The television as we know it has demanded the attention of the public for years. But what once isolated us, now connects us through phones, computers, and tablets. It has become apparent that the audience is making its demands on how and what viewers want to see on their screens. Television commands wide viewership and reaches a great expanse of the target audience for any commercials (Greenfield). In "From Wasteland to Wonderland: TV's Altered Landscape," (2015) New York Times writer, Jeff Greenfield, narrates his personal experience in the television industry. In the article, the author argues that any thought that television would have advanced to the current state of high levels of creativeness and dynamicity was considered to be highly delusional. Greenfield emphasizes the history of television networks which was marked by the end of the three-network monopoly and a generational shift in the form of content that is acceptable to show to the public. With the inventions, development, and advancement of new technologies, it seemed that the TV would not hold much importance. However, an upsurge in the commercial industry revived it violently, turning it into a "Darling" for many as Greenfield portrays since the developers had to create relevant presentations which attracted the audience, which they sell to the advertisers (Greenfield). Greenfield's purpose is to portray that the television which once isolated us, now connects people from friends, strangers and producers of the television shows. He embraces an assured and friendly tone to the general public in which they can understand the history of the television. A detailed breakdown of Greenfield's article will explain which rhetoric strategies and techniques he used to accomplish his purpose and how effective the strategies were implemented for better communication of the writer's message.
The first rhetoric aspect that Greenfield employs in the communication of his message is logos. Logos involves the application of logic or reasoning in an argument and makes up the content of a speech. The author's argument is that the television landscape has morphed from a wasteland of isolation to the wonderland of connectivity. First, Greenfield uses logic to explain to the audience that the TV was seen as a wasteland due to the limitation of the variety of broadcasters and TV content available. Then, the writer makes the point that the dependency on advertising as the sole source of revenue led to the development of the notion that "We're here to deliver the audience to the next commercial," thus, limiting the content broadcasted and popularizing the concept of "Least Objectionable Program" (Greenfield). In addition, the author employs the aspect of logic to show how the TV programming shifted/transitioned from a wasteland into a creative wonderland and haven. The writer presents that the evolution from microwave relays and "long lines" to satellite and cable television enabled the development of the pay service TV model and competition emerged to break the monopoly of broadcast systems as satellite and cable provided networks to incorporate everybody while providing the networks with alternate sources of income. Also, the writer also employs reasoning to show that cable and satellite networks lead to the establishment of streaming services which further revolutionized the TV landscape. Through the use of logos, Greenfield is able to convince the audience who double up as consumers of TV services that those services are important in their life through regular news updates, entertainment, and information about products through advertisements. As a result, the writer strives to make the audience see the logical development of the process in which they are now able to receive the best services. The author achieves the logic argument by bringing the audience up to speed with the history of the Television since the mid-1970s to the modern-day environment. Through the effective use of logos in his writing and communication, Greenfield is able to effectively capture the attention of his readers.
Ethos is the characteristic of influencing the process of persuasion through the author honesty, authority, and credibility about the topic in question. In his briefing of the history of the television, Greenfield assumes the authority because he informs his audience of the true things that unfolded when in his presence. Besides, the author's honesty is shown when he adamantly acknowledges that he was wrong in the prediction that narrow TV boundaries would not widen, "I could not have been more wrong; in fact, the boundaries began to widen that very year," he admits (Greenfield). This honesty influences the persuasion process, and the reader tends to be appreciative to buy his stance in the argument. Another factor that influences the persuasion process of the reader is his credibility on the subject as seen in his knowledge about the television. In fact, the author explains every bit clearly on how the television services have changed over the years, which give a listener or the reader confidence in taking the same stance with the author about TV. The writer's authority and credibility are amplified by the consistent reference to experts and specialists in the field of TV production. Among the experts that Greenfield identifies include prominent TV programmer of the 1970's Paul Klein of NBC, NBC executive Don Carswell, veteran TV scriptwriter David Chase, Stan Kallis of Columbia TV, historian Daniel Boorstein, and Dick Wolf, the creator of Law and Order. To stress his point that television was a wasteland during the 1970s era, Greenfield himself writes about Paul Klein that
"Viewers, he said, didn't watch a program, they watched TV. They clicked on the set and browsed until they found something reasonably acceptable" (Greenfield). Through the views of Daniel Boorstein in Life Magazine that TV would create confinement and isolation during the 1970s period that Greenfield is able to compare such beliefs with the contemporary situation of increased connectivity through other devices as people discuss various TV programming, thus effectively contrasting the two eras. Including the views of recognized experts in his writing, the writer adds weight to his arguments thus including the probability of the audience to agree with his observations and conclusions. The ethos characters employed brings the writer closer to his audience thus enabling him to effectively convey his message. By employing ethos in his rhetoric, Greenfield is able to effectively earn the trust of his readers/audience which makes them more likely to concur with his arguments.
By definition, pathos is the appeal to the emotional side of the audience that is targeted. This aspect of communication is achieved by Greenfield by familiarizing the adverse effects of the TV with his audience. In fact, he gives an example of hardship that was faced by anyone who tried to start another network besides the three that had a nationwide distribution system of relays. According to Greenfield, the mantra used in the programming in the 1970's was "Stay away from the hard stuff. Don't scare people away." By eliciting scared emotions among the audience, the author is able to connect with the readers on a deeper level as they are able to identify with those programs that would scare them off a given channel. Consequently, the readers are able to realize the compromise that leads to the production of a short array of TV programs that were appealing to all. The author notes
the feelings by one of the TV producers Stan Kallis of Columbia TV, "We're basically bound, our hands are tied…" (Greenfield). Use of the emotional language by the author pulls the audience to sympathize with the conditions of the past years and acknowledge the difference of those years and the modern experience. Greenfield caps the motional enticement by drawing common favorite shows such as Ray Donovan, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad and how the audience is able to discuss such shows with friends, strangers, and creators. In Greenfield's view, the audience can discuss "a line of dialogue, a hairstyle, or a piece of clothing" which contrasts the isolation narrative of TV in the 1970's. Evidently, Greenfield has employed pathos to his advantage in creating deeper level understanding with his audience hence, easier communication of his message.
In conclusion, it is evident that Jeff Greenfield has effectively employed the rhetorical aspects of logos, ethos and pathos to effectively communicate his message to the reader in the article "From Wasteland to Wonderland: TV's Altered Landscape," (2015). The logical explanation that liberalization of the TV landscape to an area with many competitors such as cable and streaming enables the writer to effectively capture the attention of the audience. The author's ethos through honesty and use of experts to increase credibility increase the trust of the audience in Greenfield's message. The use of emotional language or pathos increases the audience acceptance and alignment with the writer's message. It is, therefore, fair to note that the dynamicity in the production of TV programs and expansion of the wonderland will increase further as more producers move in favor of streaming methods.
Work Cited
Greenfield, Jeff. "From Wasteland to Wonderland: TV’S Altered Landscape". New York Times, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/05/business/media/from-wasteland-to-wonderland-tvs-altered-landscape.html. Accessed 29 Mar 2018.
