Jerry Mander "Four arguments for the elemination of television"

‘About the middle of December 1980 De Appel received a book with the sensational title: Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. It was written in 1977 by Jerry Mander (...). The book was presented by the Mickery Theatre 'as a presentation to a hall with 150 people', who, according to the covering letter, 'might enjoy the production each in his own way'. In the same letter Ritsaert ten Cate stated that Mickery had noiselessly crossed a fifteen year old border. Far from noiseless, however, were the reactions from De Appel's visitors who found the book as a new acquisition on the reading-table. The fact that for the past few years De Appel has been actively engaged in arousing the interest of the Dutch broadcasting organizations in collaborating with (video) artists is sufficient reason to elicit a discussion of Mander's book. Additional reasons are: the fact that the influence of tv on everyday life in Holland is growing steadily, and that cable networks and satellite links will in the future enable the Dutch public to receive a large number of stations. But now, after five years, it is about time for an up-dated report. The burning issue is, of course: must we really eliminate television from our lives? For the sake of a lively discussion a number of top-people from the Dutch world of arts and publicity-media will be invited. (...) Four arguments for the elemination of television. A lecture by Jerry Mander, organized by De Appel in cooperation with Mickery. [Location: auditorium Institute for Mass-communication and Journalism, University of Amsterdam, Oude Hoogstraat 24, Amsterdam].’ (‘Jerry Mander. Four arguments for the elemination of television’, De Appel, 2 (1982) 4, pp. 3-5.)