Differences in the media; stationary pictures, moving pictures and language

Neil Postman and Steve Powers claim there are many differences in the media when it comes to stationary pictures, moving pictures and language. For instance they claim that stationary pictures speak only in particularities. Their vocabulary is limited to concrete representation (Postman & Powers, 2008).

They both talked about moving pictures presenting emotions and rudimentary. Moving pictures can show not only a panorama view of nature but it can also show joy and misery of our human race. Examples of moving pictures are jet planes flying, explosions or smoke pouring from a window.

There are several different types of languages they point out to us. Language can describe an event, evaluate an event and infer to what is unknown on the bias of what is known. Here is an example of what they used: Manny Freebus is 5’8” and weighs 235 pounds. Manny Freebus is grossly fat. Manny Freebus eats to much (Postman & Powers, 2008). The first sentence is pure description with no interference and without judgment. The second sentence is made known as an event, Manny Freebus. The third sentence is just an observation the speaker made.

Postman and Powers have made it very clear that the media has ways of telling the truth the way it actually happened or bending it to make it a little more made up. They make a good claim on how the media really works and it’s very believable.

Reference

Postman, N., & Powers, S. (2008). The Bias of Language, The Bias of Pictures. In L. Gray-Rosendale, Pop Perspectives (pp. 481-489). New York: McGraw Hill.