Television Has Changed Our Lives

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, television quickly emerged into a popular and greatly desired entertainment system in America. Although expensive, the television was still found in over fifty million American homes. Socially, the television not only embellished what the time period believed to be the “ideal” family, but the new technology also helped pull women closer to a world vacant of sexism and stereotypes, while also drawing African Americans closer to a society without racism, segregation, and prejudice. As well as social benefits, the television substantially impacted the world of politics by airing the platforms of political candidates and broadcasting important news concerning America. Additionally, the fields of advertising and

“Television has changed the American child from an irresistable force to an immovable object.” (Peter). There was a time when all children wanted to do was to run, play, explore, and be adventurous. As time evolved, children have found more interest in television. Statistics show that a child spends 900 hours per year in school,and they spend 1,200 hours per year watching television. When asked to choose between watching T.V. and spending time with their families fifty-four percent of four to six year olds voted they would prefer to watch television. Television has changed the mindset of children over the years it has been proven that the more programs they watch, the more harmful it is to their brain development. T.V.

Television is so popular that it is almost a vital part of life to most people. According to the article “The Real Golden Age of Television”, the first successful demonstration of electronic television was introduced on September 7, 1927. (Handy & William). It was designed by Philo Taylor Farnsworth. Charles Jenkins is also an important person to the creation of television because he created the first mechanical TV on June 23, 1925. (D’Addiro). These two men are responsible for what we have today; good quality television. Since then television has brought tears, laughter, joy, and many other memorable moments to the lives of people. Television came to its own in the 1940’s and 1950’s. During this time period television began to emerge into the households many families. This was something new to people. Never would they have thought of being able to sit in watch entertainment out of a TV screen. Then in the 1964 was the beginning of the “old” golden age of television. The reason for this claim is for the invention of color television made it more popular (Clapp). All television programs were in black and white before this unbelievable creation. This gave television viewers a better experience than the past because they were able to see things differently. Though the era was magnificent there was more to come. Time advanced into the 2000’s and so did television. Many

As the television was brought in to homes across America, it was evident how incredibly engaging and extremely influential this . For example, television was live and the people were able to see the events that were being broadcasted. Compared to the older forms of technology like newspapers and radio, the television was much more powerful in the way that it allowed peoples to physically see events occurring rather than to read about them or listen to them. Moreover, the characteristics of the television played a huge role in politics throughout the United States.

Before we television existed people had to depend on Radio stations to receive there little bit of entertainment and news. But in 1878, the invention of TV began. The first TV made didn’t look anything like the way TV’s look today, it was a mechanical camera with a large spinning disc attached to it (Kids Work). But as over the years, of course inventions of different TV’s progressed and by the 20th century about 90 percent of our population had a TV in their household(). Television today is mainly used for people take a break from their life by relaxing and enjoying some entertainment.

The spread of television has affected American households universally, which started in the 1940s but has continued to make a dramatic surge. There is a trend at that is being captured across televisions in households everywhere. Politics, reality television, social media and public information is being broadcast from household to household. Television has in a way become a mode of how we think and interact with each other. Television is starting to leave that bubble where it was strictly entertainment, now television is becoming a source of what we must believe. The consumer demand for television as spiked dramatically, in the way we view ourselves and perceive others in the world around us is through a television screen. Although we are

     What role does television play in society? For decades we have seen many parts of our world rapidly going through changes in technology. Today’s society has been transformed by means of communication and the available information through mass media. Most Americans rely on television for news, sports, and entertainment. Television is just one of the many examples of how technology has changed our lives. Since the invention of the television in the early 1900’s, it has played a very important role in our lives. Having a television set in the home has become very essential in today’s society. We depend on it to entertain us with its sitcoms and to inform us about current world issues. The

It wasn’t until the 1960s that the television became an everyday commodity in society. To go along with the already popular dramas and comedies, tv became a major outlet for news as CBS evening news and 60 minutes debuted (Herman). Sports broadcasting also made huge strides during the early 1960s as Wide World of Sports aired on ABC, instant replay became a standard in sports broadcasting, CBS and NBC both broadcasted Super Bowl one in color (Herman). As television gained popularity the range of the topics presented on television shows went to more controversial and relevant topics in hopes to relate with the typical viewer. The subjects of the television shows for the most part have stayed the same over the past 40 years, but some have

Cultural changes are usually a slow evolutionary process, but a significant environmental factor can propel a societal culture shift. By 1960, nine out of ten homes had a television set, used mostly for entertainment. (Culture, n.d.) John F. Kennedy (J.F.K.) was the first president to recognize and then fully embrace the power of television to connect in a more personal way with the general public, specifically voters. During the presidential campaign and the following years as President, many Americans felt they developed a personal bond with J.F.K. and his young family, via television coverage. JFK was able to develop this bond with Americans in a large part due to television appearances in addition to the traditional radio, newspaper and magazine media coverage.

Television has been keeping me entertained for as long as I can remember. I have always been a big fan of watching television such as shows, movies, and especially sports. For movies and shows, I love how it forces me to make me use my imagination even though in the back of my mind I know that everything that’s happening is completely fake. It’s caused me to think deeper about things I never thought I would think about, and given me a lot of great memories. Even though television has been a very positive part of my life, there has also been some downside to it as well. Television has affected me in a negative way because it paints a picture reality that sort of tricked me into thinking it was true. When I was younger I was extremely gullible and easily influenced and really wanted to be able to live like some of the characters that I saw on the screen. An example was in about 7th grade I started watching this hilarious show called How I Met Your Mother. My parents refused to let me watch it but I would always find a way to watch it on my laptop without them knowing. There was this character name Barney Stinson who I really admired and was determined to be like when I grew up. In the show he was rich, well dressed, ladies man who seemed to have everything going for him. He was a total hound dog in the show who expressed the joy of constantly going to bars, sleeping with random women, and then never calling

Political impact of television, In 1960 Presidential Debate between Republican Vice President Richard Nixon and Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy was the first to be televised. “Television gave elected officials and candidates for office and unprecedented way to speak directly to millions, face-to-face”. The increasingly negative tone of ads and political commentary has driven many to abandon interest in politics. Television lets the viewers see what is going on in a political race, debate, and the polls as it is happening, and the viewers will make their minds up by what they see and hear. This is more expensive for the candidates, because they have to pay for air-time. The TV networks usually let you see what they want you to see, during a broadcast, especially when they cut to a commercial often.

Ever since the invention of television, image and reputation became the real weapons of politics. Television has influenced everything since its invention in 1940 (Campbell). From product and movie ads, to news bulletins and important congressional hearings, television has changed the way how viewers look at the world; especially the way we vote. The very first televised debate was held on September 26, 1960 between “Tricky Dick” and JFK (Menand). The television allowed most of America to view the inner workings of deciding who would run the country next, instead of reading what happened in the last debate in Sunday’s paper or hearing it on the radio. Though some listened to Nixon and Kennedy go back and forth on the issues on that Monday night,

The coincidence of the growth of television with the first military defeat for America was used by the government to explain why the war was lost: it wasn’t because of government policy or by underestimating the enemy but because television journalism and lack of censorship that undermined the whole operation “by ‘graphic and unremitting distortion’ of the facts, pessimism, and unvarnished depiction of both Americas youthful casualties and American ‘atrocities’ inflicted on the Vietnamese.” The amount of televisions in America was on the increase; ‘In 1950, only 9 percent of homes owned a television. By 1966, this figure rose to 93 percent.’ This alone shows the sheer coverage that the news had and the potential influence that it could impose upon the minds of the people. Not only did more people have television sets in their homes but more and more people were relying on television over any other medium to obtain their news. The survey conducted by the Roper organisation for the Television Information Office in 1972 shows us that 64% of people got most of their news from television, an 8% increase from the survey conducted in 1964. Another factor in the power of television was not just the fact that it reached a wide audience, it was also the fact that people were more likely to believe what the television news said over reports in the newspaper or radio, especially if the reports were conflicting in nature. This was due to two factors; the personality who

TV, more commonly known as ‘television’ is one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. In ancient Greek tèle means ‘far', and in Latin visio means sight. From my perspective and many people of the world television has changed the way we live. Television has brought many amazing things, however nothing is perfect.

Between 1960 and today, there have been many milestones in mass media and the way it has been presented to us. In the 1960’s television sets were becoming very popular in many households across America. The first televised presidential debate took place on September 26, 1960. “1963: Polls show more Americans report that they rely on television rather than newspapers as their primary source for news.” (“1963: Polls show…” PBS, n.d.) With the television becoming the new medium for people to gain information, this was a major milestone in how information was gathered and perceived. Also in the 1960’s the first stages of development of the internet began. Early computers were also being produced. This had set the stage for upcoming years in technology that would affect the experience of presidential elections by all.