool, it is used/abused by the individual weilding it.

Will we be discussing preserving the internet in a decade? Media will evolve, adapt, but the "meat" inside the vehicle will probably remain the same.

reply to post by cartenz


but who's to dictate and yes i mean dictate what's intellectually devoid or not? what's worthy or not?
there's either full censorship or no censorship.

and in fact that's the problem, it's an all or nothing situation. people either want one thing or the other.
as i see it there should be a balance, there's room for both education and entertainment.

and by education i do mean unbiased and honest education, because what most people call education these days is merely endocrination.

and that is wrong, wichever side of the intellectual fence it may come from.

sure no one likes to be judged and ruled according to the lowest common denominator, but nor should we have any wish to follow the highest either.

remember it's the intellectual superiority complex that gives birth to not so great ideas like slavery, genocide or that awesome idea that is Eugenics...

Would we call for the banning of the printing press because it was used by Gutenberg to print religious propaganda (Bibles for those unaware) or the tabloids of fleet street for spouting sensationalist hype?

Would we call for the banning of celluloid because Leni Riefenstahl made some nazi home videos?

Both mediums could be considered obsolete by todays standards, and we could easily legislate against their use; It wont achive anything except shift the emphasis of the corporate media to port80 (interwebz for those leet hackers out there) where media access is not limited to the living-room.

I can see the day when Television will become compulsary in every home - just like the Telescreen's in George Orwell's "1984".

All channels will be Government Owned Propaganda Instruments. - Already Here?

All day it will dictate Law and Order, Update Wars around the World, and transmit Presidential Speaches.

Just like the Novel, the "1984 Telescreens" will also have inbuilt spy camera's, and inbuilt microphones - to listen into family conversations.

Big Brother is Watching!

Yay for technology!!

Originally posted by beezzer


Where does ATS get much of its material? TV, internet, MSM.


beez

Agreed.

Much of the breaking news that we read here comes by way of a member watching it unfold on TV then passing it on,.and so many other stories we discuss here are first seen from a brief glance a the news. Whether it's true of false, the stories we hear on telly still produce discussion. Half of what we find online is false anyway, most ATS members would have discovered that by now.

I for one agree with the idea of getting rid of much of the programmes on TV, they do nothing to advance a persons knowledge of the world. However there is much that i would rather watch on TV than on a small laptop screen.

My kids love documentaries, as do i, for that alone i would keep my TV.

Ban the Disney Channel by all means though.

CX.

reply to post by Pedro4077


i dont think it will be compulsory, or that it even has to be...

i mean its not like more than half of the civilized world aren't voluntarily walking around with cameras and microphones in their pockets already.

Originally posted by UziLiberman
reply to post by cartenz

 

but who's to dictate and yes i mean dictate what's intellectually devoid or not? what's worthy or not?
there's either full censorship or no censorship.

I am not advocating censorship, Im advocating an intellectual value in our mainstream media. We have educational standards for our schools, why should our media be exempt from the same standards of education?

We have censorship, I know this may be hard to accept for those who hold their constitutionally protected right to free speach as a fundimental right, but the reality is censorship exists--its just done covertly. This censorship is not total, but more localised to certain topics, such as national security.

and in fact that's the problem, it's an all or nothing situation. people either want one thing or the other.
as i see it there should be a balance, there's room for both education and entertainment.

Sure, but I believe our news should be information, not entertainment--which it has slowly become

and by education i do mean unbiased and honest education, because what most people call education these days is merely endocrination.

I was talking about education, in an academic sense.

and that is wrong, wichever side of the intellectual fence it may come from.

whats wrong with educating people? a person with knowledge is better prepared to deal with the realities life throws us than someone who shrouds themselves in ignorance. Teach them how to learn, not what to think.

sure no one likes to be judged and ruled according to the lowest common denominator, but nor should we have any wish to follow the highest either.

The only way we can improve our human condition is to take the best of what we have and improve it; whether its innovation, evolution or just whatever, we must always work toward a better existence. Or die trying.

remember it's the intellectual superiority complex that gives birth to not so great ideas like slavery, genocide or that awesome idea that is Eugenics...

Im sorry if you feel that my post was in some way an expression of superiority, that was not my intent. Perhaps this is more in your own perceptions than in my words?

reply to post by beezzer

Sorry to be difficult, but your reply didn't really answer my question.

What, if anything, is the value of television, if the information it conveys is mostly false or distorted?

Should we keep it for its entertainment value?

Yes, there's bad stuff on the internet, too. But the value of the internet is rather obvious. We put up with its faults in order to gain access to the good stuff. Where's the 'good stuff' on television? Sports programming, maybe?

reply to post by cartenz


don't worry i didn't took or infer nothing from your post, i actually agree with your views.
i just used your post as a basis from wich to state what i felt like adding to this thread.

i think we can agree knowledge is knowledge and dogmas are dogmas.
and it was that i was stating, the true knowledge should never fall into the dogmatic level.

reply to post by Astyanax


We don't need to ban or censor TV, it's turning people off all on its own.

We have all seen this happen in our own lives, and I would dare say that the majority of people I know who have an internet connection now view most of their entertainment, information and news on-line.

I can't find it now, but there was a report earlier in the year showing a massive decline in the viewing figures for all the MSM news outlets, and this was primarily put down to the fact that news of the Occupy protests was clearly being censored by all broadcasters and people could see it. Trust took a massive nosedive and people started seeing the news for what it is - government/corporate sponsored propaganda.

Couple that with the fact that millions more people are having to work longer hours, parents have to push their kids harder on order for them to adequately compete in a failing market as they grow up, and I think you'll find that the viewing hours for TV entertainment will have to decline too.

A lot of people just won't have the time for TV in the coming years, and unless the mainstream catches up to the idea of actually being impartial and reporting on the things that matter to the people, they will see their decline increase.

They are having to compete with an unbiased, growing on-line entertainment business, and I don't see the corporately controlled mass media giving up their bribes any time soon. The internet will inevitably take over as the source for news, entertainment and information... and THAT is why all of our governments are now so desperate to their controls in place to prevent you from seeing the truth, just as they've controlled the mainstream TV media for decades in the same way.

They've spent decades building up relationships with LAZY journalists who just want to make money by repeating government and corporate policy, and now the government has to try to control the freedom of the internet in the same way. They can't make the same deals with millions of people out there with camera phones, or bloggers with opinions and evidence, or independent journalists with some genuine skills and insight - so they go the other route of creating laws allowing them to silence people instead.

However, we know they won't win