Turn the television on in the afternoon and you will find a large variety of talk shows to choose from. Have we as a nation, become addicted to hearing our neighbors' steamy personal problems? Personally, I feel it is both the lack of choice and the attraction to other people's problems, that draws us into these types of trashy shows. So, when it comes to choosing a side in the argument of Bennett or Gaines, I'd have to side with William Bennett. In his essay, Bennett explains why he thinks daytime talk shows are having a bad influence on the American public and why we should do our best to try and change that.

If a person came to America for the first time and watched television, they would probably see a talk show.

Talk shows do nothing at all to improve any standard of living in this country. These shows are bad taste, they do not care about who gets hurt, they care more about who will get the better ratings for this kind of torture or humility of others. I can't even fathom why any broadcasting company would even sponsor this kind of public filth, which I believe serves as a corrupting source of this nation, and a major excuse for the violence in today's world. Humans are naturally curious and with such topics like these, the talk industry is booming.

Jerry Springer, the former mayor of Cincinnati and once amateur country rock artist has quite possibly sunk to his lowest ever. Or has he? Brain washed viewers from all across the continent of North America seem to be tuning in, week after week after week, to watch the same old sleazy trailer park trash guests ponder upon topics such as "My Cross Dressing Husband is Sleeping with My Best Friend", "I'm Marring My Child Molesting Uncle" or even possibly "My Cheating Wife and Her Animal Fetishes". Okay, okay maybe that last one is pushing it just a bit. Imagine for a second that you were living some where in Africa or the Middle East, and the only two American television programs you get to watch are "Baywatch" (better known as "Babewatch") and "The Jerry Springer Show". You would think that America's values were virtually based on vices, mainly sex and violence. Which the American society maybe coming too. Jerry Springer has just recently released a couple VHS cassettes to try to attract new recruits and keep his hard-core fans happy. These unedited tapes consists of swearing grandma's and chick fights, and most of all the guests and audience members are prancing around half naked, if not completely naked. Is it possible that Jerry Springer is a marketing genius and he is some how sucking more and more views into the world of "smut TV."?

In a letter to the corporate CEO's in charge of distributing these filthy programs, William Bennett and Senator Joseph Lieberman asked: "Would you want your young children to view a program showcasing the sexual adventures of a 14-year-old girl who married her 71-year-old foster father". To those who do not tune into these shows this description may sound like an exaggeration; however, it is not. This is exactly the type of topics on some shows. Not only are half the shows ridiculous w

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Approximate Word count = 1614
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)