People who don't like TV and find it boring and irritating at the same time.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

Are they more likely to be liberal/progressive or are they more likely to be conservative/neocon?

I know what I think, I wonder what you think.

[ecstatic]

1. Elitist?

:shrug:

[The Vinyl Ripper]

3. That you didn't anwer the question asked..

And instead chose to answer with what you imagine to be an insult.

Shows what you think the answer to truly be.

[ecstatic]

10. Well... I thought I did answer

And no, it wasn't an insult. The people I know who have stopped watching TV completely are pretty elitist/snobby. I feel like I have to provide an excuse for why my TV is on when dealing with those types. I barely watch TV myself (I don't watch any scripted shows). That's just my experience.

As far as who is more likely to put away the TV, I really don't think it has anything to do with political philosophy... I would imagine people of both parties tire of the junk on TV today.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

15. When you find something really boring and really irritating..

It's hard to hide that reaction for very long.

The urge to point out stupid stuff as it's going on is very difficult to resist.

Suspension of disbelief is important for enjoying a work of fiction, when you can't suspend disbelief the only thing really left is laughing at the stupidity.

[baby_mouse]

33. ARRRRRRRGH!

I'm sorry. Really, I am.

But this "elistist" stuff bugs the crap out of me!!!!

What's "elistist" about not watching television?!?!?!? An ELITE is an association that people ASPIRE to become part of and is DIFFICULT to get into, usually based on talent but sometimes on status or money, how are TV-loathers like me preventing you from joining our oh-so-special not watching TV club???? HM?

[movonne]

2. I think a little of the both...

[pnorman]

4. I've been TV-free for about a decade.

Instead, I have a fast and reliable DSL provider, and use a WiFi router. Anywhere in my apartment is an internet connection. My computer is almost always on and in use. Most of my "leads" come from discussions on DU. And unlike fading memories of TV broadcasts, there's a "paper trail" of it all; one that can be Googled to whatever depth may be necessary. I believe I'm at LEAST as well "connected" to the outside world as any passive TV-head.

Do you agree?

pnorman

[The Vinyl Ripper]

6. Yes, I do agree with you...

I have a DSL connection and use it constantly.

My wife is quite smart but just wants to relax when off work so she watches the satellite.

Practically every news story she tells me about I have to correct on some error of fact or interpretation. TV "news" gets it wrong far more often than they get it right.

[Saturday]

5. The only person I know that has no TV

in his home is a progressive Democrat.

[NV Whino]

7. I would say they tend to be liberal/progressive

But then, I'm probably prejudiced because I don't get TV reception... and don't want it.

[EFerrari]

8. I can't say because in all honestly, I have no Thug friends. n/t

[tech3149]

9. I've always been a liberal, but was a TV junkie until 2002

At that time I had a major life-change and dropped out of the consumer culture and found the mindless entertainment of TV to be counter-productive. I knew since the 60's that the worst thing you could do is trust the government to operate honestly without the oversight of the public. Since turning off the TV, I've found out about so many things I wouldn't have known if I hadn't started reading and searching out information that isn't presented on the corporate media. Since that time I've been doing my best to convince people that they should avoid information resources that don't require active energies (TV and radio) to inform you on the news of the day and how it affects you. While I'll admit to being a progressive radio junky, I think that for getting most of my information from sources that require reading forces me to utilize my cognitive processes much more than the passive process of listening to radio or watching television.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

11. They're More Likely To Just Simply Be People.

Such a thing has not an iota to do with politics.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

13. Do you know anyone who doesn't watch TV?

If so, what is their political leaning?

[BuelahWitch]

14. I don't watch much TV and I consider myself liberal

But I have friends who have it on all the time and they are liberal too. I have to go with the people who say it doesn't really have much to do with politics, it's an otherwise personal preference.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

16. The person who gets their news from TV is not as well informed..

As the person who gets their news elsewhere, from print or the intertubes.

Would you say that a better informed person is more likely to be liberal or conservative?

Are the conservatives you know well informed about current events?

[BuelahWitch]

25. The conservatives I know watch Fox News

So I would say that no, they aren't better informed.

[ThomWV]

12. Neither as far as I can see, they are just not smart enough to get something out of TV

Bill Moyers for instance, or maybe C-Span.

[blues90]

17. I wouldn't know , I stopped watching TV

When it became the flying graphic madness . I really began thinking about it when the movie Network came out .

I do believe Tv is designed for two reasons , to make people forget and to sell them products they don't need .

When cable came out I was watching but now it has become just like TV . There used to be movie to movie back to back with little fillers of art clips in between , the used to be the Z channel which was great until it became sports . There used to be MTV with music videos .

Certainly there are a few channels of education left .

I can't handle smiling faces and all the fluff hair when the reality is so far from this that I get ill watching anything on TV .

It is all one huge lie in color so if feeling this way makes me a liberal then I am proud of it .

[The Vinyl Ripper]

18. Thank you.

Yes, cable is a far cry from what it used to be.

"one huge lie in color".

That's pretty much the way I see it too.

"make people forget and to sell them products they don't need ."

Yep.

[OHdem10]

19. Rank and File GOP watch TV. This is why they have

so much power.

Liberals/progressives do not watch TV regularly.--Dems not as much
power.

[nam78_two]

20. I don't have a big sample set so make of it what you will

:) But most of my friends who don't have tvs are pretty liberal. I will admit that my friends who watch lots of tv are much more apolitical. I don't really have any Republican friends or even acquaintances.

Thats not a whole lot to go on though-very few data points and I move in a fairly narrow circle. I am in academia and the only people I know outside of school are political activists and environmentalists. I would guess that this isn't representative of society at large :shrug:-but there ya go.

I don't have anything particular against tv I guess , but I never really find much time for it (& ok I do personally find it rather boring and numbing in general) and I take after my mom in that I tend to fall asleep in front of them, so I haven't ever watched much tv. I did like the X-files as a teen though-I think that is pretty much all the tv I have ever really watched. Oh wait no -I watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on days when I get home before 11.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

21. People who watch a great deal of TV

Probably tend to be apolitical.

I'd be surprised if there many conservatives that were not TV watchers.

[BlooInBloo]

22. Disliking the bulk of individiual tv shows is fine - to dislike it as a concept is stupid.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

23. I don't think I said I disliked the concept..

I certainly dislike the implementation.

[BlooInBloo]

24. Nor do I think you did.

[mitchum]

31. I disagree because I do agree with McLuhan's "the medium is the message"...

it really doesn't matter whether one is watching "Mama's Family" or "Masterpiece Theatre"
The medium of TV traffics in formal cliches regardless of the "quality" of the various offerings. Then, of course, there is the whole hypnotic aspect of a visual medium where one is staring directly at the light source...

That being said, there ARE some television shows that I do enjoy :)

[baby_mouse]

34. I loathe television, but must agree with you.

The main reason I hate television is because it's such an amazingly badly used medium.

[BuelahWitch]

26. I actually liked TV more in 1987 than I do now

There are more channels now but little to watch that interests me.

Sometimes I think I had more choices in the '70s when I was a kid back in PA with the three big networks and PBS...

[napi21]

27. I don't think it's that all TV is bad or wrong. The really informed citizen

watches TV, listens to the radio, searches the net, reads the newspaper, and if they're really attentive, reads some magazines as well. All information outlets have a point of view or bias. Some are more biased than others and at least in my case, I watch, listen and read them all, then make my own decision as to what I believe is true. Sometimes NOTHING of what I hear about a certain subject is believable and I simply keep searching because ultimately the truth will come out somewhere.

For anyone to think the TV doesn't report nes and valid information is foolish. Even on DU, we ask people to validate their "news" with a link to some reliable source. Most of us consider reliable sources to be AP, Reuters, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, & CBS. I believe you are confusing "news comentary" with "pure news". A logical mind can differentiate between the two.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

28. While you make a decent point..

You don't come anywhere near answering the question I asked.

Are those who watch little to no TV more likely to be liberal/progressive or conservative/neocon?

I'm interested in the politics of those who do not watch television.

[napi21]

29. I think it depends on where you are. My hubby's relatives live in

rural Pa. For religious purposes they don't own TVs. They are ALLL very fundie Pubs! When yyou check around the Lancaster area and Amish Country, you won;t find any TVs either, but those people are sure not liberal.

I don't know about other similar rural locations across the country, but I would bet it's similar.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

30. Hmm .. I can remember..

When the satellite dish used to be called the "West Virgina State Flower".

It would be interesting to know how the Amish vote? If they do vote.

[LeftishBrit]

32. Depends on why they don't like it...

They may be intellectuals - though some intellectuals enjoy TV; they may be outdoorsy people -though some outdoorsy people enjoy TV; they may be easily bored in geberal; they may be pro-censorship; they may be distrustful of popular culture for any of a number of reasons; they may just plain not enjoy it (I prefer radio to TV just because I find listening more relaxing than looking).

If they're pro-censorship, they're probably right-wing. I would guess that TV-distrusting intellectuals as a group would tend to be liberal; but that those who are right-wing would be very right-wing.

If people don't watch much TV, they are probably less exposed to certain forms of media propaganda. In the USA, this might make them more liberal, because they're not seeing Fox News. In the UK, it's less clear - the BBC is not right-wing, and a lot of right-wing propaganda is to be found in tabloid newspapers rather than TV programmes.