Exploring the cultural impact of the evolution of television

It is impeccable that the television is currently the most relied upon media platform. This is because; advertisers and potential customers alike deem television as the most powerful media platform. The reasons as to why television is relevant in modern society emanates from an array of perspectives. First and foremost, the television set since time immemorial has been affordable to a wide range of consumers. This implies that the television series developers try to inculcate the revenue disparities while developing the electronic device. The history of the television set dates back to 1920’s when it was first commercially available. Since then, this device has become a common occurrence in homes, institutions and entertainment joints (Carroll 2006). The television set is mainly used for acquiring entertainment or news related information. By the 1950′s, the television was deemed as the primary element channeling public opinion. It is imminent that, with the passage of time, evolution is inherent. The television developers have also gradually evolved not only designing more complex devices but have over time created additional functions. For instance, in the early 1970’s, the video recorders that would facilitate broadcasting of recorded material became available. More recently, there was the internet television initiative that enhances television visibility via the internet. Although there are many platforms that have emerged since 1920, the television has stood the test of time being a incredible platform to air information as its impact is current and lasting (Davis 2009). The intention of this paper is to demonstrate the cultural impact emanating from the evolution of the television.

Television reflections on national culture

The television has an array of inalienable impacts on cultural formation of a society setting. This is because; culture of people is derived from their routine. The television and the entire media fraternity not only serve as an information source but have been inculcated to the majority of viewers in the modern day and age. There are various direct impacts on the modern society that emanate from television. First, the societal culture has transformed eminently due to heavy reliance on television. This implies that the modern society has changed massively as a result of relying on television for informative news coverage. This in itself forms a new culture that was not present in the formative years. In addition, many rely on television to relieve tension and enhancing societal cohesion. Through programs that reflect cultural togetherness, people in one community are able to survive and prosper peacefully into the future. Additionally, the television has resonated to the growth and development of diverse individuals in the modern society through promoting local talent. For instance, in Hong Kong, many television programs typically the drama department depict local artists airing programs in the mainframe shows. This indicates that, with the growth of television comes employment to quell the ever hiking unemployment rate (Timberg & Erler 2002).

Media gurus opine that there is an emerging global trend all emanating from societal reliance on television. Theorists after undertaking preliminary research also affirm the sentiments by indicating that, decoration, dressing, fashion, music and food are the main doctrines under revolution. For example, a few decades back, pop music was unheard off to many in society. Currently, pop music is among the common genres of music in the modern society. It is noteworthy that, television uses audio visual technology hence has a lasting effect on the viewers. In addition to this ability, distinctive techniques are used by moguls in the industry to entice the masses on a genre of music. Cultural influence is noticeable as the pop culture has been the livelihood of many people in the society today. It is quite distinct and inalienable to admit that, people are changing their lifestyles drastically relying on what they see. The television can articulate or rely international fashion or food habits of society’s miles apart. This influences how people tackle their normal endeavors (Lacan & Copjec 2006). For instance, food dishes previously pre-dominant in the United States of America are now available in Asia. This indicates that there is an exceptionally reliable medium of disseminating information across the continents. Although the internet has been termed as the most effective means to transmit information, it is worth noting that the internet has inherent limitations for instance price and availability all which are not prevalent when dealing with television sets. This benefit has facilitated the growth and popularity of the television as an information dispatcher in modern society. Various communities use television to strengthen their social ties. This is achieved by formulating programs that relate to the majority of the viewers. Television based producers aim at depicting what rational individuals in a society go through seeking to alleviate the norms at a societal level. For instance, if a particular societal setting is highly regarded as risky, the broadcast will delineate the same but try to provide a solution to minimize reoccurrence. The motive behind this technique is that people like things that they can easily relate to and hence the local programs enhance the attainment of this goal. In addition, this assists the growth of local talent in the media industry that is currently among the well paying industries in the world today (Haerens 2011).

It is imperative to note that the cultural diversity or incident that emanates from television has not always been supportive. Critics argue that television airs both positive and negative content and lack of systematic regulations by the relevant authorities has resulted in societal moral decay. It is unchallengeable that television has genuinely enhanced cultural change in recent times. It is also notable that some of the information relayed through the television informs of adverts or programs do not ogre well with children during their formative years. Even though, society has a dismal urge to develop culturally and connect cohesively in the international perspective, it is imperative to ensure that, clear and distinct regulations are in place to negate moral decay in the upcoming generations. The other limitation emanating from reliance on television as a source of cultural dynamism is the fact that, inculcating new modes of doing things on people resonates to forgetting the local traditional and cultures. It is essential to create awareness in society to mitigate erosion of the local traditions as they signify the local heritage and customs of different societies (Fiske 2005).

Television impact on the social level

Television directly affects social relations and interactions. These are the relations that bind people and define how people interact on a one on one basis.  Through keenly following the programs documented in a given country or a frequency demarcated region, one can easily deduce the cultural structure. This is because; the television clearly depicts the interactions dominating sub culture relations. For instance, the fusion of local and international cultures will clearly illumine just from watching the programs aired in the television. This pattern inherently governs societal relationships. Relationships in society breakdown to the family level and hence the magnitude emanating from the television is unique. This is because; the television can combat the signals that come from alien structures (Television servicing, 2009). One of the major impacts that television has attained as far as family relations are concerned is invading the social structure. This implies that television has made people captives in their own homes. For instance, people nowadays spend more time glued to the television screen as opposed to visiting friends or even chatting with parents. In the previous setting, families allocated sufficient time to meaningful deliberations as well sharing pivotal issues that shaped up the lives of people. Nowadays, there is no room for wise counsel from the parents or question time from children. The only thing predominant in most families is a lineup for programs allocating time to each family member. Family relations are hence darned cold and passive. In light of these sentiments, it is obvious that this tendency will illumine detrimental repurcations on salient societies. For instance, suicidal cases are on the increase in the modern day and age. There might be multiple reasons as to why an individual would wish to take their own life, but solitude is among them. Before the television took the pivotal role in the family setting, people had used to chat and engage in meaningful social contact. Children nowadays allocate their time between video games and watching television. Parents on the hand divide their time between watching television and hurrying to their place of work or attending to home chores. This clearly implies that there is no spare time to interact among the family ties. This is a threatening situation in itself as once family ties are broken; the society at large is essentially doomed. This is the reason as to why parent no longer take charge to correct their children when they go wrong. Everyone is busy either watching television or engaging in daily routine hence negating the fundamental role played by social ties. There is an upsurge in moral decay blamed on television. The correct culprit for this misdemeanor would be the liable parents for negating the duty bestowed to them by the universe as well as the constitution (Television servicing: circuit diagrams, 2007).

The alien social relations in families, as well as societies, today present an anxious as well as enlightened multitude. The relationships indicate that there is week as well as some strong points in the societal setup hence all is not lost for the weakening family relations. On the other hand, it is necessary to ponder the reason behind the viewer for watching television, as well as their perspective. This is because; it defiantly would resonate to frustrations if the televised information is adopted for nefarious designs. On the contrary, all systems have imminent flaws. Thus, if the alien family structures are aired and made all rosy, the exposed viewers would eventually resent their own predicament. The sad part is that this is the current state of affairs in the modern world. This is because; there is a shortfall of having a jolly organized western media. The effect of this is that the western media purports prevalence of a extraordinarily organized societal setup and this is lacking in other television platforms. Other upcoming television platforms expose their weaknesses to their audience in an uncontrolled manner. This practice negates the ability of the society setup to bear or absorb the aggravated opinions. Television anchors mostly in the developing world need to adhere to a code of conduct that will restore the sanctity in the social relations (Winship 2008).

Contemporary television is not comparable to the modern developments. This is because; as time elapses, technological advances have achieved commendable milestones on television advances. These advancements come with attached limitations imposed on modern society. The impact of the modern television in society is impeccable causing both positive and negative effects. It is fundamental that the regulatory authorities impose clear cut guideline seeking to spearhead reforms on the emerging frequencies. These reforms will endeavor to ensure that future television broadcasts are regulated hence negating the prevalent upsurge on moral decay.

Reference list

Carroll, J, 2006, Television. Farmington Hills, MI.: Greenhaven Press.

Davis, F, 2009, The history of the blues. New York: Hyperion.

Fiske, J, 2005, Television culture. London: Methuen.

Haerens, M, 2011, Television. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.

Lacan, J, & Copjec, J, 2006, Television. New York: Norton.

Television servicing. Book 5, 2009, S.l.: U-View.

Television servicing: circuit diagrams, 2007,  Bircotes, Yorkshire: U-View Technical Publishers.

Timberg, B, & Erler, B, 2002, Television talk: a history of the TV talk show. Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press.

Winship, M, 2008, Television. New York: Random House.

Taddeo J.A., Dvorak K., 2010, The Tube Has Spoken: Reality TV and History, KY: The University Press of Kentucky.

The Tube Has Spoken examines the history of reality TV programs, the global presence of such shows, reality programs focusing on history, and the relationship between two types of realities on-screen and off-screen. It successfully shows that to study a reality TV show is to examine not only what society produced and consumed but to study society itself. We tend to assume that the audience plays the role as “a fly on the wall” as they watch a reality TV show. On the other hand, we are often oblivious to the fact that such shows are “social experiment(s)” and reflections of social realities. In other words, televisual reality is not an independent fiction or reality. We know reality shows are fictions in many cases, but what we are often unaware of is that such a fiction is intertwined with reality off the screen.

In addition, the book explores how popular culture shapes modern western values; for example, both An American Family and its British counterpart, The Family, showcase the decline of the nuclear family in response to materialistic pressures and the modern ethos of individualism. This collection highlights how reality TV has altered the preferences and values of audiences in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Also, it analyzes how reality TV programs reflect the tensions between the individual and the community, the transformative power of technology, the creation of the celebrity, and the breakdown of public and private spheres.

The book opens the door to new possibilities in reality television studies. It provides a way to consider the intertextual influence of this genre and the texts themselves as historical documents. Study of reality TV will also help us explore what is perceive as ‘real’ in recent history.

Kottak C.P., 1990, Prime-Time Society: An Anthropological Analysis of Television and Culture, Wadsworth Modern Anthropology Library. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 270 pp. n.p. (paper).

The book details a relative study of the social context of television and cultural effects in the United States and Brazil. The report presented is of a very interesting and ambitious research project done by the author. It focuses on group and individual behavioral pattern, and examines the phenomena of ‘TV conditioned behavior’. The work is presented in three parts, spread across eleven chapters detailing research of the social impact of television of American society, the television industry as a whole, and government censorship with Brazil having a role of more of a secondary source.

The book is seems to be targeted to an audience looking to learn about the impact of television in the Americas. However, the data in this book might be outdated even though it gives a general understanding of the impact of television in general. The research was conducted in the mid-1980s, making it outdated in terms of technology as well as legal constraints to telecommunications. The author also relies heavily on very similar programs (statistical surveys) in making his conclusions, and is fully aware of the limitations that his methods have when applied to behavioral norms because the relationship between statistical surveys and television viewing does not tie to the foundation of the research.

In terms of contributing the overall research, this book gives an in-depth historical view into Brazilian television culture in the mid-1980s which could be useful if we were to cover the South American region in our research. The emphasis on how American and Brazilian present cultural values and status identities is a research type that could be applied to television cultures in other parts of the world as well. This could be applied to more historical research.

Murray, S. & Ouellette, L., 2009, Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture, New York: New York University Press.

Reality TV  acts as a collection of essays on various aspects of the genre; from its form and function, to the implications of the industry’s success, to the impact on cultural studies. The question of ‘real’ and ‘authentic’ in reality TV are questioned – concepts fraught with danger in this current day and age. Reality TV forces their readers to reexamine our ideas surrounding television and entertainment. For example, audiences have to rethink the idea that, in some reality shows, they are exposed to a exploitative environment. Heather Hendershot’s chapter suggests that Project Runway is just a show that allows individual to work endless hours of unpaid work purely in order to be analysed by unsympathetic judges. However, audiences watch the show in order to see the results of their labor, falsely assuming that it promotes the benefits of working work. Yet instead, audience are enforcing what Hendershot claims is a show build on exploitative foundation.

Later on, the book also refers to interactivity which gives the readers several perspective from which to understand the interactive relationship between the audience and a reality that is manipulated to alternately reflect and repel the spectator. Questions are brought up of audience participation, stating a notion that someday audiences will not only feel wanted but needed.

In terms of contributing to the overall research, this book has some interesting ideas to contribute to the  more traditional side of  television studies. It begs the question whether ‘reality’ is even an accurate term to identify this genre. In other words, has reality television redefined the term ‘reality’? And ultimately, how does this new ‘reality’ reflects our real ‘reality’?

AC Gunther, AP Hwa, 1996, International Journal of Public Opinion Research

Summary

This study examines public opinion about television censorship in the island nation of Singapore. More specifically, we tested the third-person effect hypothesis, which suggests that people expect media content to have more negative influence on others than on themselves, and that some support for censorship is based on that perceptual bias. Data for the study came from face-to-face interviews with 506 randomly selected Singaporeans who evaluated ten categories of ‘sensitive’ television content. Results revealed a substantial perceptual bias in all content categories; generally strong opinion favouring censorship of television content; and a significant relationship between these two factors, suggesting that people may support censorship of media in part because of a tendency to overestimate its negative influence.

Critical Evaluation

• Face-to-face interviews and analysis gives an in-depth look into the television climate of Singapore.
• The article is generally one-sided as it pertains to the television censorship in Singapore.

Reflection

This study helps with understanding the censorship issues in Singapore and the overall television viewership climate. This data will be good for our research due to the fact that it gives a perspective on the television climate of South-East Asia.

BS Greenberg, 1984, Life on television

Summary

Primetime television programs were analyzed for the presence of interpersonal predicaments, specifically family conflict and situations involving jealousy, envy, and rivalry. The portrayal of these situations was evaluated according to relevant prosocial and antisocial criteria. Findings suggest that the predicaments are common in television relationships and predominantly are depicted in a prosocial manner across situation comedies, family dramas, and nighttime soaps. Gender differences, however, are prevalent within the televised interaction patterns. In addition, the frequency of these predicaments varies across program type.

Critical Evaluation

This book identifies, documents, and analyses the major dimensions of U.S. prime-time TV content. By examining fictional TV series run in prime-time and on Saturday mornings over three seasons, the author and his research team have put together a fascinating study of American society according to television.

Reflection

This book gives a great insight into contemporary American primetime television which would be good for the overall research in getting in-depth analysis and patterns.

D Gauntlett, A Hill, 2002, TV living: Television, culture and everyday life

Summary

The book is based on the findings from the BFI Audience Tracking Study in which 500 participants completed detailed questionnaire-diaries on their lives, their television viewing, and the relationship between the two over a five year period. Gauntlett and Hill use this extensive data to explore some of the most fundamental questions in media and cultural studies, focusing on issues of gender, identity, the impact of new technologies, and life changes.

Critical Evaluation

• Offers a fascinating insight into the complex relationship between mass media and people’s lives today.
• The book sheds new light on audiences and their responses to issues such as sex and violence on television.

Reflection

The findings in this book can be deemed useful in the overall research due to the in-depth analysis into the impact television has had on issues such as gender and identity. However, this study was only done in the United States and thus could be a problem relating to television cultures in other countries.

Davis, F, 2009, The history of the blues. New York: Hyperion.

Television Culture provides a comprehensive introduction to television studies. Fiske examines both the economic and cultural aspects of television, and investigates it in terms of both theory and text-based criticism. Fiske introduces the main arguments from current British, American, Australian, and French scholarship in a style accessible to the student, providing an integrated study of approaches to the medium.

One of Television Culture’s fortunate contradictions is how its practice generally avoids its more extreme theorising. At the level of praxis Fiske accepts Bakhtin’s questions of whose are the meanings and pleasures of television? Through analyses and audience perspectives he also suggests answers. His chosen terrain ‘of greatest significance’ is the ‘most popular, mainstream, internationally distributed programs’. [p.13]. From there Fiske defends the specific meanings and pleasures people make and take from the application of carnival to Rock ‘n Wrestling, ritual to game shows and the politics of style to Miami Vice.

Fiske points to the high rate of failure as evidence to the contrary. He claims, without source, that twelve ‘out of thirteen records fail to make a profit’, and asserts less precisely that ‘TV series are axed by the dozen’ and ‘expensive films sink rapidly into red figures’ [p.313]. These ‘enormous’ failure rates are then attributed to consumer sovereignty through audience rejection of the majority of meanings and pleasures made for them. This is too large an unargued leap. More specific analyses and figures are required to justify such a hypothesis.

Centrally the author proposes values and in these unlegitimatable times this poses problems. On what grounds are selected sets of texts, ways of reading, discourses and social structures to be preferred to others? And what are the relationships between those of us who set up as privileged preferrers and those whose preferences are to be guided. The so-called ‘problem of the popular’ is actually the problem of the academic. From positions of power within tertiary education cultural studies and Television Culture, albeit more heretically, still underpin strategies with a neo-Marxist paradigm in practical and theoretical difficulties.

Carroll, J, 2006, Television. Farmington Hills, MI.: Greenhaven Press.

Summary

First introduced 35 years ago, the Opposing Viewpoints series has developed and set the standard for current-issue studies. With more than 90 volumes covering nearly every controversial contemporary topic, Opposing Viewpoints is the leading source for libraries and classrooms in need of current-issue materials. Each title explores a specific issue by placing expert opinions in a unique pro/con format. The viewpoints are selected from a wide range of highly respected and often hard-to-find sources and publications.

Critical Evaluation

Since the advent of television, analysts have debated whether TV shows and commercials have an influence on viewers and on society. This anthology explores the role television may play in obesity, aggression, and stereotyping and its effects on viewers’ morals and self-esteem. Also covers how programming should be regulated.

Reflection

Upon further study, I find that this book is useful for the overall research as it allows me to delve deep into the influence of television on its viewers, which is great in studying overall television culture.