![Within the Context of No Context
George Trow’s essay on television and its effect on American culture was first published in 1980 in a special issue of The New Yorker that devoted its entire central section to just this piece. Met with wide acclaim upon publication, it became a staple in media studies courses and a touchstone of essay writing. Novelist and screenwriter Michael Tolkin is quoted as saying that “No Context” is no longer fashionable because “It’s not a polemic for change. It’s just a cold description of where things are going. There aren’t many [essays] that are unafraid to be that negative.”
In the New History, nothing was judged—only counted. The power of judging was then subtracted from what it was necessary for a man to learn to do. In the New History, the preferences of a child carried as much weight as the preferences of an adult, so the refining of preferences was subtracted from what it was necessary for a man to learn to do. In the New History, the ideal became agreement rather than well-judged action, so men learned to be competent only in those modes which embraced the possibility of agreement. The world of power changed. What was powerful grew more powerful in ways that could be easily measured, grew less powerful in every way that could not be measured.
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Within the Context of No Context
George Trow’s essay on television and its effect on American culture was first published in 1980 in a special issue of The New Yorker that devoted its entire central section to just this piece. Met with wide acclaim upon publication, it became a staple in media studies courses and a touchstone of essay writing. Novelist and screenwriter Michael Tolkin is quoted as saying that “No Context” is no longer fashionable because “It’s not a polemic for change. It’s just a cold description of where things are going. There aren’t many [essays] that are unafraid to be that negative.”
In the New History, nothing was judged—only counted. The power of judging was then subtracted from what it was necessary for a man to learn to do. In the New History, the preferences of a child carried as much weight as the preferences of an adult, so the refining of preferences was subtracted from what it was necessary for a man to learn to do. In the New History, the ideal became agreement rather than well-judged action, so men learned to be competent only in those modes which embraced the possibility of agreement. The world of power changed. What was powerful grew more powerful in ways that could be easily measured, grew less powerful in every way that could not be measured.
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