Synopses & Reviews
Hailed by the
New York Times as "illuminating...vivid and clearheaded," Pierre Bourdieu's "acid appraisal [of television] will provide shudders of recognition for American readers" (Publishers Weekly).
France's leading sociologists shows how, far from reflecting the tastes of the majority, television, particularly television journalism, imposes ever-lower levels of political and social discourse on us all.
Quickly selling out its first hardcover edition, On Television has provoked widespread comment among journalists, academics, and television viewers. Katha Pollitt wrote, "anyone seriously interested in journalism must read this book," and Todd Gitlin called it "indispensable." Pierre Bourdieu is a professor of sociology at the Collège de France and the director of studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, in Paris. His most recent book is Acts of Resistance.
Review
"As much an urgent 'intervention' as a magisterial argument; Bourdieu uses persuasion and polemic to alert his readers to a danger, and to convince them to resist... His book provides endless fodder for thought and discussion." Le Monde
Review
"A vigorous exposÈ of the information industry...that spares no one." L'Express
Review
"As television became normal, so did its systematic corruption. One virtue of Pierre Bourdieu's On Television is that it explains television's mediocrity (and worse) as a structural feature. A second virtue, paradoxically, is that it fans the hot flame of indignation. This indispensable polemic, a little marvel of compression, is both a passionate call to resistance and a convincing account of its difficulties." Todd Gitlin
Review
"Bourdieu not only presents a damning portrait of television as a domain of instant expertsles 'fast thinkers'dedicated to the production of sensationalism and historical amnesia, he explains why this is so. Anyone who is seriously interested in journalism must read this book." Katha Pollit