I think it depends on what you are blaming them for. Obviously you can blame the TV producers for declining ratings.
But he has a point when he says that viewers tend to rather watch crap than anything that requires ongoing attention (let alone critical thinking). Way too many people will rather watch a 30s clip on a topic than a 90 minute documentary. Or a stereotypical crime show instead of a more realistic depiction of why people might commit crimes. So you can definitely blame viewers for shitty content - if that’s what most people watch, then this is what will dominate the discourse.
And this is not (just ;-) ) about “I have better taste than you”. It has consequences for e.g. our political discourse. Of course you can also blame our current for society, because it’s not really a wonder when people are too exhausted to really engage with more complex content. But we as viewers are also responsible for what we watch.
I think it depends on what you are blaming them for. Obviously you can blame the TV producers for declining ratings.
But he has a point when he says that viewers tend to rather watch crap than anything that requires ongoing attention (let alone critical thinking). Way too many people will rather watch a 30s clip on a topic than a 90 minute documentary. Or a stereotypical crime show instead of a more realistic depiction of why people might commit crimes. So you can definitely blame viewers for shitty content - if that’s what most people watch, then this is what will dominate the discourse.
And this is not (just ;-) ) about “I have better taste than you”. It has consequences for e.g. our political discourse. Of course you can also blame our current for society, because it’s not really a wonder when people are too exhausted to really engage with more complex content. But we as viewers are also responsible for what we watch.