Television and the Meaning of ’Live’

This book is about the question of existence, the meaning of life . It is an enquiry into the contemporary human situation as disclosed by television. The elementary components of any real-world situation are place, people and time. These are first examined as basic existential phenomena drawing on Heidegger s fundamental enquiry into the human situation in Being and Time. They are then explored through the technological and production care-structures of broadcast television which, routinely and exceptionally, display the situated experience of being alive and living in the world today. It shows routinely in the live self-enactments of persons being themselves and the liveness of their ordinary talk on television. It shows exceptionally in television coverage of great occasions and catastrophes as they unfold live and in real time. Case studies reveal the existential role of television in salvaging the possibility of genuine experience, and in revealing the world-historical character of life today. To explore these questions, the agenda of sociology - its concern with economic, political and cultural life - is set aside. Being in the world is not, in the first (or last) instance, a social but an existential question, as an existential enquiry into television today discovers. Passionate and sweeping in scale, this new book from a leading media scholar is a major contribution to our understanding of the media today.

This book is about the question of existence, the meaning of'life'. It is an enquiry into the contemporary humansituation as disclosed by television.The elementary components of any real-world situation are placepeople and time. These are first examined as basic existentialphenomena drawing on Heidegger's fundamental enquiry into thehuman situation in Being and Time. They are then exploredthrough the technological and production care-structures ofbroadcast television which, routinely and exceptionally, displaythe situated experience of being alive and living in the worldtoday. It shows routinely in the live self-enactments of personsbeing themselves and the liveness of their ordinary talk ontelevision. It shows exceptionally in television coverage of greatoccasions and catastrophes as they unfold live and in real time.Case studies reveal the existential role of television in salvagingthe possibility of genuine experience, and in revealing theworld-historical character of life today. To explore thesequestions, the agenda of sociology - its concern with economicpolitical and cultural life - is set aside. Being in the world isnot, in the first (or last) instance, a social but an existentialquestion, as an existential enquiry into television todaydiscovers.Passionate and sweeping in scale, this new book from a leadingmedia scholar is a major contribution to our understanding of themedia today.

Acknowledgements viPreface viiiPart one: An introduction to the phenomenology oftelevisionPrologue: Heidegger's teacup 31. What is phenomenology? 52. Available world 143. Available self 274. Available time 395. Turning on the TV set 606. Television and technology 78Part two: Television and the meaning of live7. The meaning of live 938. How to talk - on radio 1079. How to talk - on television 12810. The moment of the goal - on television 15311. Being in the moment: the meaning of media events 17712. Catastrophe - on television 19113. Television and history 209Notes 225References 245Index 253