Research Catalog

Title

Why viewers watch : a reappraisal of television's effects / Jib Fowles.

Author

Fowles, Jib.

Publication

Newbury Park, Calif. : Sage, ©1992.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xi, 281 pages; 23 cm

Summary

Television corrupts our children, induces us to spend needlessly, and stimulates hostility and violence. Or does it? Jib Fowles sees television as a "grandly therapeutic force," that television is indeed good for you. He examines why nearly every American regularly watches television and why viewing is beneficial. Updated and jargon-free, Why Viewers Watch describes the overall effect of programming on the population. What do viewers get from television? What does it do for them? Why do academics negatively judge television? Using recent research reports, overlooked past studies, and fresh survey data to substantiate this positive role, Fowles first reviews the history of television and programming. After discussing what people expect from television, he explores how different types of programs satisfy different needs. Fowles also debunks many of the myths propagated by media scholars and "television prigs." With an easy-to-read style that is both entertaining and informative, Why Viewers Watch suits both the scholar and the student, the specialist and nonspecialist alike. As such, it is the perfect companion volume for courses in communication, journalism, sociology, and psychology. "The author does present another side to the complex effects debate--a side of which we should all be aware."--Et cetera from the First Edition: "An interesting--and challenging--book about television. So good it is surprising it has not received more attention. ... There aren't many really good books about television, and [this] is one of the best."--Peter Farrell, The Sunday Oregonian "I would recommend this book to interested television viewers, media scholars, and professionals. Fowles' arguments are thought-provoking and sometimes compelling. The book is very readable and easily accessible to lower-division students. For those of us who spent our childhoods glued to the screen and believe we still turned out all right, this book will help alleviate our nagging guilt when we watch television. The book should help scholars reexamine our views on the impact of television's content and our suggested changes. Media professionals should find the book a testament to the positive aspects of their medium." --The Southern Speech Communication Journal.

Uniform Title

Television viewers vs. media snobs

Alternative Title

Television viewers vs. media snobs

Subject

• Television > Psychological aspects
• Television broadcasting > Social aspects
• Television viewers > United States
• Wire broadcasting > Social aspects
• Wire broadcasting > Psychological aspects
• 05.36 television
• Television broadcasting > Social aspects
• Television > Psychological aspects
• Television viewers
• Fernsehen
• Psychologie
• Publikum
• Fernsehwirkung
• Televisie
• Kijkgedrag
• Receptie
• United States

Note

• Rev. ed. of: Television viewers vs. media snobs. 1982.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-267) and index.

Contents

On trial -- A checkered past -- What viewers truly want (and get) from television -- How it happens that viewers get what they want -- TV priggery -- Television is good for nerves -- Television is good for spleens -- Television is good for hearts -- Television is good for brains -- Television is good for children -- Television heals.

ISBN

• 0803940769
• 9780803940765
• 0803940777
• 9780803940772

LCCN

• 91037600
• 9780803940772

OCLC

• ocm24626465
• 24626465
• SCSB-2021183

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library