Turn It Off

An average reader spends 26 minutes reading the newspaper. Yet the average American wastes four hours a day watching television. Celebrities’ surplus of airtime, or lack of underwear, makes it very tempting to shift the blame for Americans’ political ignorance and apathy onto their perfectly sculpted shoulders.

Although Tila Tequila’s sexuality generates more discussion than Bush’s elimination of Habeas Corpus, America’s obsession with sexy celebrities is not the sole cause for our information deficit.

In fact, the co-founders of the United States of Aloofness receive high ratings while remaining fully clothed. Because Americans depend on television for both entertainment and news coverage, the two often merge. This troublesome concoction is most toxic when irresponsible TV journalists and misleading campaign commercials mix sensation with information.

True, reality shows distract people from issues like civil liberties and the Iraq war, but distraction is the purpose of most entertainment. The intellectual danger of television lurks not on MTV, but on news channels where pundits seek to entertain while simultaneously addressing these crucial issues.

Conservative or liberal, most pundits seek to arm their viewers with hollow slogans suitable only for shouting matches. Rather than informing their viewers, these pundits provide them with a false sense of awareness while addressing few issues from few angles.

Is it fair to blame these entertainers for what they do? Even shows that offer accurate information must entertain, otherwise their ratings would plummet. Expecting sober information from a television pundit is like expecting a clown to behave himself at the circus.

But there’s no way that American voters, whose entire political system is based on the virtue of reason and prolonged debate, could be swayed by soundbytes and misleading campaign commercials, right?

In reality, these thirty second spurts of spin are so effective in shaping our political discourse that most candidates spend the bulk of their money on airtime. Television derives its political power not only from our addiction to it, but from the way our brains function. Just as our stomachs digest proteins and fats differently, our brains process the written word and visual images in different ways.

In his book The Assault on Reason, Al Gore explains with the help of neurologists that emotional appeals and shocking images travel unfiltered to regions of our brain “not mediated by reason or language.”

Reading makes it possible for us to digest information and form opinions without being shouted at or running a risk of rational override. While turning to television for the occasional diversion is harmless, in order to break its rotten spell over our political dialogue, we must seek information elsewhere.

Similar to television, the Internet has a great capacity for information and depravity alike. However, there are websites (talkingpointsmemo.com and politicalwire.com, for example) that offer both sides of the issue on every issue. They do so through text, not shrieking pundits who gauge an argument’s validity by its outrageousness.

Most readers already know their way around the blogosphere, and I commend them for their dedication to staying informed. Nevertheless, I urge: this election season, turn off the television and seek your political information elsewhere.