A. Seeing

     We need intellectual vigilance now more than barricade journalism, and particularly the gift of seeing, and seeing in time, trends that may affect the life of the world.
     —James Reston

     The kind of vigilant journalism Reston called for is described by some journalists as "anticipatory journalism." It depends upon the journalist's sense of the world around him or her and upon the journalist's ability to pattern events.
     In your reading, see whether you can find examples of articles in newspapers or magazines that anticipate developments or trends.

B. Passive

     What do you think of the prediction of Frank Deford, a sportswriter and television and radio commentator?

     I think we're almost reaching a point where we were centuries ago: A certain small percentage of the population reads, and nobody else does. It used to be just a question of literacy and illiteracy, but now we're moving toward what is essentially going to be a two-tiered population—one that reads, and one that simply watches television.
     I'm not a believer in "visual literacy." I find it awfully hard to believe that the written word can be replaced by the ability to play Nintendo well. You can perhaps be entertained more, but I think your intellect can only be advanced so far by visual images. At a certain point it just breaks down—it's just not sophisticated.
     Aldous Huxley in Brave New World was right. Orwell thought we were all going to be watched, oppressed from outside, but it is the other way around: We'll be doing the watching. We'll be our own oppressors. Eisenhower warned us of the military-industrial complex, but we needn't worry about that anymore. It is the entertainment-amusement complex that threatens us—benignly.