Volume 42, Number 3 · February 16, 1995
Why Watch It, Anyway?
By Robert Hughes
The 'normal' American household is said to watch television, or at any rate to have the set switched on, for seven or eight hours a day. No doubt the verb 'to watch' has a special meaning for statisticians. It doesn't mean the act of scrutiny and observation; perhaps something more like passive smoke inhalation. If this statistic is true, then mine is not a normal household. Apart from my intermittent attempts to keep up with new shows, my set spends much of its time switched off. I do like to watch CNN and C-SPAN, because you actually see debate and events unfolding on them, often in real time. The only news program that my wife and I rarely miss is the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.
Feature, 7000 words
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