Television today has become a large part of our culture. It is one of the most frequently used items in every household, that has a huge impact on how people think, and act upon those thoughts. Television tends to facilitate various aspects of an individual 's lifestyle, may it be for information, personal identity, integration and social interaction or entertainment. The thirst for knowledge is simple, yet very significant. A distinguished Veteran William Westmoreland, of World War II and the Korean War, addressed the U.S nation, leaving many in great thought, when he stated " Television is the instrument which can paralyze this country".(Willbanks 2003) The media has a significant impact on us all whether we are aware of it or not. However, the cultivation theory attempts to explain this Phenomenon. The Cultivation Theory is a communication social theory which, examines the long-term effects that television has on its viewers. Developed by George Gerbner and Larry Gross of the University of Pennsylvania, it was a Cultural Indicator project, employed to identify and track the 'cultivated ' effects of television on these viewers. The Cultivation Theory would therefore, be critically examined in order to reinforce its value and exhibit how people’s formations of social reality are influenced according to exposure to television. On that account, focus would be placed on understanding the history and concept of the theory, its applicability, and relevance.
The cultivation
The Overuse of Television Kameron G Loyd BYU-Idaho During an average week, how much television does the average child watch? Parents, educators, and concerned citizens alike would be appalled at the answer of 1,480 minutes (BLS American Time Use Survey, A.C. Nielsen Co.). They would also be revolted by the statistic that 54% of four to six year olds would rather spend time watching television instead of spending time with their fathers (BLS American Time Use Survey, A.C. Nielsen Co.). In 1984, Neil Postman saw how devastating television watching was becoming to the culture of America, and gave a speech to the literary community at the 1984 Frankfort Germany Book Fair entitled “Amusing Ourselves to Death” which deals directly with this monolithic issue. Although the speech and subsequent article, published in Et Cetra, were directed at the publishers, writers, illustrators, etc., all those who read this article can also benefit from Postman’s overarching desire to decrease the hours of mind-numbing television watching.
In The Essay “The News” Neil Postman demonstrates the problems with News on TV and the Psychology behind it of why our society continues to watch. Postman displayed many points that becuase television news is must appeal to everyone in a short amount of time; the coverage is often shallow and gives a false impression of the world. Neil Postman describes the time restrictions of (22 mins) because of commercials overtaking the news. This reflects “The News” as we know it to become a big piece of entertainment that has nothing to do with the intellectual information that affects our lives. The lack of in-depth look on News nowadays draws an Appearance vs. Reality that the News isn’t what It should be.
n Barbara Ehrenreich’s The Worst Years of Our Lives, she highlights a significant infection festering in American Culture: television as a main event, or only event in a day. As she says “you never see people watching tv”, and that happens because it truly isn’t entertaining. It substitutes for a life. The television has been pulling people into an allusion of a false reality and a seemingly boring life since its implementation. She essentially illustrates the negative impact television has on todays society.
Peter Weller once stated, “Television is an isolating experience, sadly enough. But as good as it ever gets, it’s still isolating. You sit in your home and visit with no one.” Staring into the television screen, zoned out and mesmerized, our minds are living the life of the characters in the movie or TV show. In today’s society, people obsess over there shows instead of there family, friends, and children.
The main objectives in chapter 9 include the ways media attempt to influence people’s attitudes, beliefs, and/or behavior, ways media technology can be disruptive and have adverse effects on behavior, the positive and negative influences of certain kinds of media, such as advertisements or reality television programs, on self-image. Even though media is a great outlet, media has changed our generation causing effects on self-image and human interactions. Because of its pervasiveness in American culture, the media affects people in both obvious and subtle ways. Modern media comes in many different formats, including newspapers, magazines, television, social media, etc.
Television wasn’t a product that was owned by the public until the 1950s, the essential technology was created earlier in the century. John Logie Baird started constructing a functional television shortly after the World War I in the South Coast of England. In 1924, he finally made progress when he transmitted a flickering image across the space of several feet, then in 1925, he created the first real television picture in grayscale, with the use of a ventriloquist 's dummy and then a human face. The TV was brought into the eyes of many people in 1926, when John Logie Baird presented the device in presence of 50 scientists. John’s main goal was to provide a new source of entertainment which can help bring families together.
Jerry Mander in his book ”Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television” shows how television is creating addiction, giving as exemples a 3-year $5 million study done by NIH, that showed that television can be ”addictive and hypnotic”, and how political figures tried to stop such researches(”The President suppressed the study and commissioned another group to re-do it”). Mander also mentions about Marine Winn’s work, that talks about the effect called ”The Plug-In Drug” created by television, wich is wielding an addictive influence on the very young and it is causing dependency simply by showing ”ever-changing array of sights and sounds coming out of the machine” and ”wild variety of images meeting the eye”. As a result, the media is not just showing addictive programs but it also selects for us what to watch, and by creating dozens of programs they gives people the imprestion that they choose what they are watching, when in fact, the information it is easilty
In The views of The Birmingham School, media culture induces individuals to conform to the established organization of society but it also lends resources that can empower individual against that society. (Kellner, D (1995)) In conclusion, calling attention to mass media, cultural studies relates to how the audience can decode the messages put forward by the media. More specifically in relation to their individual socio and economic background. This in turn can lead to the rejection of the dominant ideology.
The television gives people an important lesson of life and people find the examples of what’s right in TV. This one of many illustrations how the television and films influence humans’
and what’s wrong can be influenced by the type of television show we watch. An example of how powerful the media can be on peoples lives is German propaganda. Through creative film makers and enthusiastic radio personalities they were able to persuade the German men to enlist in
Perspective is a chosen approach that can be used to study any subject in the field of sociology. These perspectives highlight the diverse methods an individual selects to analyze a theme and how they perceive the society in general. Three sociological perspectives include functionalist, conflict and interactionist perspectives (Thompson, Hickey, & Thompson, 2016, p. 2). Throughout this paper, I examine how we analyze the role of television from the functional, conflict, and interactionist approaches. Functionalist perspective on a macro-sociological level places far more emphasis on “the collective life or communal existence than on the individual” (Thompson, Hickey, & Thompson, 2016).
1. Introduction Today television plays a big role in many people’s life, especially for children. It is hard to imagine a world without television. Thanks to the development of technology, television is invented, and considered as a great medium that provokes imagination, encourages education, and entertains the children around the world. Television can also be a beefy influence in developing value systems and shaping behavior (Bee, 1998).
Media are platforms of mass communication that can be categorized as either new of traditional media, with new media being forms of communication that make use of technologies such as the Internet, and traditional media being more conventional forms of media such as newspapers. Media, primarily new media, is getting more popular and influential, especially in today’s day and age since we are exposed to it a lot more than in the past and also since media is more easily accessible now. The media can shape our behaviours, perceptions and opinions, and it is important to know how people are influenced and impacted by it. The media can influence someone’s perception of social reality, or perceptions of beauty or even influence people’s behaviours and habits and therefore, the media does shape who we are. One way that the media can shape who we are is by influencing our perception of social reality.
The theory explains “how individuals use mass communication to gratify their needs” (Burgeon, Hunsaker and Dawson, 1994, cited in Udende and Azeez, 2010, p. 34). The theory holds that “people influence the effects that mass media have on them” (Anaeto et al, 2008 cited in Edegoh, Asemah and Nwammuo, 2013, p. 23). The assumption of the theory is that people are not just passive receivers of media messages; rather, they actively influence the message effects. Media audience selectively choose, attend to, perceive and retain media offerings on the basis of their needs, beliefs, etc., thus, “there are as many reasons for using the media as there are media users”
Sandra Assouad Ahmed Sokkary Farida El Hagin Omar El Battat Television and how it affects our society Television is one of the most important miracles of science. It is a telecommunication medium that is used for transmitting and receiving moving images and sound. Televisions can transmit images that are monochrome, in color, or in three dimensions. Whether good or bad, television has found its way into the lives of people all over the world and it 's an important part of life for many.