‘The television violence issue has been and continues to be the subject of public concern.’ Violent images are a common sight on American television in films, dramas, cartoons and news programmes. There is a fear that thes

It could be argued that America television controls what people talk about socially. For those who do not own a television it must be a nightmare to attempt to engage in a conversation with the viewing masses. Social conversation on the whole can tend to evolve around the latest soap opera crisis, sporting event or world disaster. An example of this was in the 1980’s when America almost came to a stop in some circles as everyone waited to find out who shot J.R. Ewing in the soap opera Dallas. Streets can be left deserted when the Superbowl or World Series is being televised and the following day office, mall and street conversation is concerned with the teams performance. News bulletins can inform the nation about current events but the problem with the news networks is that ‘the media themselves decide what are newsworthy issues.’ It could be suggested that the American news media might be in a form of isolationism when it comes to world events, unless of course it is a ‘ro!

The question of the impact of television on American society remains a burning one due to the effects that television has had and still has on society. The effects are seen in the influence that television has had on people’s behaviour, in the sanitising of violence whereby violent images have become the norm. The fact that people no longer view television together as a family has led to the generation gap becoming wider and a lessening of mutual understanding between age groups. People’s conversations and discourse can centre on the events happening in the latest soap opera, sporting event or news item. What clothes Americans are wearing, what their homes look like and who they are as individuals can be set by the advertisers via the medium of television. Television can have an influence on people in relation to politics and possibly on the outcome of elections and this influence could lead to America no longer being a democracy. People can be heavily influenced by the images of the beautiful people that they see on television each and every day and this can lead to people feeling inadequate and to them having a low self-esteem. A continuing of stereotyping on television will only contribute to the sexism and racism in American society.

Politicians have used the medium of television in order to promote themselves and to attempt to influence what political party to vote for. It could be argued that people are happy with the status quo and just accept what they hear and see from the medium of television and they either do not care or cannot be bothered to get involved in politics. Conrad Lodziak argues that ‘television viewing promotes political inactivity.’ This attitude could have a wide ranging impact on American society as it may give politicians more power and could lead to America no longer being a true democracy. In the Presidential election in 2000 the medium of television came under close scrutiny. This was due to the major networks first calling Gore as the winner in Fl

Some topics in this essay:
World Series, African Americans, , Conrad Lodziak, George Comstock, University York, Seymour Feshbach, Howard Taft, Tod Gitlin, Richard Nixon, american society, soap opera, medium television, beautiful people, impact television, winner florida, seen television, african americans, influence people, sporting event, people relation politics, people’s perceptions wear, perceptions wear heavily, influence people relation, opera sporting event,