‘Cause We’re Livin’ in a Digital World
When Philo Fansworth invented the television his intention was not to create a system that people spend most their lives watching. What originally started out as an entertainment source has now begun to take over the daily routines of people worldwide. Today’s culture has become a byproduct of what is seen on TV. Whether or not these values that are manufactured by TV production companies are wholesome or not is up to the viewer. While parental control is available, what is seen on TV tends to become a part of everyday life. Granted television provides a new wave of story telling, the system itself has begun to spiral out of control. Mainstreaming has become an integral part of today’s culture, in turn proving true what George Gerbner spent years researching: cultivation theory.
In Cultivation Analysis: An Overview, by George Gerbner, argues that when people watch television over a long period of time much of what they watch they internalize and create reality. In this reality, much of the core values and beliefs are shaped by the television reality. In a sense, the real world for those who heavily watch television is drafted from what they watch. Gerbner furthers this by suggesting that society has formed a multitude of beliefs and values based off what broadcasters and advertisers make money off of. In his research Gerbner considers the amount of time people spend watching television. If for example a person spends little to no time watching television, then their values, beliefs and attitudes derive from other sources. On the other hand, those who constantly watch television are highly exposed to the values, beliefs, and attitudes that are portrayed on TV; thus the same ideas shown on T...
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... the television world. Sometimes reality can be morphed by what is seen on TV. Understanding cultivation theory and its implications can definitely propel the media literacy of the world.
Whether Philo Fansworth intended television to be an entertainment source or a source for constructing moral values one thing is for sure. The invention of television offers a plethora of possibilities for society. What is important to remember is that with any advancement in media convergence there will always be negatives lurking around the corner. The best way to go about these drawbacks is to learn from them. Understanding what new media technology has to offer can shape the way consumers utilize these products. Thus is it very important to continue to conduct studies that reveal flaws in certain products; without these there would be no way to teach consumers media literacy.
In an article ' The Plug-In Drug ' the author Marie Winn discusses the bad influence of television on today's society. Television is a ' drug ' that interfere with family ritual, destroys human relationships and undermines the family.
With nearly global use of the television; it has become a preferred method with which to influence and regulate people’s thinking, creating an unreal and idealistic, hypothetical reality which people strive to emulate. This is accomplished through shows and movies; the majority of which emphasize a perfect world, entirely free of corruption and poverty; where everyone is physically attractive, emotionally stable, and economically wealthy; a distorted reflection of our own world. This leads real people to attempt to create this imaginary world, only to fail; thus generating in themselves a sense of unworthiness, which in turn prompts them to try harder, to stop being individuals and become uniform.
Morgan, M., Sinorielli, N., (1990) Television and the Family: The Cultivation Perspective (pp. 333-347) Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.
In Neil Postman’s book “Amusing Ourselves to Death” we take an in depth look at how different forms of media and technology have transformed our world and our society. He more specifically wanted to point out the dangers and issues that our society faces because of our fixation on television. I think that Posman’s fears should be acknowledged and taken into consideration because television impacts us a lot more than we would like to admit.
Marie Winn, in her essay “Television: The Plug-In Drug,” argues the negative influences of television that affects individuals and families (438-46).
When the first television was first successfully shown, people thought that this invention brought people to a new age, and that the television was a huge benefit to humanity. Unfortunately, since then the Golden Era of television's moral and standards have fallen drastically. We are far away from the days when Lassie and the town of Mayberry ruled the airways and were the talk of America. What was once intended as a benefit for society has become its detrimental fall, now instead of upholding American society's standards, television is working to corrupt the very society it intended to help.
Studies show that, today television has become an important part of our family households and almost another ‘member of the family’ (Gunter & Svennevig 4). Television has become the common symbolic environment that interacts with most of the things we think and do (Silverstone 148). However all the viewers of television have their own interests as different audiences have different needs. While television is a central dimension of our everyday lives and, its meaning and interpretations vary according to our individual circumstances (Silverstone 1) its addiction is non-productive. According to Silverstone, our inherited institutions like family, household, neighborhoods, community, and nation are more vulnerable to challenges of television and technology (Heath 267). Television has many advantages and disadvantages. However, addiction to television has been the greatest challenges because of its effects to human productivity.
The image that TV gives to the world is not accurate which then is transformed into a generalization. Johnson recognizes that stereotypes have been nurtured by TV, but he pays more attention to the structure that can make a human more intelligent (278-279). He believes that TV’s demand has increased because of its complexity. He thinks that the masses have broken the common thought that says, “[T]he “masses” want dumb” (278). Instead, the demand of TV programming has increased because viewers are thinking more about the structure rather than following trends. He mentions that TV has become more realistic but at the same time more ambiguous. He claims, “[W]hat media have lost in clarity, they have gained in realism” (279). The reality presented in TV is the real world (279). In other words, Johnson believes that the complexity of TV programming has evolved so much that has helped the masses to make connections with the real life. He also claims that the ambiguity which presents negative content is having a positive impact in the society. However, it depends on the person’s thought
Television has long been a part of American culture. From its conception until today there have been people who believe that television is a waste of time and energy and there have been those in the opposite camp who believe that television should be a part of every American life. There is also a middle ground of people who watch television to keep informed on what’s happening in the world as well as entertained by the latest sitcom, or more popularly today, reality show.
Human beings require their pleasures for a daily need be filled, whether it be a guilty one or not, the pleasure is there. In Jennifer Pozner’s Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV we step through where reality TV has taken our guilty pleasure on another level. TV is one of every Americans center of attention at some point during the day or week, which provide us with the visualization of what we watch to become a consumption of our life and views. Jennifer’s aim is intended to have readers look at our social trends with an analytical lens so that people don’t dismiss what they are seeing as meaningless, and her point being not to stop these activities, but to understand what we are seeing and watching on TV.
Television is an invention that has revolutionized the way people think, comprehend and receive information. Although television in today’s world is not the leading media source, however it still remains to be a prime example of media influenced outlet of information. Television over the course of the past few decades has intertwined its way into society’s day to day operation and will remain to influence people’s decisions.
The theory is developed by George Gerbner and Larry Gross. Cultivation theory is derived from several large-bit researches cast as part of an overall research project entitled ‘Cultural Indicant’. The purpose of the Cultural indicators project was to identify and track the cultivated effects of video on viewing audience. They were bothered with the effects of television programming especially violent programming on the attitudes and behaviors of the public. Gerbner claimed that the overall concern about effects of television on public. The theory clearly put forward that cultivation effect occurs only after long term, accumulative view to television. He claimed that because television contains so much violence, people who contribute the most time in front of the TV. He postulates that television is mass medium of communication.24/7 the TV set is a pitch member of the household, with virtually unlimited access to every person in the family. He compared the power of TV to the power of religion, saving that TV was to innovative society what religion once was in earlier times.
Cultivation theory has endured some criticism for failing to initially acknowledge other genre-specific contexts outside of television (Arendt, 2010; Bilandzic & Buzzell, 2008; Good, 2008). According to cultivation theory, stories that disseminate recurrent or similar messages can alter a viewer’s perception about social reality, which is why the Narrative is considered to be one form of genre-specific context where stories are placed into categories where recurrent messages are shared that convey a common theme (Bilandzic & Buzzell, 2008). Therefore, considering porn as narrative content and internet as medium, cultivation theory can hypothesize regular exposure to a core message will overlap regardless of the content being viewed, thus causing the viewer to believe a particular message over time (Bilandzic & Buzzell, 2008). Moreover, the intensity of the narrative experience and the lack of adequate counterarguments heightens the effectiveness of the narrative by altering viewer attitudes and beliefs (Bilandzic & Buzzell, 2008).
The cultivation theory suggests that “the cultivation of attitudes is based on attitudes already present in our society and that the media take those attitudes which are already present and re-present them bundled in a different packaging to their audiences” (Griffin, p.366). The Truman Show is an excellent example of the cultivation theory as it gives us an interesting insight into the effects that the media has on society. It is no secret that the media has altered our way of living. From the fears they can instill from the news we watch, to the clothes we wear, the music we listen to, the sports we watch and even our political opinions are all influenced in some way shape or form by the media.
At just a quarter of a century in governing regulations, listening to complains and making recommendations, while maintaining the standards of the laws of Jamaica as it is concerned with the media. There is one inevitable aspect the Broadcasting Commission has to continuously keep abreast with, and that is change.