Cultural and Moral Authority: The Presumption of Television

Abstract

This article shows how British television has lost cultural authority due to social shifts in British society whereby no single moral voice can expect to find an audience. The author argues that there is no longer a moral language by which to address moral issues nor any common agreement about the rightful constitution of the cultural and moral universe. The central point is that technological development leading to increase in television channel proliferation did not fragment the audience, as is often assumed, but that it was the fragmentation of the audience that allowed the uptake of the varied and various channels.