Summary Of Speech By Edward R. Murrow

The evolution of television content is currently steadily moving towards reality television shows. The shift from interest in fiction drama series to reality shows has turned the regular television viewers into addicted voyeurs. There have been diverse views on the effect of reality television shows ranging from support to criticism. George Will, in his article “Reality television: oxymoron” believes that reality television is making ordinary people degenerate morally and act stupid in the effort to please a disinterested audience. Reality TV shows are relying heavily on building extraordinary characters or events out of the norm and attract the attention of the audience. Kellner argues that the audience is enticed by “media constructs

Murrow strongly mentions, “Our history will be what we make it” and emphasizes the extent of how much influence the public holds on each other. He creates an attention on how media largely reflects America’s societal values, and he strongly believes that television is being wasted solely on entertainment. He makes an effort to persuade his audience that television can help the American society become more educated on political, social, and economic subjects that directly matter to the country’s success. Murrow also states, “this weapon of television could be useful” to inspire those watching television anywhere in the country. His use of the word "weapon" strongly contributes to his argument that television can be an advantageous thing in the world of media. Murrow believes that people will gain insight from watching more meaningful and truthful subjects on television rather than entertainment. Things like ignorance can be eliminated from the citizens in today’s society and spark a new way for the people to think about their own perspectives on relevant

In conclusion, television wouldn't quite be the television we know today if it had a limited, narrowed genre of only realistic programs. Television is there to attract the viewers with what they want to see. They may want to watch the news, a reality show, a game show, or most recently many have tuned in to watch the Democratic Presidential Debate. Barbara's idea of television is that without reality or things people can do in real life, boredom is ensured to happen. Despite her claim, television continues to play a big part in not only American culture, but multiple cultures around the

In order to fit in to society, some people may modify their own actions based on the perceived reality of the TV show. It is easy to reality TV programs and the way they are perceived, could affect society as a whole.

In the midst of this generation, reality television has become very popular, it has begun to promote stereotypes. TV critics feel that reality television has been developed to entertain or cheer people up. Some reality shows can be good for individuals who like them, while some of them can be bad, depending on the show. As for opinion, television is the greatest invention that has been made because it helps people learn lessons about life, by educating and to experience new things. It helps to encourage people and can lead them to make important decisions about their futures.

Television is one of the most accessible sources available to citizens. And with reality T.V, it changed the television industry forever. In today 's society, Reality Television plays an important role in people 's everyday lives. Jeremy W. Peters, the author of “When Reality TV Gets Too Real” argued that there should be a limit for how far an reality T.V should go. While James Poniewozik the author of “Why Reality TV Is Good for Us” said that reality T.V was the best thing to happen to television. Some might say television is bad for the society, and some might disagree with that, but reality T.V has proven to be the best thing that ever happened to television.

Television has drastically changed over time in terms of its content, reach, and accuracy. In 1954, journalist Edward R. Murrow and his television series See it Now were dedicated to revealing the truth to their audience no matter how unpleasant the news. Murrow had been specifically interested in revealing the truth about Senator Joseph McCarthy, who had carried out investigations against government workers and those of public institutions who were believed to have ties to communism. Murrow did not appear to feel obligated by McCarthy to only report positive things about him, despite the fact he was a public figure with a lot of power who could destroy his company and reputation. Working for CBS, the news Murrow reported had been extremely

Reality TV is known as exciting entertainment because the audience never knew what will happen next as it is with no strings attached and even have the freedom of speech. Despite the entertainment it can bring, the content of reality shows are actually degrading the society. Our pop culture and civilization have been affected by the reality programs in a bad way. Indeed, reality TV is promoting bad social value to the

Although I agree, I would add that beyond the perceived realism – and therefore relatability – of reality television stars, reality television is gripping because it puts the relatable characters in situations that bring out their amoral qualities. In doing so, the viewer feels morally elevated by getting the sense that, “at least I’m not as bad as these people.” Becoming aware of this “holier than thou” complex that reality television sets up between viewer and character is a form of media awareness. Being aware of this complex, beyond ruining reality television for the viewer, helps to overcome the influence on your morals that television producers are trying to

In 1985 nightly news networks averaged about 48 million viewers and in 2013 the newsnetworks averaged about 24.5 million viewers, an all-time low for these networks according toCNS news. While these networks were losing viewers, reality shows such as Survivor, wegaining viewers with a rising 27 million and only increasing every season. Sandra Bullock, aworld-renowned actor and philanthropist, once said, “I’m not a fan of reality shows, but I am afan of people who use their brains and skills and hard work to outsmart people, not to stealsomeone’s man or get drunk on TV.” She’s stating that she would rather see us use ourintelligence to do good in the world and try to make a difference instead of partying and foolingaround on television to please and influence other people. People are becoming more and moreintrigued by these shows and are completely forgetting about news itself which isn’t onlyterrible, but sad. People need to keep up with what’s happening not only in their respectivecountries

There is also the argument that reality TV actually exposes others to different perspectives and cultures, and also teaches to debunk stereotypes. “Thanks to reality shows like Shahs of Sunset, Princesses: Long Island and Keeping Up with the Kardashians, I learn all about different cultures and perspectives.” “ The Robertson family struck a chord with millions of Americans through Duck Dynasty, which avoids hicksploitation and focuses on good,clean family values. ”(Gennis). The opposition seems to overlook the countless stereotypes forced upon minorities through reality programs.

Throughout history beginning around the early 1980’s, reality television had impacted american viewers because it had introduced a new series of content fitting the lives of average american families. It had appealed to audiences, particularly these families, because it was relatable to the lives of society. For instance, beginning in 1983, “An American Family” aired on PBS, highlighting the important events of an average american family, such as an ending marriage, a business crash, and the outing of a homosexual son. Although popular, audiences had to get used to watching television without a laugh track, and a reality television show had introduced a new series of speculations, such as if the family were the same off camera, and if scenes were edited for dramatic effect. In much cases, reality television wasn’t meant to represent the lives of american families at all.

The use of entertaining reality shows demonstrates to the viewers, raw footage of which viewers like you and me appreciate. When a face is shown representing an issue, viewers are more than likely to be more engaged and develop the want to help the issue

For close to a decade, the ethics behind the existence of reality TV have been questioned. While there are ardent viewers of reality TV, researchers and other scholars disapprove them, and claim that the world would have been in a better place. Reality TV shows, especially in America, are extremely profitable to media owners, and this has increased their popularity in the recent years. The main target audience for these shows are teenagers and women, who spend a lot of time discussing about them, even hours after the shows. Most of the reality shows in America and other parts of the world have common ideas. The most fundamental aspect of most reality TV shows is that they display people who go through embarrassing, painful and humiliating ordeals. This is what the reality shows expect their audiences to be entertained, and presumably laugh at the situations the people go through. For this reason and many more, it has been found that they are more detrimental than entertaining to the society, and therefore, the world would be in a better place without them (Pozner 89-91).

To quote Matt Philbin, managing editor of the MRC Culture & Media Institute, “the problem with much of reality TV is that it isn’t about real people or reality at all. These are highly scripted, performed shows, ‘written’ like a piece of fiction and as such they need the classic conflict-driven characters and soap opera melodrama.”