In this artide Dr. Wiebe explores the apparent paradox between two facts: television programs in the United States are regarded by many as at best trivial and at worst vulgar and even harmful; but these programs continue to enjoy huge audiences. The explanation, according to the author, lies not in commercial pandering to debased sensibilities, but in two psychological factsless easily susceptible of remedy: reluctance to cope with ‘the other’; and resistance to demands for change except under conditions not ordinarily created by the mass media.
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Gerhart D. Wiebe (1969) studied this question.