1st Edition

Living Without the Screen Causes and Consequences of Life without Television

By Marina Krcmar Copyright 2009
    242 Pages
    by Routledge

    242 Pages
    by Routledge

    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.

    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

    Biography

    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.

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