Argues that Channel One has brought about a serious escalation of commercialism in the classroom because of three common and incorrect assumptions--that ads are neither significant, effective, nor harmful. (PRA)

Based on the pattern of "the pitch" (Hi/Trust Me/You Need/Hurry/Buy), this sequence of questions can be used to focus on the "skeleton" underneath the surface variations of radio and television commercials, and newspaper and magazine ads. The five questions, which include evaluation criteria, are as follows: (1) What attention-getting techniques…

All arguments about the 10 minutes of Channel One programming are side issues, including concerns about the bias or superficiality of new coverage, "infotainment" methods, and learning effectiveness. The main issue is the presence of television advertising (commercial persuasion)--aimed at a captive audience of schoolchildren and…

Recognizing the proliferation of persuasive language in advertising and in politics, this guide explains how to analyze political language for its persuasive techniques and why it is important to do so. The first chapter of the book provides a rationale for analyzing persuasion, and an overview of the book. The remaining chapters explore various…

Because children are exposed to highly professional sales pitches on television and because the old material produced by the Institute of Propaganda Analysis is outdated and in error, a new tool for the analysis of propaganda and persuasion is called for. Such a tool is the intensify/downplay pattern analysis chart, which includes the basic…

Although it is impossible to know in advance the credibility of political messages, such persuasive discourse can be analyzed in a non-partisan, common sense way using predictable patterns in content and form. The content of a candidate's message can be summarized as "I am competent and trustworthy; from me, you'll get 'more good' and 'less…