William Bennett Essay, Research Paper

In William Bennett?s ?Announcing a Public Campaign Against Select Day-Time

Television Talk Shows?, William Bennett gives his view of the content that is being

displayed on talk shows around the nation and also calls for a review of this type of

programming; or as William Bennett says, ? to raise a hue and cry across the land; to cast

some light on whats being produced and distributed? (Bennett 29). Bennett examines

why a course of action is needed against the entertainment on television and a few

arguments have been established. William Bennett says that, ?What is happening today is

the pollution of the human environment (Bennett 29?, that our minds are being clouded

with story lines that degrade our personality as a society. William Bennett also asks that

the suporters and sponsers of the talk shows withdraw their support and sponsorship, or

at least rethink their promotion, ?To petition men and women of good will- producers,

sponsors, advertisers, and viewers- to rethink their support and sponsorsjip, participation,

and promotion of these programs (Bennett 29)?. Finally, William Bennett says that we

need to save ourselves fom the unethical and unmoral presentation on today?s talk shows;

that we need to save our human dignity, as Bennett says ? We believe that men and

women should not be celebrated when they debase themselves (Bennett 29)?.

Even though William Bennett may be correct on some stances against this sort of

proramming, William Bennett is way off in telling people which programs to watch and

which programs not to watch. William Bennett does make many valid points in why the

material on talk shows should be taken off, but he deosnt have any authority in telling

people to watch this type of show as compared to another. Many of the programs on TV

have gone downhill lately, as it seems that more people will tune into shows based on the

outreaches of society. For instance, more people will probably tune into a show

containing violence than a show directed towards children. Bennett is right in saying that

talk shows do have material on them not suited for people, but it is the viewers choice to

watch it and be exposed to the content. If the viewer thinks the material is too harsh, then

just simply dont watch. If William Bennett takes away our choice of what to watch, what

next will it be, taking away our choice of what to read? There needs to be a screening of

these shows before they are presented to the public, a screening done by responsible

adults of their respected households, but pulling them completely off the air is a time

bomb waiting to go off. William Bennett also seems to look down at the public in his

letter; the letter takes the tone that William Bennett is the highest authority on the

subject, ironically enough, though, William Bennett has never seen a talk show in recent

weeks. In my opinion, William Bennett needs to sit down and actually get in the trenches

on this debate, instead on having his paid employees gather up his argument.