POSTMAN, Neil 1931(?)-2003

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born c. 1931 in Brooklyn, NY; died of lung cancer, October 5, 2003, in Flushing, NY. Media ecologist, educator, and author. Postman became nationally known as a social critic of the media who warned that the entertainment industry was destroying the moral and intellectual education and development of children. Attending the University of New York at Fredonia, he completed master's and doctorate degrees in education at Columbia University's Teachers College. He joined the faculty at New York University in 1959, founding the department of media ecology at the Steinhardt School of Education in 1971. He also chaired the department of culture and communication until 2002. Initially interested in the process of education itself, Postman gained national attention in 1969 with his book Teaching As a Subversive Activity, written with Charles Weingartner, in which he criticized by-rote-memory methods of testing and asserted that teachers should train students on the actual process of learning by inquiry. Interestingly, ten years later, he virtually reversed this stance in Teaching As a Conserving Activity (1979), also written with Weingartner, in which he upheld traditional teaching methods, stressed the importance of making students competent in English, and asserted that not only students but also teachers should be forced to follow a dress code. Postman's focus of attention switched after this, however, to a steady stream of complaints about the damaging role of the media on youth. Although he felt that television, for example, was fine when light entertainment was broadcast, he objected to how it exposed young people to serious adult issues for which they were unready, and he especially protested against news programs that discussed events in an entertaining fashion. Postman felt that making news entertaining dramatically robbed children of a proper perspective on important matters, and that this, furthermore, denied them the ability to develop their natural sense of curiosity and wonder. Postman even objected to the children's program Sesame Street because it made education a game so that children learned to like being entertained, not to love school. He commented on these issues in such books as Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (1985) and Conscientious Objections: Stirring Up Trouble about Language, Technology, and Education (1988). Although Postman was considered to be a Luddite by many critics, he asserted that he could appreciate the advantage that technology brings, but he felt it was important to warn people of its dangers as well. Having edited the semantics journal Et Cetera for ten years, Postman was also concerned about the use of language, something he wrote about in such books as Language and Reality (1966). Other books by Postman include The Disappearance of Childhood (1982), How to Watch TV News (1992), and Building a Bridge to the Eighteenth Century: How the Past Can Improve Our Future, (1999).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, October 11, 2003, section 1, p. 28.

Los Angeles Times, October 12, 2003, p. B16.

New York Times, October 9, 2003, p. A31.

Washington Post, October 10, 2003, p. B6.