Splice Now

Well, the much-heralded digital transition is upon us. The switch to over-the-air HD transmission happens Feb 17, and despite hundreds of millions of dollars taxpayer money spent on “education,” there are still many questions in the minds of Americans about what it means to them.

(Spot quiz: If you get your cable TV with an analog set and without a cable box, are you going to need a converter? Extra credit: If you get a converter box are you going to see your TV letterboxed or center-extracted?)

The NY Times ran a summary article today referencing surveys that point to fundamental misconceptions in the minds of roughly 40% of our population. The digital transition was one of the biggest giveaways to business ever (prior to the Wall Street bailout, that is) and, so far, has produced nothing in the way of public service. And we continue to spend money on it, as the Times describes.

Technorati Tags: media and society

Would you be surprised to learn that increased media exposure is associated with higher rates of obesity, smoking, sexual activity, drug and alcohol use among young people?

A recent report from the National Institutes of Health analyzed 173 previous studies in a first-of-its-kind analysis. A New York Times article summarized the report this way:

In a clear majority of those studies more time with television, films, video games, magazines, music and the Internet was linked to rises in childhood obesity, tobacco use and sexual behavior. A majority also showed strong correlations — what the researchers deemed “statistically significant associations” — with drug and alcohol use and low academic achievement.

The evidence was somewhat less indicative of a relationship between media exposure and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, the seventh health outcome that was studied.

The report quoted one of the lead researchers as follows: “The average parent doesn’t understand that if you plop your kids down in front of the TV or the computer for five hours a day, it can change their brain development, it can make them fat, and it can lead them to get involved in risky sexual activity at a young age.”

Technorati Tags: media and society