Television´s Role in People´s Lives

     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

The Television is often the centerpiece of typical American house. TVs are now a representative the American dream. TVs are even used to measure finical wellbeing. Huge flat screen TVs symbolize success, while smaller TVs represent modesty. People crowd around the TV to watch the big game, to catch up on the news and keep up with pop culture. Is there something wrong with this so-called wonder device known as the Television? Marie Winn, author of book Unplugging the plug-in drug, argues this point in the chapter “The Trouble with Television” claiming that the television negatively affects families and specifically children. Marie Winn is an author and journalist who is known for her write ups on wildlife and television. The book was published in 1987 and describes eight ways in which the television is damaging. Winn makes it a point not to argue against the content of television, but rather how the television effects family relationships and is a detriment to children’s development. While I agree with some of Winn’s, overall, I disagree with her assessment of television. The points that Winn made that I disagree with include, TV allows kids to grow up less civilized, TV keeps family from doing other things, TV makes children less resourceful, TV has a negative effect on children’s school achievement and TV has a negative effect on children’s physical fitness.

People in today's society live a daily life that a basic person could map out. They go to work, come home and make dinner, and sit down and watch some television. For kids it would be to come home from school, and watch television. Television has become a major power in our culture. It is our way to watch the news, hear the weather forecast, and to sit down and relax watching our favorite show or movie. But is the television really that good for our society?

Jacoby stated in his article “Silent that Idiot box” that letting your children watch too much television can ruin them in the long run. Television has the ability to lead children to violence and destroy their innocence. Television can be pleasing to the eye. According to Jacoby children don’t become educated from watching TV. The more TV they watch, the less educated they usually end up. I agree with him because when I use to watch television I would feel extremely sluggish and not want to do anything else. Watching television can have some effects towards your overall health. It also can lead to bad habits and prevents you from having a better outlook on life around you.

Can T.V. shows be the reflection of our society or influence the behavior of the members of our community? Since 1936 when television broadcasting begin, it priority was to inform and to entertain our society; subsequently, a massive amount of rules and regulations were created to control the material presented in TV, which principal goal was to safeguard the moral and ethical standards of it time. Nevertheless, from its beginning to the present home entertainment television standards contents have change; likewise, the moral an ethics values of our society have change and continuing changing from generation to generation. TV shows from the 50’s, 80’s, and the present exposed many changes in the way human role are exposed, the language

Therefore, what we mostly see on the screen is what the sponsors promote, which are usually mechanisms to keep society stable. This exactly what American media was doing from the muckrakers of the 20's to the war in Kosovo in the 90's. Let us now look at some examples of the use of TV as a mean of control over society. Before January 1991, public opinion polls showed that the American public was split into two groups, 50% each, about whether the U.S. should attack Iraq or not. Historians say however, if any anti-war voices had been heard in the mass media at this time, the outcome could have been completely different. The second example turns out to be a tragic one, when we talk about the freedom of speech. After the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the pictures of the irradiated Japanese were not made available to the American public until the 1980's. In both cases we see the control of society through TV, by those who control it, and directing society toward a certain destination, which is found to be the "way forward for the humanity", and keeping the system together by creating a popular culture based on consumerism; turns out to be a modern way of practicing authority in our lives.

I chose the first episode of the very popular television program The Event. I viewed the first episode on Netflix, October 20, 2011. This program originally aired on NBC, September 10, 2010, and is titled “I Haven’t Told You Everything”. This program has a total of twenty two series to date and is classified as an action-adventure drama. After viewing a picture of the main characters with the synopsis of this program, I noticed immediately that this was a male dominated show. The picture shows seven people standing together and merely two of the seven are female. The premise of the story is about a man searching for his missing fiancé. The story line was a prime example of the gender male

Over the last forty to fifty years, television has been a major topic of discussion. Specifically, many debate societal benefits to television watching. One widely accepted opinion is that watching TV makes people dumber. People have referred to it with terms like the “idiot box” and do not feel that watching TV has any benefit at all. They feel that it is a waste of time and people need to spend their hours more wisely. Others are of the opinion that TV is actually has societal benefits. From this perspective, they claim that the development of the structure of the programs now requires one to intellectually participate in watching television. Essentially, the argument is whether TV is a beneficial societal force or is it simply a

A major research concern for behavioral psychologists and sociologists today circles an integral part of the American family routine and life. Something that has become so inset into homes that it would be rare to find one without it. Research has shown a hidden danger lurking in our homes, and the origin may surprise you. Television has been around since the early 1950’s but behaviorists have just recently begun to start studying the effects these machines may have on children, social interaction and families. Research has begun to show negative consequences of television on children’s development and socialization proving that it does reduce and affect social interaction.

A single day consists of 24 hours. Did you know that each young adult spends an estimate of 3 hours per day watching television (“Television & Adolescents”)? Now if that were rounded up to about 24 hours, or one full day of the week, the amount spent simply doing so can sound a lot more time consuming. As small or normal as the amount of three hours of television per day might sound to most of you fellow teenagers, you may not realize just what kind of impact this has on your daily life. From your health, social life, to even your personal outlook and attitude, neglecting a healthy balance of television can affect all of these major aspects of your life in many ways. Think about sitting in front of a screen for 21 hours, indulging in the sole entertainment of watching television. As strange as it seems, this is actually what the majority of students have been found to be doing with their time. But the amount of time being occupied isn’t the only issue to worry about, you must also consider the physical effects it may have. For instance, given the average viewing time, this could very much cause a harsh strain on your eyes by forcing them to focus on a digital screen for a long period of time. As well as your eyes, another component to observe is the overall effect on the outer body, including poor posture or possibly lack of energy or strength. These are just a few which can result from remaining in a certain position for a constant amount of time, all the while reducing

Media plays a big role in society these days. Whether it be letting society know what is going on the in the world today or something as simple as updates on current life on social media. The media's role in society not only delivers information of the world but also brings people together through common interests or general talks. In Brian Knappenberger's documentary: Nobody Speak: Trials of Free Press it is seen how media effect lives and how there is a much stronger meaning to what media stands for in society and why media needs to take its stand when it comes to people who want to devour them.

What do we really mean by television? The way we watch television has drastically changed over the last fifteen years due to new technologies such as digital television and services providing on-demand access. These drastic changes have had a huge effect on viewers and have “allowed online streaming platforms to dominate and revolutionize the way the audience consumes” (Aliloupour) media, ultimately allowing the viewer to be in total control of how, when and where they want their content. The idea of only being able to watch television on a television set is now a thing of the past. Due to technology, the audience now has a vast variety of options on how they can access content. By using scholarly articles, research in new media and Internet sites I will be analyzing current television and where the future of television will be heading.

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

With the world facing an increased speed in the spread of information through advanced technological gadgets, a number of population across the world gain access to high speed internet coverage, increased radio frequencies, and digital television coverage. Given the relatively cheap but wide coverage and in depth analysis of news and other programs, uses of television continue to rise. High numbers of populations enjoy wide television coverage at low cost. Due to this reason, the prevalence of television as a news and lifestyle programmer in the society continues to rise. Increasing the society’s access to television services is an important factor in developing educational, inspirational, and social programs for the growth of the society. However, despite these important components of television in the society, it presents negative impacts. Frequency and time spent on television, especially for the young children does not only define the children’s lifestyles, but also has a bearing on the development and growth of such children. Such factors responsible for shaping children’s culture and growth include time spent on following television, the nature of the programs, and the company of the children during such viewership. This paper explores the effects of television and its programs on the growth and development of children. Similarly, the paper develops control measures for ensuring the children enjoys watching television without compromising their lifestyle, social

Television, a telecommunication medium some may not survive without. Today’s generation may refer to television as a technological norm; delusional of a world where television was non-existent. Notably, television unites the nation through local or world events, politics, education, and entertainment. Philo Farnsworth, “Father of Television,” invented the television; the electronic transmission of fixed or mobile images. Furthermore, Farnsworth’s invention influenced a new form of media. Young Farnsworth’s scientific, technological imagination as well as, competitive battle with a major-league corporation, RCA, enticed the growth of one of the most popular media mediums; television.