BS: Presentation over content

Subject: RE: BS: Presentation over content
From: Ebbie
Date: 30 Aug 06 - 03:40 PM

Shouldn't that be "The medium is the masseuse"? Or 'masseur', as the case may be.

Subject: RE: BS: Presentation over content
From: Rapparee
Date: 30 Aug 06 - 02:52 PM

McLuhan said, "The medium is the massage." And vice-versa, I guess.

Subject: RE: BS: Presentation over content
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 30 Aug 06 - 02:36 PM

That's why the GCE pass rate has gone up to 92% or whatever, it's all about PR.
G.

Subject: RE: BS: Presentation over content
From: dianavan
Date: 30 Aug 06 - 02:19 PM

Our education system is obsessed with presentation over content. Parents request teachers who have pretty bulletin boards, are young and dress like executive secretaries. Nobody pays attention to how much the children actually learn. Its easy to snow parents and administrators with 'glitz'. These same teachers also give 'easy marks' to please everyone.

If parents took the time to dig below the surface, they would find that the messiest classrooms (those that look like a kid's bedroom) where the walls are covered with student work (not the teacher's work), are creative, child-centered environments. Their marks are fair but not always what parents want to hear.

Its a problem we have noticed for a long time.

Our society is now very visual. Good music is not enough. You need to 'look good' on camera and have a great video too. Music is secondary.

We live in a visual world where images reign supreme. Listening is a thing of the past. Speaking skills and social skills are also diminishing. I blame it on technological advances (computers, videos, etc.) Computer require very little effort from the user. No listening or speaking required.

Subject: RE: BS: Presentation over content
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 30 Aug 06 - 02:15 PM

I knew I was getting old, but not THAT old, Russ! :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Presentation over content
From: GUEST,Russ
Date: 30 Aug 06 - 02:11 PM

George,

Appearance has always been important, even in music, maybe even especially in music, in situations where the musicians are visible.

Once upon a time musicians were only visible during live performances. And you can be sure that in that dim past musicians were very much concerned with appearances. Surely as much as any contempoary musician.

Musicians are performers, and performance has always been about putting on a show.

Your lament would be equally valid, or invalid, at any time during the last 10,000 or so years.

Subject: RE: BS: Presentation over content
From: Bill D
Date: 30 Aug 06 - 01:25 PM

My concerns are 'mostly' just related to music, but sure, I see (usually young) newsreaders on TV using exaggerated emphasis to sound like they are really INTO the story...sometimes with EVERY other WORD punched to be SURE the listener KNOWS how CONCERNED they are. *grin*
(One example of this is the BBC 'reporter' Richard Quest, (now on CNN International), who drives me right up the wall with his posturing and stuffy delivery....with facial grimaces added)

but about music....

Occasionally at festival workshops, there will be some sort of exercise loosely titled "Making a song your own"....now I know roughly what that is intended to convey, but I fear that some distort the idea badly.

Of COURSE we don't all do a song exactly the same, and there is always room for interpretation of tone and mood..etc....but when meter, volume, tune....and even major lyrics segments are gratuitously altered primarily to showcase the **performer** and his/her (often debatable) talents, the song usually suffers.

If a skilled performer does a song well, so that the content is appreciated, the performer will be admired and remembered....if the presentation is awkward, the tune distorted, and the lyrics 'messed with' excessively, I question whether they care much as long as they are getting attention.

(I could have found a simpler way to say all that.....maybe I need to take my own advice)

Subject: RE: BS: Presentation over content
From: Donuel
Date: 30 Aug 06 - 10:31 AM

The administration will take every opportunity to tell you what the stakes are when confronted by terrorism.

They will take very opportunity to boost fear, tell YOU what you must do and force complience with the new rules of search and confiscation of illegal liquids, computer files and other property they deem suspicious. The inspections of our cars, phones, financial records and affiliations sometimes leads to storage of a special data base of undesirability, no fly zones and risks to national security.

The administration takes no opportunity to describe in any detail what they are actually doing to neutralize the threat.

When a leak happens regarding selling our army tank factory or most of our ports to the good Arab friends of the Bush family or lets say exposing the domestic spying on Americans it is our bad. It is our mistake to let terrorists know what we are doing.

We are shown that a free press, the Constitution, your next door neighbor is the threat.

My God I get it!! We are the terrorists because we ask questions.
Like Micheal Douglas in the moviue Falling Down, he said "So I'm the bad guy?" Yep we are the bad citizen terrorists if you ask questions or challenge total secrecy in any way.

a new Xmas story...

Is there really a terrorist?
Yes Virginia you are.

Subject: RE: BS: Presentation over content
From: Rapparee
Date: 30 Aug 06 - 08:55 AM

Political parties of all stripes. Most Powerpoint presentations. Any address by a CEO or similar sort of low-life.

Subject: RE: BS: Presentation over content
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 30 Aug 06 - 07:35 AM

Shambles!

Subject: RE: BS: Presentation over content
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 30 Aug 06 - 05:56 AM

When I was last employed, meaningless charts seemed to be a favourite. Charts can be helpful but it seemed to be that if something could be plotted, some would do so, regardless of whether it served any useful purpose.

Subject: RE: BS: Presentation over content
From: Paco Rabanne
Date: 30 Aug 06 - 05:45 AM

Bob Dylan.

Subject: RE: BS: Presentation over content
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 30 Aug 06 - 05:39 AM

Ah yes... the glossy 8 page magazine that is circulated around my particular government department every month that tells us how many upper echelon managers have gained honors/huge payouts/bonuses/early retirement and how many lowest grade workers are going to be made redundant....

Once upon a time it was those about to be made redundant who knew first... these days it's their colleagues who tell them, not their managers.

The Director of our particular government department used to visit us regularly so we could talk with him and discuss changes.... had 3 new Directors since then and not seen hide nor hair of them anywhere even remotely close to the 'shop floor'.

Seems that even bad news can be 'good' if it's dressed up well enough.

LTS

Subject: BS: Presentation over content
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 30 Aug 06 - 04:17 AM

For some years now I have been watching society (and not just British or American, either) moving inexorably towards a preference of presentation over content; in other words, it's not what you say that gets attention, but how you say it; not what you do, but what you are/how you look.

We've seen it in music, where M.Jackson's moonwalk and crotch-grabbing became more important than his voice and the Thriller video (brilliant though it is) more important that the song it purports to support. In fashions and in politics (OK, perhaps it was always there in the latter); and in Political Correctness, where it's what you say that is criticised, not what you mean or how you mean it - the letter, not the spirit.

Any other examples of the rise of Presentation over Content?