"Reach Out and Elect Someone" revisited

In “Reach Out and Elect Someone,” Neil Postman says that in the United States, “the fundamental metaphor for political discourse is the television commercial (126). He says that TV commercials have “profoundly influenced American habits of thought (126). “The television commercial has been the chief instrument in creating the modern methods of presenting political ideas” (129). And last, “…the television commercial is the single most voluminous form of public communication in our society” (130).

All of these are very good points and are probably true. But on page of 126 of his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, he goes as far as saying that we can like or dislike a TV commercial, but we “cannot refute it.” Well I can’t blame him because he published this book in 1986. Times have significantly changed, however. In the 21st century, the Internet is beginning to dominate, or at least it is closing in on becoming the dominate mass media technology.

The reason I bring all this up is that everything Postman said about television was once right, and some of it probably still is. A few years from now, however, surely the Internet will stand for everything that the television once did. As I write this, the Internet is currently leaving its mark on the 2008 election campaign. In his book, The First Campaign: Globalization, the Web, and the Race for the White House, Garrett Graff does a nice job putting some of this in perspective:

“No longer can they just put a thirty-second ad on television and be assured that everyone watching TV will see it. Instead, they recognize that online, no one has to watch anything, listen to anything, or read anything that doesn’t grab their attention. The campaigns are competing for eyeballs, and that means they have to step up their efforts” (251).

At one time, campaigners could put up an advertisement on television and expect most of the country to see it. That would mean airing an ad on the big three: NBC, ABC, and CBS. Now, however, not only are more and more people choosing the Internet over TV, but those who watch a lot of television are no longer bound to just the network stations. I read somewhere that for his re-election campaign, George W. Bush ran ads on ESPN, the Speed Channel (to reach NASCAR audiences, I guess), and a third cable station which has slipped my mind. He knew that he had to change his approach in reaching the general public.

With the extremely high dollar amounts of 30-second TV ads, many campaigns might find it more beneficial to use the Internet and say everything they feel they need to say, although that doesn’t always work. “…there are no longer the time constraints of television advertising, but instead of buying one’s attention—which is no longer as easy with the expansion to cable and satellite TV—one must earn it online (266).

Bottom line, times have changed and are changing and the television commercial isn’t once what it was. The internet is taking over Mr. Postman.