Description
Book SynopsisFor decades young people in the 18-to-34 age group have been the darlings of advertisers and marketers who yearn for greater sales and the elusive "buzz" of publicity. Young adults buy a disproportionate share of movie theater admissions, popular music recordings, and video games, and are regarded as prime targets by most television advertisers. As a consequence of this focus, Leo Bogart argues, media content itself has changed. Sex and violence have become endemic in movies and TV because they attract young audiences. Recent years have witnessed a continual loosening of restrictions on media content and, in the larger culture, a parallel transformation in how people relate to one another. What is now acceptable in civil society is over the edge in comparison with standards of only a few decades ago. This momentous shift has come about, says Mr. Bogart, despite a flawed marketing premise—the idea that young audiences are the most valuable consumers does not jibe with the evidence. Drawing on long experience as a scholar and practitioner in media and marketing, and using extensive research and exclusive interviews with media producers, Mr. Bogart traces the connection between commercial interests and standards of propriety in movies and television. He shows how media content aimed at young adults inevitably engages juveniles as well. He describes how the threat of government regulation has prompted the film, television, music, and video-game industries to adopt systems that rate or label their output; but how the labels intended to keep children away from unsuitable content actually encourage them to taste the forbidden fruit. And these same labels encourage media producers to introduce such content gratuitously.
Over the Edge is a compelling analysis of a major American social problem, with surprising conclusions.
Trade ReviewIn this clear, insightful and lively account, Leo Bogart shows that the age of mistaken media focus on youth has led to an age of sleaze, disserving the public interest. -- Henry Geller, former General Counsel, FCC
This provocative book contains an implicit challenge to America's big media which they will ignore at their peril, as they probably will. -- Reuven Frank, former president NBC News
In
Over the Edge, Leo Bogart applies his decades of unsurpassed media research expertise to the continuing question of TV's effects on the audience.... His answer is not pretty but needs to be read and discussed! -- Herbert J. Gans, Robert S. Lynd Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Columbia University; author of Making Sense of America
Leo Bogart is uniquely qualified to have written
Over the Edge: he is our most respected scholar of commercial culture and has had an outstanding parallel career as a media analyst and communications research executive.... Bogart's careful discussion of this problem, based on extensive interviews and research, is a must-read for media practitioners and important for anyone interested in the relationship between media and the larger society. -- Charles Winick, author,
Taste and the Censor on Television, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, CUNY Graduate School
A wise, thorough, and dismaying account of television's dangerous and, ironically, mistaken efforts to corrupt its own content in order to expand its appeal to kids and young people. -- Lawrence K. Grossman, former president of NBC News and PBS
In Over the Edge Leo Bogart clearly shows how, over time, several interacting factors combined to produce America's vast media wasteland.... Bogart offers some wise but difficult suggestions for positive change. -- Lloyd Morrisett
Our culture and our values have been deeply affected by this phenomenon. Nobody understands this better than Leo Bogart who analyzes its impact with uncommon depth and insight. -- Newton N. Minow
...Over the Edge provides one of the best narratives in a generation of how the media actually work and reflect the interests of the audience. -- Jeffrey Cole, Director, Center for the Digital Future at USC Annenberg School
Bogart describes in rich, painful detail how for decades the mass media, especially TV, have been caught up in vast efforts to melt people's brains. -- Barry Sussman, Editor, Watchdog Project of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University
Leo Bogart, the grand master of media and marketing has done it again! ... The book is at once a lucid critique of some quite disturbing trends and a pragmatic assessment of what can be done about it. -- Everette E. Dennis, Distinguished Felix E. Larkin Professor, Fordham Graduate School of Business, New York City
Bogart's Over the Edge takes the culture industry to task. -- Juliet B. Schor, Boston College * The Instrumentalist *
Very interesting. -- Catherine Hakim * Times Literary Supplement *
A valuable addition to your shelf. -- Ed Hannibal * East Hampton Star *
[Over the Edge] reveals a concurrent shift in social acceptance and moral values. * Bookwatch *
Bogart makes a compelling case.... Over the Edge is a sound analysis of the cultural changes marketing has wrought. -- Kelly Jane Torrance * The Weekly Standard *
Bogart's whole book is an extended potpourri of research evidence, theories, academic studies, facts about the media and popular-entertainment industries. * Times Literary Supplement *
