Schweizer Journaiist,10+11/2008
Lisa George of New York’s Hunter College believes television programs and advertisements are to blame for the debt of many American families.
In order to prove her thesis, George found it necessary to revisit the 1950s, salvaging data in order to compile a comprehensive comparison of eras with and without television.
George’s figures are impressive, supporting the proposed connection between American debt and television. However she stresses that her research project, which she presented at an October workshop for media economics at the University of Zurich, is not yet complete. Evaluating correlations can be tricky. Fewer babies might be born during a stork shortage, but this certainly isn’t proof that storks bring babies into the world…
Tags: advertisement, debt, Lisa George, media effects