By todays standards, the stress, the feeling of being overwhelmed, the anxiety, the day to day hassle of life in 1973 would be comparative bliss. 1973; fifty-two years ago, we were at a breaking point – particularly America. We were constantly bombarded by news that grew more sensational every day – grew more ominous. The Vietnam War was dragging on – the Draft was good for its own set of ulcers if you were somewhere around 18. Watergate was becoming a nightly adventure into the world of corruption, deception and politics. Because of the War and because of the tsunami of youth, generations were still at loggerheads and protests continued to sweep and intensify across the country for everything from the War and Women’s Rights to Education and the food you put on your table.
We were shell-shocked, fragmented and over-stimulated. Drugs were becoming a real problem in Americas cities and spreading to the hinterlands. New York and Wichita becme kindred spirits as drug addiction and suicide rates were skyrocketing. We were becoming aware that our planet was in grave danger and that we, as a people, were on a crash-course to nervous breakdowns.
And Media was determined to be the culprit, or at least a goodly part of it. Social Media was unheard of – personal computers were abstract concepts best left to the Issac Asimov’s of the world to contemplate. Communication consisted of letter writing and telephone calls. Media consisted of newspapers, magazines, radio and Television. Choices were limited and the manner of delivery was a matter of time. News gathering consisted of either video tape or film – depending on the story it was either live as it was happening or subject to methods of delivery that took hours and sometimes days to reach the audience. But even then, even in 1973, news and the Media in general focused on the sensational – the dire, the tawdry, the mayhem. Because those were things that attracted attention – got everyone worked up to a frenzy. Kept America in a perpetual state of agitation and anxiety.
This broadcast, produced by the CBC in 1973 and based on a Thesis written by a student at McGill University was a 13 part series called Communications: Towards A New Humanism. This is programs 5 and 6 (6 is actually the second part of program 5) and the focus was on how youth were faring in this media explosion. Not well, it appeared.
The presentation can be antiseptic at times (no offense, but CBC Documentaries can be a bit like listening to paint dry). Still, it captures a period of time and a place in society where things were in a state of flux and the future, when not dim, was hazy at best.
I guess the moral of the story is; we have always suffered from one set of anxieties or another – the perfect days are often days of perception and nostalgia tends to turn a blind eye to the uncomfortable bits and focus on cheap gas and Pet Rocks. One persons wistful nostalgia is another persons dread. Just so happens.
But in any event, this is what we were going through in 1973 and Communications: Towards a New Humanism pretty much summed a lot of it up.
The Message Is Mayhem – Media In 1973 – Past Daily After Hours Reference Room
In 1973 we were overloading and shorting out.
By todays standards, the stress, the feeling of being overwhelmed, the anxiety, the day to day hassle of life in 1973 would be comparative bliss. 1973; fifty-two years ago, we were at a breaking point – particularly America. We were constantly bombarded by news that grew more sensational every day – grew more ominous. The Vietnam War was dragging on – the Draft was good for its own set of ulcers if you were somewhere around 18. Watergate was becoming a nightly adventure into the world of corruption, deception and politics. Because of the War and because of the tsunami of youth, generations were still at loggerheads and protests continued to sweep and intensify across the country for everything from the War and Women’s Rights to Education and the food you put on your table.
We were shell-shocked, fragmented and over-stimulated. Drugs were becoming a real problem in Americas cities and spreading to the hinterlands. New York and Wichita becme kindred spirits as drug addiction and suicide rates were skyrocketing. We were becoming aware that our planet was in grave danger and that we, as a people, were on a crash-course to nervous breakdowns.
And Media was determined to be the culprit, or at least a goodly part of it. Social Media was unheard of – personal computers were abstract concepts best left to the Issac Asimov’s of the world to contemplate. Communication consisted of letter writing and telephone calls. Media consisted of newspapers, magazines, radio and Television. Choices were limited and the manner of delivery was a matter of time. News gathering consisted of either video tape or film – depending on the story it was either live as it was happening or subject to methods of delivery that took hours and sometimes days to reach the audience. But even then, even in 1973, news and the Media in general focused on the sensational – the dire, the tawdry, the mayhem. Because those were things that attracted attention – got everyone worked up to a frenzy. Kept America in a perpetual state of agitation and anxiety.
This broadcast, produced by the CBC in 1973 and based on a Thesis written by a student at McGill University was a 13 part series called Communications: Towards A New Humanism. This is programs 5 and 6 (6 is actually the second part of program 5) and the focus was on how youth were faring in this media explosion. Not well, it appeared.
The presentation can be antiseptic at times (no offense, but CBC Documentaries can be a bit like listening to paint dry). Still, it captures a period of time and a place in society where things were in a state of flux and the future, when not dim, was hazy at best.
I guess the moral of the story is; we have always suffered from one set of anxieties or another – the perfect days are often days of perception and nostalgia tends to turn a blind eye to the uncomfortable bits and focus on cheap gas and Pet Rocks. One persons wistful nostalgia is another persons dread. Just so happens.
But in any event, this is what we were going through in 1973 and Communications: Towards a New Humanism pretty much summed a lot of it up.
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