Includes bibliographical references (p. 261-271) and index.

Television truths (Argumentation of TV) -- Part I: Is TV True? (Epistemology of TV) -- The value chain of meaning -- Public address systems: time, space, and frequency -- Television and globalization -- Part II: Is TV a Polity? (Ethics/Politics of TV) -- Television, nation, and indigenous media -- A television republic? -- Reality and the Plebiscite -- Part III: Is TV Beautiful? (Aesthetics of TV) -- From a "Wandering Booby" to a Field of Cows: the television Live Event -- Shakespeare, Big Brother, and the Taming of the Self -- Sync or swim? Plebiscitary sport and synchronized voting -- Part IV: What Can TV Be? (Metaphysics of TV) -- "Laughs and Legends" or the furniture that glows? Television as history -- Television in knowledge paradigms.