Television and Common Knowledge considers how television is and can be a vehicle for well-informed citizenship in a fragmented modern society. Grouped into thematic sections, contributors first examine how common knowledge is assumed and produced across the huge social, cultural and geographical gulfs that characterise modern society, and investigate the role of television as the primary medium for the production and dissemination of knowledge. Later contributions concentrate on specific tv genres such as news, documentary, political discussions, and popular science programmes, considering the changing ways in which they attempt to inform audiences, and how they are actually made meaningful by viewers.