Aaron Van Winkle

Television and Persuasion:The Changing Epistemology of the Modern Age

The 20th Century featured many technological advances which had wide-ranging

consequences on the ways that Westerners communicate, both with each other and with

mass audiences. Prior to the Electronic Age, mass communication was concerned with

the widespread distribution of the printed word, through books, magazines, and

newspapers. These media encouraged thoughtful rumination and reflection; a book was

something to be consumed and digested over a period of days, and required active

participation by the reader in order to visualize and internalize the concepts or situations

described. News traveled slowly; news accounts in the 19th century tended to be much

longer than those of today, and described the background surrounding an event in much

greater detail than the newspapers of modern times. The advent of radio in the 1920's

signaled a change in mass communication; messages and content could be delivered to a

wide audience with an immediacy which printed media could not match. Television

was developed soon after, and postwar America took to the new medium in huge

numbers; by the mid-1950's, almost every household in the U.S. had a television set.

With these new media came a cultural shift; the printed word started to lose its

importance as a primary vehicle of communication, and was gradually replaced with the

immediate, flashy visual imagery of television as the primary messenger in American

culture. Now, in 21st century America, we live in a culture which is less concerned with

truth in messages, and is more concerned with the way in which messages are presented

to us. This paper will endeavor to explain the epistemological shift in American culture,

then examine the ways in which important social institutions (in this case, the financial

industry) have adapted to the new, simplified cultural epistemology.

When I was first confronted with the term “epistemology” as a communications

scholar, I looked it up in the dictionary. “The study of knowledge,” I thought to myself.

“Doesn't that apply to all studies?” Unfortunately, my dictionary applied a bit too much

brevity to the concept; epistemology can be more accurately described as “the study of

the nature of knowledge and how human beings value and categorize different kinds of

knowledge and types of thinking”. Neil Postman, in his book Amusing Ourselves to

Death (1985, rev. 2005), quotes scholar Northrop Frye when attempting to explain

epistemology: Frye makes use of a principle called resonance, in which “a particular

statement in a particular context acquires a universal significance”. (Postman, p. 17)

Essentially, through cultural resonance, objects, places, and people (both real and

fictional) take on meanings beyond their original states of being. Athens, for instance,

is more than the capital of Greece; it has become a symbol of intellectual excellence due

to our cultural association with the classical Greek scholars. Hamlet is more than a

character in a play; he is “a metaphor of brooding indecisiveness”, just as Lewis

Carroll's Alice is “a metaphor of a search for order in a world of semantic nonsense”

(Postman, p.18). These examples have become a bit dated, however; cultural resonance

in the 21st century can be seen more in the image of Osama bin Laden as a metaphor for

evil in the Muslim world, or the image of Los Vegas as a metaphor for accepted cultural

decadence. Every medium employs resonance, says Postman, because “resonance is

metaphor writ large... Because of the way it directs us to organize our minds and

integrate our experience of the world, it imposes itself on our consciousness and social

institutions in myriad forms... It is always implicated in the ways we define and regulate

our ideas of truth.” (Postman, p. 18)

The epistemology of cultures pre-typography (i.e. oral cultures) tended to value

rhetoric which was of a poetic nature; proverbs and epic poems were seen as important

cultural currency, and memorization and retention of long passages was seen as an

important human quality. Postman gives the example of a west African tribe which

possesses no writing system but has a rich oral tradition which has defined the tribe's

application of civil law: “When a dispute arises, the complainants come before the chief

of the tribe and state their grievances. With no written law to guide him, the task of the

chief is to search through his vast repertoire of proverbs and sayings to find one that

suits the situation and is equally satisfying to both complainants.” (Postman, p. 18)

This method was employed in pre-typographic cultures in the West, as well; mnemonic

devices, formulaic expressions, and parables were a “means of discovering and

revealing truth”. (Postman, p.18) With the advent of the printing press, the nature of

legal disputes and resolutions changed dramatically; while the spoken word still carries

weight in the modern courtroom, through spoken testimony, there is a much stronger

belief in the authenticity of the printed word. A modern judge who bases his decision

on a proverb or homily will likely be disbarred; modern epistemology dictates that his

decision be based on what previous legislators and judges have written. The weight of

the printed word is likewise seen in a university environment; Postman articulates the

challenge of a student publishing his doctoral thesis; the oral examiners challenged the

student's use of a spoken interview as a source for his paper. The student pointed out

that there were no fewer than 300 references to published works in his thesis, and the

examiners had not challenged the accuracy of any of them, so why would they

challenge the accuracy of a personal interview? The examiners responded that “You are

mistaken in believing that the form in which an idea is conveyed is irrelevant to its

truth,” (Postman, p.21) meaning that in the academic world, the published word is given

greater weight and prestige than the spoken word. Ironically, the doctoral oral

originated in the Middle Ages, before printing was introduced; interviews were

originally the primary way in which candidates gathered information for their theses.

However, epistemological changes dictated cultural changes, and today both the legal

and academic worlds rely heavily on printed material for their authority and societal

relevance.

Two developments in the 19th century had effects on the epistemology of the

typographic age, and can be seen as the precursors to the epistemological shift of the

20th century : the telegraph and the photograph. The telegraph was the first electronic

medium; whereas news used to travel as fast as a horse coud run, the telegraph allowed

information to be transmitted almost instantly over vast distances. This speed came

with a cost, however; whereas a printed medium's length was restrained only by the cost

of paper and ink, the telegraph demanded brevity due to its commercial nature.

Telegraph companies charged by the word; brevity became a virtue when transmitting

knowledge. Information began to be seen as a commodity, and while news traveled

more quickly than ever before, the nature of news became simplified as news publishers

struggled to flesh out the telegraph's news “briefs” into full articles. Another

consequence of the telegraph was the sudden influx of “useless” information and the

distribution of what we today call “trivia”; in his landmark work Walden, Henry David

Thoreau remarked that “We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from

Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to

communicate... We are eager to tunnel under the Atlantic and bring the old world some

weeks nearer to the new; but perchance the first news that will leak through into the

broad flapping American ear will be that Princess Adelaide has the whooping cough.”

(Thoreau, p. 36) Postman describes the telegraph as instigating a “three-pronged attack

on typography's definition of discourse, introducing on a large scale irrelevance,

impotence, and incoherence” (Postman, p. 65). Newspapers ceased to be judged based

on the quality or practicality of the information they disclosed, but by the amount of

information and the distances and speed in which this information was delivered. News

media began to offer a great deal of information on issues which were inconsequential

to most people's lives; the printed word gave the news media cultural authority, and the

public struggled to reconcile the influx of inconsequential facts with their own lives.

One development of the 19th century which helped the public use this information

overload was the crossword puzzle; trivia contests and game shows are a modern

evolution of this dichotomy.

The photograph was another development which, on the surface, had nothing but

positive effects on the distribution of knowledge; but when seen in practice, the

photograph contained internal biases which were not readily evident to the public eye.

While it has been said that “a picture is worth a thousand words”, it can also be said that

none of these words are conceptual or abstract. A picture cannot depict “man”, only a

single man from a specific angle at defined time and place. A picture of a city may give

the viewer an idea of a certain location, but only from the perspective and time of the

photographer. This is not to say that photography is worthless; far from it, as

photographs can often impart visual ideas much better than the finest prose. However,

photography is contextual without providing apparent context; photographs are often

seen as definitive, when they in fact only define a specific moment in time and space.

Combined with the development of the telegraph, American epistemology began to shift

from valuing thoughtful, well-elucidated concepts to seeing information as a

commodity, an intellectual fast-food to be consumed voraciously and without reflection.

Into this environment of simplifying messages came the mass media

developments of the early 20th century. It is important to note that despite the

trivialization of news noted above, electronic media have served useful purposes for the

public as a whole. The first commercial radio broadcast occurred in November of 1920

with the broadcast of election results from the U.S. presidential election. New Jersey

radio station KDKA broadcast the results to thousands of listeners in the New York/New

Jersey area live as they were reported. As noted by Beville, “We can readily appreciate

that Harding's election in 1920 had nowhere near the impact on the future of American

life as did the broadcast of the election returns on KDKA. The electronic age had

arrived.” (Beville, p. 1) However, while hearing presidential election results live was

compelling to the general public, it was entertainment which solidified the public's

appetite for the new electronic media; in 1921, WJY-New Jersey broadcast a live

account of the Dempsey-Carpentier heavyweight boxing match and attracted 200,000

listeners. The listeners of this fight were lucky, as the new station's transmitter burned

out about a minute after the end of the fight. (Sterling/Kitross, p. 61) Despite a few

technological hitches, the ability to hear concerts and sporting events as they happened

accelerated the widespread adoption of radio sets by the American public. Radio had

effects on epistemology, although these were somewhat muted compared to the changes

wrought by television; the spoken word retained tremendous influence in an audio

medium, and while entertainment was a key motivation of radio programmers (due to

the commercial aspect of the industry), language and the ability to convey thoughts and

ideas through words was still seen as a very important American value.

This began to change in the 1950's as television was adopted by the American

public. Suddenly, moving images and sound were brought into the American living

room, with an intensity and spectacle which were difficult to ignore. Television

combined the immediacy of the telegraph with the hidden bias of the photograph, and

through this combination, the American epistemological focus shifted once more.

To see the extent of this shift, it is instructive to view two sets of presidential

debates set one hundred years apart. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas

engaged in a series of debates which were viewed with great interest by an American

public fractured by the issues of slavery and secession. The structure of one of their

debates in Ottowa, Illinois was as such: Douglas would speak for one hour, then Lincoln

would be allowed an hour and a half to reply; Douglas was then given half an hour to

rebut Lincoln's reply. This format was much shorter than their previous debates; in an

1854 debate in Peoria, Illinois, the two men were given three hours apiece to put forth

their positions. The American public voraciously consumed these debates; the town

halls in which they occurred were filled to standing-room-only, and newspapers would

publish full, word-for-word accounts of the events. The epistemology of the time

valued prose, as well as politicians who could structure their thoughts into well-

enunciated spoken prose.

In 1960, Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy engaged in a series of televised

political debates to decide the upcoming presidential election. These were the first

presidential debates which were televised, and attracted a great deal of excitement from

the general public. 70 million people tuned in to watch the proceedings, which lasted

for two hours and covered many more topics than the Ottowa Lincoln/Douglas debate

mentioned above. The debates are well-remembered today, although not for the

eloquent arguments provided, nor for their rhetorical brilliance: they are remembered

because Richard Nixon was not “TV-friendly”. Nixon failed to realize the implications

of television as a medium; he appeared without makeup, and looked pale and sweaty

compared to the composed, good-looking Kennedy. The ramifications of this were a

presidential election which was decided primarily by the images its contestants exuded

rather than the content of their messages. Television had, less than 10 years after its

widespread adoption, changed the epistemological focus of American discourse to favor

image over content. This is seen to the present day; candidates during primary season

are often described as “appearing Presidential”, or not, based on their physical

appearance rather than the manner in which they carry themselves.

Postman describes the further simplification of thought in American culture

when he examines so-called “educational” programming. “Sesame Street” began in

1969 as a way to educate toddlers and preschoolers in the basics of spelling, counting,

and arithmetic. Widely hailed as a positive development, parents and educators both

embraced the show as a valuable tool which encouraged children to embrace education.

Postman argues that “Sesame Street” only teaches children to embrace education when

it is like “Sesame Street”; that is to say, when it entertains. Children who watch the

show, Postman argues, learn that “learning is a form of entertainment, or, more

precisely, that anything worth learning can take the form of an entertainment, and ought

to.” (Postman, p.154) “Sesame Street”'s format is that of commercial television; rapid-

fire editing and appealing visual imagery are important facets of the program's ethos.

Many segments are commercial-length, and the show is always presented as being

“sponsored by” a letter and number; this conditions children to more readily accept

commercials as valid sources of information later in life.

This brings us to the modern television commercial and its applications of

persuasion when delivering a selling message. Financial institutions represent a very

important industry; finance drives commerce, which drives the economy. It would seem

wise for a bank or lending institution to appear serious as well as factual when

advertising its services; however, in the television age, banks have increasingly adapted

to the entertaining nature of television, sometimes at the expense of their perceived

credibility.

Wells Fargo is one of the oldest banks in the United States. Founded shortly

after the California Gold rush, the bank has been a fixture of the American financial

scene for over 150 years. The bank was a part of the Pony Express network in the late

1800's, and also ran a transportation company centered around the company's now-

iconic stagecoaches. Print ads from the late 1800's and early 1900's emphasized the

company's solid history, the fact that it survived the financial Panic of 1855, and

generally emphasized the financial stability the company could provide for its members.

However, in the television age, Wells Fargo has changed its advertising emphasis

to feature appealing imagery; little is said about loan rates or account interest rates.

Recently, the company released a television ad entitled, “It Takes a Team”

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpAATJTb9WWU&feature=related). The ad

features images of the Wells Fargo stagecoach being pulled by a team of horses; the

coach barrels through the landscape of the American West and is accompanied

musically by an Aaron Copland-esque orchestral arrangement. Words are sparse; the

entirety of the deep-voiced announcer's copy reads: “For over 150 years, we've driven

our teams to help you build your dreams. Wells Fargo – it takes a team to reach the next

stage.” The commercial is short on specifics, and long on imagery and feeling. It is

safe to say that the commercial has nothing to do with the actual experience of banking

at Wells Fargo; stagecoaches were long ago retired as viable sources of transport. The

“150 years” reference is helpful; this lets the viewer know that the bank is at the very

least a long-term survivor; the setting of the ad also takes place well before the recent

mortgage and lending crisis. However, the commercial still fails to present any concrete

facts as to why one would want to bank there; instead, the commercial is selling a

“lifestyle”. In essence, the ad evokes Kenneth Burke's consubstantiality identification

theory, which describes the establishment of an overt connection between the persuader

and audience. (Swartz, p. 175) Wells Fargo is hoping to draw a connection between the

viewer's identity as an American, and the bank's roots in the country's history. The bank

is counting on the audience to see the bank's history as the audience's history; interest

rates and mortgage terms are inconsequential next to the bank's rich history in the dusty

American west.

The competing firm Capital One has chosen a much different approach for its

commercials. Capital One is a much younger company than Wells Fargo, having been

established in 1988, but has seen exceptional growth in the last twenty years. The

company currently does extensive national television advertising and is a prominent

sponsor/advertiser at many U.S. sporting events. Capital One's slogan, “What's in Your

Wallet?” has been featured in a long-running humorous television ad campaign

featuring Visigoth invaders in a contemporary setting. This campaign started in the fall

of 2000. The original commercial in the series (http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=drqO8aySdFg&p=44FB85E25351B274&playnext=1&index=6) features a suburban

couple discussing their Christmas purchases while a rampaging Visigoth horde descends

upon their home. When the husband reveals that he had used a Capital One credit card

to do their Christmas shopping, dispelling the wife's worries about high interest rates,

the horde stops abruptly in disappointment, then attacks the home of their non-Capital

One-using neighbors. This commercial was well-received by the public, and actually

does give some concrete information about the bank's services, relating to the audience

that the bank's interest rates are lower than those of its competitors, who are represented

by the Visigoths. This commercial is a good example of the attribution theory of

persuasion, which describes the way we assign causation to the actions of others.

(Swartz, p.149) Capital One seeks to make a connection between its rampaging

barbarian hordes, and the policies of competing banks. By attributing barbaric qualities

to its competition, Capital One seeks to position itself as the honest, responsible choice

for credit-card customers.

One of the most recent in the series shows how the bank has emphasized

entertainment over substance in its advertising messages, mostly to its detriment.

Entitled “Visigoth Ski Vacation” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K91nNiC3BkA),

the commercial promotes Capital One's Venture credit card, of which the main selling

point is that the card's users receive perks for “double miles” which they can then use on

airline tickets for vacations. The ad starts with a Visigoth excitedly explaining that

through the use of his Capital One Venture card, he and his family have earned a ski

vacation twice as fast as with competing “travel miles” credit cards. The commercial

continues with fast images of Visigoths falling off ski lifts, bumbling destructively

through a gift shop, attempting to buy a lift ticket for a goat, and finally ending in a ski

lodge where a weathered Visigoth delivers the company's slogan, “What's in Your

Wallet?” The commercial itself is rather humorous; however, humor is not necessarily

the most effective vehicle in an industry which relies on the public's trust to be

successful.

One of the most glaring changes in the newer ad concerns the role of the

Visigoths: in the original ad, the Visigoths represented Capital One's competitors and

their higher interest rates. In the current crop of ads, the Visigoths represent Capital

One's customers. This is an interesting choice – equating customers with bumbling,

uncivilized barbarians could lead to the perception of a company which disdains the

people who use its services. In an era in which the public trust in banks has been

eroded, the commercial does very little to advance the notion that the bank holds its

customers in high regard. Another problem rests in the company's slogan, “What's in

Your Wallet?” In the wake of a controversial government bailout in which the financial

industry was widely accused of stealing from the public, a slogan which is reminiscent

of a mugger's stickup line seems to be a poor choice. Both the shift in the role of the

Visigoths and the robbery-evocative slogan are perfectly in line with the modern

epistemology of the television age, however; modern commercials are first and foremost

vehicles for entertainment. The Visigoths of the first ad were so popular with the

commercial audience that the company was compelled to keep them; it is likely that

very few people have noted the shift in the Visigoths' role, as the commercials are flashy

and entertaining. Indeed, the Visigoths have come to be less the metaphors they started

out to be, and are now spokesmen for the company, much like Ronald McDonald for

McDonald's Hamburgers. Likewise, the aggressive slogan stands out and is memorable;

while someone saying that line to you outside of a bank may seem to be a threatening

act, on television an aggressive delivery seems perfectly natural and in line with the

medium's ethos.

The American cultural landscape has been undergoing a severe change since the

advent of television; persuasive messages can (and must) be simpler than ever before,

and through television, they can be so subtle that the audience doesn't even know they're

present. The confluence of television and entertainment is so natural and essential to

the medium that the public is becoming immune to any information that is not delivered

in an entertaining manner. Bankers and politicians have adapted to this new paradigm,

and the result is political elections that are decided without any matters of substance

being discussed, and banks which act in immoral and sometimes illegal ways (the recent

lending crisis being a prime example) but whose public image is colored only by the

entertaining commercials aired during national sporting events. Insurance companies

rely on talking lizards and ducks to relay their messages; it's less important to be seen as

the “best” insurer, only the most entertaining. As Swartz points out, we are bombarded

by persuasive messages every day of our lives; the danger is that these messages are less

overt and more entertaining as time goes by, and the public is increasingly indoctrinated

to accept these entertaining persuasions without question. Hopefully the Internet will

help reverse this trend; if not, our society and culture may be in grave danger.

Bibliography

Beville, Jr., Hugh Malcolm, Audience Ratings: Radio, Television, and Cable, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Hillsdale, NJ, 1988

Postman, Neil, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Penguin Press, New York, NY, 1985 (rev. 2005)

Sterling, Christopher H. and Kitross, John M., Stay Tuned: a Concise History of American Broadcasting, Wadsworth Publishing Co., Belmont, CA, 1990

Swartz, Omar, Persuasion as a Critical Activity, Kendall Hunt Publishing Co., Dubuque, IA, 2001 (rev. 2009)

Thoreau, Henry David, Walden, Riverside Editions, Houghton Mifflen, Boston, 1957