New World Notes - False Stories TV Tells Us

This week on New World Notes: radio program #299, November 26, 2013, from 12:00 to 12:30 p.m. (and again from 8:30 to 9:00 p.m.), host Kenneth Dowst reminds us that most of what we know about how the world works comes from the stories we are told.

For a few generations now, most of the stories have been created by the corporate elite and told though the corporate-owned mass media--especially television. Researcher Dr. George Gerbner discusses how American TV distorts our understanding of how the world works.

Example: TV violence does not increase real-world violence. But it does make people more afraid of violence than is warranted--and more supportive of harsh "anti-crime" measures.

Gerbner's career as a communications scholar included 25 years as Dean of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School of Communication (1964-1989). He died in 2005. His spoken words on our program are taken from a 2007 educational video, The Electronic Storyteller.

New World Notes reaches California. The show is now carried by nonprofit, community-supported station WGIG-FM 104.9 in Modesto. Broadcast days and times vary.

WHUS 91.7 (Storrs, CT) has changed its program schedule. The station now broadcasts New World Notes on Thursdays at 10 AM. See the complete schedule.

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "Yum-yum tree") of WWUH-FM, a community service of the University of Hartford.

You can listen to any installment of New World Notes online or else download it (as an mp3 audio file) for later listening. The show is archived at both A-Infos Radio Project and (from #90 onwards) the Internet Archive. Either link should get you a reverse-chronological listing of available installments. Or browse the show's Web site: Each installment has a page; each page has links to the recorded audio; and a handy table of contents will quickly find the installment you want.

Series overview: Political and social commentary in a variety of genres. Exploring the gap between what we want--and what they're trying to make us settle for.

Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern): 

• Sundays, 12:30 to 1:00 PM, WIEC-LP, FM 102.7 (Eau Claire, WI)
• Mondays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WIEC-LP, FM 102.7 (Eau Claire, WI)
• Tuesdays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WWUH FM 91.3 (West Hartford, CT)
• Tuesdays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WAPJ FM 89.9 and 105.1 (Torrington, CT)
• Tuesdays, 8:30 to 9:00 PM, WWUH FM 91.3 (West Hartford, CT)
• Thursdays, 10:00 to 10:30 AM, WHUS FM 91.7 (Storrs, CT)
• Saturdays, 1:00-1:30 PM, KRFP FM 92.5, Radio Free Moscow (Moscow, ID) 

Any time: Listen to or download any installment. Just go to New World Notes and click a link to the audio at the top of the page. (Every installment has a page on the Web site, and every page has links to the audio.)