In the 1980s the American Neil Postman, who became Professor of Communications Science at the University of New York in 1959, started a wide public debate on the uses and dangers of the medium of television with the provocative title of his book Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985). Based on his opening speech with the same title at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the international bestseller takes a look at a media-saturated society that shuns active political, cultural and social participation in favour of constantly and passively absorbing the opinions of others in front of the television screen.

Following on the dystopian vision of Aldous Huxley’s 1931 novel Brave New World, Postman criticises the infotainment character of news broadcasts that force the actual content to the background with music jingles, perfectly styled presenters and constant visual effects. In his opinion the relevance of data transmitted by the media to our lives has rapidly evaporated since the 19th century. Instead of concrete demands for action, their main purpose is to merely pass time. In the Disappearance of Childhood Postman bemoans the early demystification of the world for children by means of television.