THE GREAT ELECTRONIC DICTATOR
Daniel J. Boorstin 1 and
Student
1 Librarian of Congress
. . . television regulates not only our opinions on almost everything, but also: how, when, and what we eat; when we sleep; how we raise our children; what our children think of us; what we do or don't buy; what (and whether) we think of lawyers, doctors, policemen and lawbreakers; how we act in matters of sex and race; how we debate our national issues; what we believe (or imagine) to be our national issues. Most important, television has transformed our perception of what problems (an unhappy marriage, an upset stomach, catching a bank-robber or a mugger, preserving a near-extinct animal species) are soluble and how easily they can be solved.
We now lead a double life. The man-made experiences that we see on the tube have become more real than our everyday experiences. Television has brought an inversion of our consciousness. Nothing is really real unless it "happens" on television. When we take our eyes off the tube we see things that are not quite authentic—or, rather, which gain authenticity only by their resemblance to how things happen on television. Prosecuting attorneys, defense lawyers, jurors, criminals, potential criminals, witnesses are shaped by the "Perry Mason Syndrome." No crime remains unsolved (within the hour). The snail's pace of usual court procedure, like the long-term suffering of the victim or of the imprisioned criminal, goes unseen. Constitutional guarantees (which would bore viewers or slow the action) are depicted only perfunctorily, or as a nuisance in Kojak's way. Off the television screen most crimes are actually never solved, in fact most criminals are never even prosecuted and of those convicted only a small percentage go to jail.
