Should Television Programs Be Banned?

Around the world, The United States is widely known as a leader in mass media production, like television and movies. There are very few inventions that have affected America as much as the television. Before 1947, the number of TV’s in the US could be measured in thousands, and by the late 1990’s about 98% of homes had at least one television set in it, which were on for on average, more than seven hours a day. The Typical American spends about 3-5 hours watching TV a day. TV became a way for Americans to either escape their lifestyle, relate to it, or keep up with current events. It has become a tool that the US uses to relate to each other

* Media and culture: what we see in the media – powerful effect. Think carefully of the consequences of your action rather than going with the flow of the media

It is a well-known fact that technology and media outlets today play a major role in a person’s life. Generally, a person has access to the media through cellphones, computers, radios in a car and television. It may be perceived by some, even within a technologically advanced society such as America, that media has no effect upon enhancing cultural relationships, though many social networks do indeed connect cultures.

The negative effects of television are huge. To minimize the potential negative effects of television, it's important to understand what the impact of television can be on children.

People take what they see and hear and apply it to their everyday lives. This may lead younger audiences to make poor decisions or develop bad habits. Children who may hear bad words in a movie may repeat them thinking it is okay since their favorite actor said it. American pop culture is becoming more popular in other countries and may one day replace their own cultures. People might begin to adapt to American traditions and forget their distinct culture. Moreover, pop culture is negatively displaying American, as well as, other countries and religions. People from other countries know America by the violent and offensive works they produce. Overall, popular culture should change to positively display all countries and teach teenagers and kids healthy

Malaysia is a country of democracy, a multiparty system. The ruling party Barisan Nasional has been in power for over 25 years. That fact has provided the country with a high degree of stability, which is an important factor for companies investing in the country. Corruption exists in the country. This may be an obstacle for foreign companies, as it increases the company's costs and could cause problems. Transparency International takes 47th Malaysia out of 180 countries in its Corruption Perception

In today’s society, media is present in our lives 24/7 allowing it to have a major influence on our culture in both positive and negative ways.

TV is a constant presence in most Americans' lives. With all of its shows that have highly entertaining style, it gets many people's attention for several hours each day. Television helps people to develop values and know about the world around them. Moreover it influences viewers' attitudes and beliefs about themselves, as well as about people from other social and cultural backgrounds. TV is the biggest element that can influence on U.S. culture because of the news reports, the TV shows, and the commercials that on television screen.

This will lead to the mass media homogeneity that will dissolve cultural differences. Cultural imperialism started right after decolonization when political or military control of another country could not be practiced. Psychological forms of control began to be used and were facilitated through the rapid integration of global telecommunications systems. They pushed American culture that promoted the ideas of consumption and instant gratification that would spread global capitalism and increase profits. The cultural imperialism argument has several strengths as well as weaknesses. It’s main strength is based on the idea that mass media from larger nations negatively affects the smaller nations because the national identity of smaller nations is lessened or lost due to media homogeneity inherent in mass media from the larger countries. Sometimes local interpreters keep some cultural diversification by transforming the imported media to meet local demand. The media is still influenced by the core but is also still unique and successful. Examples of this include the success of Korean pop music and Bollywood cinema in their respective “geolinguistic region.” The media imperialism theory fails to fully understand the internal historical and social dynamics within periphery countries. The West may have implanted the model of television consumerism, but the West is not required to sustain it and today many US programs lead the world in their transportability across cultural boundaries but are rarely the most popular when viewers have reasonable local options. (L&B p340-342)(Peripheral Vision) The social construction of reality theory attempts to explain how and why individuals view the world in a certain way and what role the media plays in shaping that view. It suggests that the media actually

Throughout the years, popular culture has grown into an intellectually battle. Steven Johnson affirms that “the popuIar media steadily, but almost imperceptibly”, made “our minds sharper”. Johnson can be looked as an ideal example of the good impact the media has on its people. He doesn’t judge the negative advertisement, the numerous crimes presented on a daily basis or the violent television dramas but he explains how these are just a shell, a mantle and underneath it reveals a machinery meant to challenge and develop people’s mind.

Malaysia is a democratic country with excellent economic system. We are one the leading country in economic terms and being an example for the economy system we are using. In Malaysia, we are into mixed economy system. This economy system is the leading type of economic system that is used in most of the countries such as United States. Mixed economy system includes a mixture of capitalism and socialism. It combines private economic freedom, centralized economic planning and government regulation. Government plays major role in economic growth as well as distribution of wealth. For example, our government collects tax and provides subsidies at the same time for the public.

The television is also a very important aspect of popular culture that affects the American Identity. Watching television is such a common part of contemporary society, that most Americans adopted it as a part of their daily routine and watch television for at least an hour a day. Stanley Crouch, a poet, music and cultural critic, writes that whenever people pretentiously and proudly announce, “I don’t watch television,” they should follow it up with “I don’t look at America either” (Masciotra 79). Television has become a part of many people’s lives. When the mass population watches the same TV shows, movies, etc. they can all relate to each other, and thus unite them as an American. We look to TV shows to see how other people like us act

Malaysia’s GDP Annual Growth Rate since 2000 till present. Notice the sharp contraction after the 2008 Financial Crises.

Continuous rapid economic growth has raised Malaysia from an agricultural and commodity-based low-income economy to a successful middle-income economy. As a mixed economy, Malaysia has elements of a free market economy nevertheless with intervention government. Malaysia's economic activity consist of a mixture of sectors whereas mixed of capitalism and socialism The strong economic performance has helped improve the quality of life for Malaysians and supported advances in education, health, infrastructure, housing and public amenities and others.

Malaysia is a unique country. It is made up of multi-ethnic group who are living in harmony. Conflict among ethnic group is rare and even if conflict occurs, is not to the extent of destroying the country. In fact, it is the diversity that drives the development of the country and makes this country colourful. Malaysia has been recognized by the world as a model for other plural societies. The concept of ‘unity in diversity’ is always insisted by the leaders. The concept is now supported with the ‘1 Malaysia’ concept which is introduced by the current Prime Minister. The Malaysian government is always put efforts to ensure the