Let’s Tune Out TV Political Ads
Michael Dukakis insists that TV coverage has trivialized presidential debates (“Just Get On With Your Life,” Dec. 3). Nobody wants to talk about the issues as the media simply jump on what they think are mistakes, the former Democratic nominee says.
This brings to mind a recent proposal by UC Berkeley sociologist Robert Bellah and others in the book, “The Good Society.” Namely: End all campaign advertising on radio and TV.
This would stop the single biggest cause of the need for political candidates to raise campaign funds, with all the prospects for corruption and influence peddling that go with it. It would reduce the cheapening of public conversation if there were no more 30-second commercials with images arousing fear or desire and curbing thought.
The result: broader free speech through encouraging a substitute for shallow image indoctrination and genuine debates rather than the sterile media-monitored question-and-answer shows that pass today for debates.
ANDREW KAY LIBERMANLos Angeles
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