Neil Postman's Body Lies A-Moulderin' in the Grave

This is the kind of news that'll get certain watchdogs squriming in their seats. (Which are located outdoors, thank you very much.)

In 2000, Americans spent 3,333 hours consuming media — and most of that time (1,467 hours) was spent in front of the TV, according to Veronis Suhler Stevenson, a media-oriented money management company that supplied much of the media data used in the report.

Next year, Americans will spend 3,518 hours with their beloved media, including 1,555 in front of the TV, says Veronis Suhler Stevenson. That means the average American will spend roughly 146 days, or five months, consuming media.

As the experts Janet Kornblum quotes point out, much of this media immersion comes from people soaking in news and information. Four years back, Jesse Walker noticed that television was making people smarter.