Television and Its Imapact on Society

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Television and Its Imapact on Society

Introduction

Vladimir Kosma Zworykin created a rudimentary versionof the television in 1924; however, the first realistically working television was made possible by Philo Taylor Farnsworth in the 1940s. These televisions were exceptionally expensive, consequently only the affluent members of society had access to them. It was only in 1960 beginning with the presidential election that the television became fashionable to the common public. From that moment on, television has had an immense impact on nearly every facet of our social order, from political affairs to child behavior. This paper will observe some of the more remarkable proceedings and issues television has, and is still, concerned with. Ultimately, this essay will conclude with the nature of influence this solitary device has had on our way of life throughout the years.

Vietnam War

Television can, and in many cases does, transform the public attitude of political events, as was illustrated in the Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War, Hollywood began generating films in order to rouse controversy over the war. These films were filled with anti-war propaganda and allusions to World War II, which triggered America?s contempt for American involvement in the Vietnam crisis. Upon seeing this and becoming conscious of the threat Hollywood posed, the government began to use those same strategies against the cinematographers. Government documentaries began to come on the scene to give significance to what was happening in Vietnam.

From that point on, the Vietnam War became a ?television war? because it was said that more citizens were watching the television than the actual war. Journalists began to show ?history through camera lens.? One such journalist is Walter Cronkite. Cronkite visited Vietnam after the Tet Offensive, and publicized his conclusions on national television. His remark that ?the [Vietnam] War can not be won honorably? caused Lyndon B. Johnson to withdraw himself from the Democratic Primary Election.

Vocal oppositions to the war pealed out across the country as a result of the television broadcasts. Rallies, protests and demonstrations began draft-resistance movements. Scenes of cruelty, maimings, bombings, dying Americans, and fleeing refugees flooded American homes everyday. Reporters did everything in their power to...

... middle of paper ...

...al and social decline in America.

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Boyer, Paul S., et. al. The Enduring Vision. Lexington, Massachusetts: D.C. Heath and

Company, 1996.

Cook, Thomas D., et. al. ?The Implicit Assumptions of Television Research: An Analysis

of the 1982 NIMH Report on Television and Behavior?, Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 2, (Summer, 1983)

Grabber, Doris A. ?Press and Television as Opinion Resources in President Campaigns?,Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 40, No. 3, (Autumn, 1976)

Hallin, Daniel C. ?The Media, the War in Vietnam, and Political Support: A Critique of

the Thesis of an Oppositional Media?, The Journal of Politics, Vol. 46, No. 1 (February 1984)

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No. 8, (November, 1958)? Is the Problem with Television or Viewers??, American Enterprise. March, 1999

Rollins, Peter C. ?The Vietnam War: Perceptions Through Literature, Film, and

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