Much more than an “Idiot Box.” NPR’s Media Critic, Eric Deggans Joins The Media Roundtable to Discuss TV‪‬

This week on The Media Roundtable, Dan sits down with NPR’s media critic, Eric Deggans. Much more than an “idiot box,” Deggans argues TV is not just important; it is the “heartbeat of society.”  

Deggans KNOWS television at a level 99.9% of the population simply can’t. He’s been a TV critic since 1997 and has had“a front-row seat to the industry exploding, first with cable tv then the streaming explosion, ”where he sees parallels in the exponential growth in the volume of available programs. 

“TV is important because it’s both a mirror and a catalyst in society that allows us to look at why something is popular, who it’s aimed at or why a show gets made, doesn’t get made, renewed or canceled.” He believes television “ultimately tells us things about society and the conversations we’re having about family, romance, employment, race, and gender.” 

This comes through in many ways across all forms of media, but specifically, as it relates to tv, Deggans walks us through a few examples of where progress has been made and where it still has far to go. Further to the point, “the attention economy is the media economy now” and believes his role is “to help people figure out when something is trying to generate or grab their attention in a way that’s inauthentic or damaging or misleading or if something is really truly worth their time and attention.” With the current state of polarization, misinformation, disinformation, and hostility in the media, we couldn’t agree more. 

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