Why Taking Control of TV Content is so Important

  [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO8mdK46AU8&feature=related[/youtube]

We baked cupcakes while Rome burned

Television is the most powerful medium we have ever created – and the most under-utilized.

The average American will spend more time watching TV in a lifetime than any other activity (except sleep) so what we put into it is critically important.

Alas, we pay far too little attention to what we put into it, mostly because that decision is in the hands of a very very tiny minority of the population.  Like .0000000001%

Which is kind of crazy.

In fact, it is not ‘kind of crazy’, it is crazy. And it’s going to lead to a disaster.

Because what we think about, what become ‘public discourse’ is to a great extent dictated by what we see on TV.

And what we see on TV is, for the most part, anesthetic.

Not to mention banal.

That doesn’t mean that there aren’t really important things to talk about – even in video. It just means that for the most part, we aren’t talking about them – or watching them – or even bringing them up at all.

This was driven home to me of late by a series done, admirably, by The Guardian, in the UK.

The Guardian, by way of full disclosure, is also our partner in the Guardian Media Academy

The Guardian has published the photographic work of two French photographers – Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre, in a series called The Ruins of Detroit.

The images are more than disturbing – they tell a terrible story about the rot and decline within the US, one that we seemingly would rather simply not talk about, probably because a) it’s unpleasant and b) it would not ‘rate well’ on cable.

Too bad.

Too bad for us

And now… back to the cupcakes…..

Michael Rosenblum

For more than 35 years, Michael Rosenblum has been on the cutting edge of the digital video journalism revolution. During this time, he has lead a drive for video literacy, and the complete rethinking of how television is made and controlled. His work has included: The complete transitioning of The BBC's national network (UK) to a VJ-driven model, starting in 2002. The complete conversion of The Voice of America, the United State's Government's broadcasting agency, (and the largest broadcaster in the world), from short wave radio to television broadcasting and webcasting using the VJ paradigm (1998-present). The construction of NYT Television, a New York Times Company, and the largest producer of non-fiction television in the US. Rosenblum was both the founder and President of NYT TV, (all based on this paradigm (1996-1998). The President and Founder of Video News International, a global VJ-driven newsgathering company, with more than 100 journalists around the world. (1993-1996). Other clients include Spectrum News, Verizon and CBS News.

1 Comment
  • Ian McNulty January 12, 2011

    Mike, Excellent post. Agree with everything you said, absolutely. Thought the Ruins of Detroit series was really important too.

    Following on from your point that “what we see on TV is, for the most part, aesthetic. Not to mention banal.” Wondering if you’ve read George Saunder’s short essay, ‘The Brain-Dead Megaphone.’ If not, it’s worth checking out.

    There are so many great passages. Here’s just one.

    “If, generously overlooking my generalizations, your gut agrees with my gut in feeling that the nightly news may soon consist entirely of tirades by men so angry and inarticulate that all they do is sputter while punching themselves in the face, punctuated by videos of dogs blowing up after eating firecrackers, and dog-explosion experts rating the funniness of the videos – if you accept my basic premise that the media is getting meaner and dumber – we might well ask, together: Who’s running this mess?”