Living Without the Screen

Description

Living Without the Screen provides an in-depth study of those American families and individuals who opt not to watch television, exploring the reasons behind their choices, discussing their beliefs about television, and examining the current role of television in the American family. Author Marina Krcmar answers several questions in the volume: What is television? Who are those people who reject it? What are their reasons for doing so? How do they believe their lives are different because of this choice? What impact does this choice have on media research? This volume provides a current, distinctive, and important look at how personal choices on media use are made, and how these choices reflect more broadly on media’s place in today’s society.

A compelling exploration of the motivations and rationales for those who choose to live without television, this book is a must-read for scholars and researchers working in children and media, media literacy, sociology, family studies and related areas. It will also be of interest to anyone with questions about media usage and the choices families make regarding the role of media in their lives.

Reviews

'Krcmar fills a gap in media studies research… Highly recommended.' - CHOICE

Contents

Table of Contents

Chapter Page

Acknowledgements

Preface

Part I: Introduction and Overview

Chapter 1 Living Without Television

Chapter 2 Sample and Method

Chapter 3 How Nonviewers Gave Up Television

Chapter 4 Attitudes Toward Living Without Television

Chapter 5 What is Television?

Part II: Television as Content

Chapter 6 Keeping Out Televised Sex and Violence

Chapter 7 Minimizing Consumerism

Chapter 8 Politics and Civic Engagement

Part III: Television as Medium

Chapter 9 Autonomous Children

Chapter 10 Time Use

Chapter 11 Encouraging Creativity

Chapter 12 Engaging in Real Life

Part IV: Television as Industry

Chapter 13 Choosing to Be Different

Chapter 14 Battling the Industry

Chapter 15 Conclusion

Author Bio

Marina Krcmar is an Associate Professor in the Communication Department of Wake Forest University. Her research focuses on children, adolescents, and the media, and her most recent research has examined the effect of violent video games on adolescents and the role of media consumption in adolescent risk-taking.

Related Subject

1. Media & Film Studies