IMPACT OF CONTEMPORARY TELEVISION
I sometimes wonder about the origin of the word “Television”. I should probably Google it. I do understand the ‘vision’ part of it, as I’m quite sure we all do. Who doesn’t like visuals? I know I do. Television has different meanings to different people. Personally, I find it a source of entertainment which used to be unique – the computer, coupled with internet is replacing television, and has already done so for some. The TV industry is HUGE. It employs millions of people in the world. It is a favourite pastime to some people as well as it is a source of diffusing information. I think that even the internet is yet to beat the TV news as networks like BBC and CNN still retain the attention of their audience from around the world. Lets not even count the thousands of reality shows, soaps, and talk shows which dominate TV today.
ASIDE
Highly rated TV shows include:
1. The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah recently taped the last season of her show and says she is moving on to other projects. She does have her own TV network, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). Her show has been the number one Talk show on TV for 25 years.
Oprah Winfrey: Farewell season
Oprah show
2. The VOICE
The Voice judges(In no particular order) Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton.
The VOICE
3. Keeping up with the Kardashian
KUWTK
Kris Kardashian and daughters
4. American Idols
Ryan Seacrest and Idol Judges
Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and the notorious Simon Cowell.
5. Big Brother
I’m not sure exactly why this show was conceived but people do seem to really enjoy watching the housemates. Seems like this show has been around for a while.
Big Brother logo
Big Brother Africa
To top it all, TV IS educative. Aside from the news, a lot can be learnt on TV. TV has an array of educative topics which run from sports, geography, politics, history, public relations and health. It is one of the main tools of globalisation, diffusing different lifestyles and cultures and in so doing, defines (slightly unintentionally) what is acceptable in society and what is rejected. The Television IS a lot of things.
We must admit that TV has a great influence in the world today. It has an impact on the viewers. After playing its initial role of entertaining, informing and educating (and uneducating, in a manner of speaking as the word doesn’t exist), it goes on a secondary and fundamental role: that of defining and shaping our perspective on life. This secondary role encompasses multiple aspects.
– It influences our way of talking. Personally, I pick up more of my vocabulary, slangs and expressions from TV than from books. Who doesn’t? I mean, you all should think about it. I know people with American and British accents who have never actually lived in those places and I strongly doubt that they picked up their accents from language CDs.
– Defines social structures. By social structure I mean rules, norms and activities that define our societies. Social structure is a term used in the social sciences to refer to patterned social arrangements which form the society as a whole, and which determine, to some varying degree, the actions of the individuals socialized into that structure. These rules set standards in society which we ‘have’ to adhere to in order to “fit”. Take a university community for example, particular dressing codes may define who you are, codes not set by the university. Not following these fashion trends could probably mean social Siberia. Not participating in defined social activities could either make a person invisible or stand out- standing out could make one a target for gossip and ‘hating’. TV greatly influences social structures as it illustrates how we should dress, activities we should participate in and what we should reject.
TV is as educative as it is detrimental to certain groups of persons. I have learnt a lot of things while sitting in front of my TV, some of them vital and some of them I can never erase from my memory in as much as I would love to. There Are some things which we cannot un-see.
I don’t have statistics but it’s only logical to assume that Television employs millions of people across the world. I am thinking of journalists, entertainers, camera crew, script writers, actors, actresses, producers and all the other jobs I don’t even know exist.
Information is power, TV is information and power is control. When next u turn on the TV, think about this: How does what I’m watching influence me? Do I choose what defines me or does TV tell me what should define me?
HAIR DEFINITION 