essay about the television

Essay on Television for Students and Children

500+ words essay on television.

Television is one of the most popular devices that are used for entertainment all over the world. It has become quite common nowadays and almost every household has one television set at their place. In the beginning, we see how it was referred to as the ‘idiot box.’ This was mostly so because back in those days, it was all about entertainment. It did not have that many informative channels as it does now.

Moreover, with this invention, the craze attracted many people to spend all their time watching TV. People started considering it harmful as it attracted the kids the most. In other words, kids spent most of their time watching television and not studying. However, as times passed, the channels of television changed. More and more channels were broadcasted with different specialties. Thus, it gave us knowledge too along with entertainment.

Benefits of Watching Television

The invention of television gave us various benefits. It was helpful in providing the common man with a cheap mode of entertainment. As they are very affordable, everyone can now own television and get access to entertainment.

In addition, it keeps us updated on the latest happenings of the world. It is now possible to get news from the other corner of the world. Similarly, television also offers educational programs that enhance our knowledge about science and wildlife and more.

Moreover, television also motivates individuals to develop skills. They also have various programs showing speeches of motivational speakers. This pushes people to do better. You can also say that television widens the exposure we get. It increases our knowledge about several sports, national events and more.

While television comes with a lot of benefits, it also has a negative side. Television is corrupting the mind of the youth and we will further discuss how.

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How Television is    Harming the Youth

Additionally, it also makes people addict. People get addicted to their TV’s and avoid social interaction. This impacts their social life as they spend their time in their rooms all alone. This addiction also makes them vulnerable and they take their programs too seriously.

The most dangerous of all is the fake information that circulates on news channels and more. Many media channels are now only promoting the propaganda of the governments and misinforming citizens. This makes causes a lot of division within the otherwise peaceful community of our country.

Thus, it is extremely important to keep the TV watching in check. Parents must limit the time of their children watching TV and encouraging them to indulge in outdoor games. As for the parents, we should not believe everything on the TV to be true. We must be the better judge of the situation and act wisely without any influence.

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• Television Essay

The Television

The television is a popular entertainment device. It is very common and is found in almost all households. When the television first started broadcasting, it was known as the "Idiot Box” because at that time, the only purpose of television was to provide entertainment. Now, with the advancement of technology and creativity, television has emerged as an important mass media. There are many learning and informative channels on the TV today which act as the source of knowledge as well as entertainment.

The word "Television" comprises two words: "tele" and "vision". Tele is a prefix of Greek origin, which means far-off, which is used in creating names of instruments for operating over long distances, whereas vision means the act or faculty of seeing. “Television” can be termed as a device with a screen for receiving signals. 

The Perspectives of Television

The television was first invented by a Scottish scientist, John Logie Baird. Originally, it was capable of displaying monochromatic motion images (or videos). With advances in technology now, we have coloured TVs and even smart TVs. Children and adults depend on television for their entertainment. People spend a lot of their leisure time watching television. This may lead one to wonder whether it is really a good practice to spend so much time on the television. There are certain advantages and disadvantages of television beyond doubt.

The Advantages of Watching Television

An Inexpensive Source of Entertainment: Television is now a very cheap mode of entertainment. Televisions are not very costly, and apart from a very minimal service fee, one needs nothing more to be entertained. Televisions are a great entertainment option for people who live alone or cannot go out often. Televisions are cheap enough to be affordable for all.

Provides Knowledge: Television has a number of services, like news channels and so on. These channels and services help us stay up-to-date with the latest news all around the world. Television also offers educational programs, which help us expand the horizon of our knowledge. We get to learn about science, wildlife, history, and so on.

Gives Motivation: There are programs on television which motivate people to develop certain skills. There are programs of motivational speakers which inspire the viewers to push themselves to excel in their line of work.

The Disadvantages of Television

Like every other device, television too has some demerits alongside its advantages. 

Inappropriate Content: Television has barely any measures to prevent segregation of mature and adult audiences from younger audiences. Thus, when a piece of content is aired, it can be viewed by all. As a result, the younger section of the audience is exposed to inappropriate content.

Addiction: Studies have shown that watching a lot of television can get addictive. Television addiction helps lower social activities and promotes inactivity. This makes children more susceptible to mental as well as physical illnesses.

Fake Information: A lot of television content is aimed to spread misinformation for views and ratings. This kind of misinformation can hinder social and communal harmony. The misinformation can also leave a lasting impression on the audience who are of a vulnerable age.

Short Essay on Television in English (200 words)

Television is a great medium of entertainment for people from every age group. It provides enjoyment for the whole family. There are many channels, including news channels, sports channels, and channels of films, cartoons, or songs. Television also contains many programs and shows for kids. Television is a device that entertains the public and informs us about the country and the world.

Television is an amazing invention of science. Watching television makes us fresh, and we forget our worries and fatigue with its magic. Nowadays, the satellite technology and the cable network are far more powerful than ever. A variety of content is available on television and we can watch a channel of our choice. Television also has a great educational value as there are so many channels reserved for educational purposes. Many companies in the world prepare graded programmes.

However, television has a dark side too. Watching too much television can be harmful. Generally, kids are very fond of watching television, but continuously watching television can affect their eyes. Furthermore, it has an adverse effect on their studies. Students will not get enough time to study well if they stay busy watching television, and it makes them less imaginative. In spite of its dark side, television has become a vital means of transmitting both education and entertainment. 

10 lines on a Television Essay in English

Television is an effective medium for communication. 

Television is a vast medium of entertainment, information, and education of the modern age.

Television was invented in 1925 by John Logie Baird.

Television enables children to learn moral lessons in a fun way with special channels and programs meant for children.

The television shows, live matches, movies, music, cartoons, etc. are sources of our entertainment.

Television is considered an amazing invention of science.

We can enjoy a cinema, a football or cricket match, news, serials, and many other programs.

It is called Doordarshan in Hindi because it gives the vision of distant objects.

Television is also used to teach children in school

We can watch and hear the news of the world through television.

Whether television is good or bad for the viewers can be a long debate. However, one must always bear in mind that a device is not good or bad, it is merely a device. How one uses that device is what determines its effect. If we judicially use the television and control our television viewing time, we can get the benefits while avoiding the shortcomings.

FAQs on Television Essay

1. What is the importance of television?

Television has helped immensely in broadcasting a lot of information since its inception. Television is a great medium for people, which is used as a means of delivering entertainment, advertising products, and services, right in the comfort of the home. Television is also helpful in delivering news swiftly across the people and many programs are designed to serve as education and a source of knowledge, which is designed for all the age groups. Recently, most households have a television set and many of them have more than one television.

2. What is the history of television?

Television comprises both hearing and watching. Things can be seen from a great distance by means of the television. Television enables us to watch the live images of a person dancing, singing, or talking at a great distance. The television was invented by a scientist named Baird in 1925. Since its invention, television has gone through a lot of development and improvements. Initially, the sound and picture were not clear, and even images were mono-colored. But today, televisions have crystal clear sounds and images in actual color.

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You Are What You Watch? The Social Effects of TV

There’s new evidence that viewing habits can affect your thinking, political preferences, even cognitive ability.

By Jonathan Rothwell

Other than sleeping and working, Americans are more likely to watch television than engage in any other activity .

A wave of new social science research shows that the quality of shows can influence us in important ways, shaping our thinking and political preferences, even affecting our cognitive ability.

In this so-called golden age of television , some critics have pointed out that the best of the form is equivalent to the most enriching novels. And high-quality programming for children can be educational. But the latest evidence also suggests there can be negative consequences to our abundant watching, particularly when the shows are mostly entertainment.

The harm seems to come not so much from the content itself but from the fact that it replaces more enlightening ways of spending time.

‘Sesame Street’ as a social experiment

Cognitive ability is a complex characteristic that emerges from interactions between biological dispositions, nutrition and health, parenting behaviors, formal and informal educational opportunities, and culture.

Studying the connection between intelligence and television consumption is far from straightforward, but researchers have developed compelling ways to isolate the effects of television.

Some of the best research has been done on the television program “Sesame Street.” The show, which began in 1969, was meant to develop early literacy, numeracy and emotional skills for children of preschool age. A detailed analysis of the show’s content in its first and second years reveals that 80 percent of the program was dedicated to those goals, with the rest meant to entertain.

Researchers randomly assigned groups of low-income children age 3 to 5 into an experimental group and a control group. In the experimental group, parents were given access to the show if they lacked it and encouraged in person once a month to have their children watch the show.

[The topics new parents are talking about. Evidence-based guidance. Personal stories that matter. Sign up for the NYT Parenting newsletter for the info you need.]

Almost all (93 percent) parents of children in the experimental group reported that their children subsequently watched the show, compared with roughly one-third of children in the control group (35 percent). Among watchers, those in the experimental group also watched more frequently.

Over six months, from November 1970 to May 1971, the experimental group gained 5.4 I.Q. points — a large effect — relative to the control group and showed stronger evidence of learning along several other dimensions. Gains in cognitive performance were especially large for those who viewed the show frequently relative to those who did so rarely or never. A more recent meta-analysis of published research in 15 countries shows that “Sesame Street” has similar effects around the world.

In newly published research , the economists Melissa Kearney and Phillip Levine examined longer-term effects of “Sesame Street” by comparing the educational outcomes of children and young adults in counties more or less likely to have access to the program during its early years. They found that children living in counties with better “Sesame Street” coverage were less likely to be held behind a grade level.

Other experimental research is consistent with the original “Sesame Street” findings. Low-income prekindergarten children scored higher on a social competence index six months after being randomly assigned to an experimental group, in which their parents were encouraged to replace age-inappropriate television with educational television.

Less reading and more watching

In Norway, and a handful of other developed countries, average I.Q. scores have declined slightly in recent years, after rising for many decades. This is known as the negative Flynn effect, a variation of the more famous Flynn effect , which is named after the psychologist who first published comprehensive evidence of I.Q. gains over time. Among native Norwegian men taking an exam at age 18 for military conscription, those born in 1974 scored two I.Q. points higher than those born in 1987.

In an academic article published this year, the Norwegian economist Oystein Hernaes and his co-authors attributed some of this decline in I.Q. scores to access to cable television, which also coincided with a sharp decline in reading. After the introduction of cable in 1981, Norwegian teenagers and young adults drastically cut back on daily time spent reading from 1980 to 2000, and increased their time watching TV. Moreover, relative to public television, cable television had far less educational content and was focused on entertainment and advertisements.

To estimate the effect of cable television on I.Q. scores, the Norwegian scholars analyzed data on the introduction of cable network infrastructure by municipality. They calculated years of exposure to cable by considering the age of eventual test takers when cable became available in their municipality. They controlled for any potential geographic bias by comparing siblings with greater or less exposure to cable television based on their age when cable infrastructure was put in.

They estimate that 10 years of exposure to cable television lowered I.Q. scores by 1.8 points. In related research , Mr. Hernaes finds that exposure to cable television reduced voter turnout in local elections.

Berlusconi television

A similar study was conducted by the Italian economist Ruben Durante and his co-authors and released in this month’s issue of the American Economic Review. They examined the introduction of Silvio Berlusconi’s television network, Mediaset, which specialized in light entertainment such as game shows featuring scantily clad women.

The economists document that Mediaset devoted almost no programming to educational content and did not offer news in early years, whereas its main competitor — the state-owned channel — devoted the majority of its airtime to news or educational material.

To study the effects of Mediaset, Mr. Durante and his co-authors obtained data on the location of Mediaset transmitters in 1985 and calculated the strength of the broadcasting signal in every Italian municipality based on the position of the transmitters and other technical features of the municipality.

They found that children raised in areas with greater access to Mediaset (a standard deviation in signal strength) had lower cognitive scores as adults by the equivalent of 3 to 4 I.Q. points.

People more exposed to Mediaset as children were also less likely to be civically engaged adults and more likely to vote for parties with populist tendencies like Forza Italia and the Five Star Movement.

A handful of American studies along these lines have focused on the political consequences that news media coverage can have, showing that exposure to Fox News could increase Republican Party vote shares significantly, and that exposure to MSNBC increased Democratic Party voting share (but with a much weaker effect).

Art and public health

We know that education increases cognitive ability, so it stands to reason that educational television would also have a positive effect.

Concerns about culture are hardly novel: Plato made a case for regulating the quality of artistic productions to avoid the corruption of youth and weakening of their character. Twenty-three centuries later, it is easier than ever to placate children as well as lose yourself in entertainment options — in the ocean of online videos, podcasts, cable, and streaming shows and movies.

These options are most likely harmless. Some provide relaxation, and others may modestly reshape cultural attitudes for the better; one study found that the introduction of cable TV empowered women in India. High-quality shows and films can be inspiring, even edifying.

Still, media providers and advertisers compete aggressively for our attention. Most lack the altruistic motivations that guided the producers of the original “Sesame Street.” The evidence from social science suggests that biased or sensationalist news programs may misinform citizens or discourage civic engagement, and that we should also be cautious about what we give up for the sake of entertainment.

Jonathan Rothwell is the Principal Economist at Gallup, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a visiting scholar at the George Washington University Institute of Public Policy. He is the author of a book, “ A Republic of Equals : A Manifesto for a Just Society,” to be published by Princeton University Press in the fall, on the causes of income inequality. You can follow him on Twitter at @jtrothwell , and listen to his podcast, “ Out of the Echo Chamber .”

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Television Essay

Television is very useful. There are many advantages to the development of television. It was useful in giving the average person access to a low-cost kind of entertainment. Now that televisions are so inexpensive, everybody can buy one and have access to entertainment. Additionally, it keeps us informed on the most recent world events. Here are a few sample essays on ‘television’.

100 Words Essay on Television

Television is one of the most recent scientific wonders which connects people to the world. Television works well as a communication and entertainment medium. We may watch live broadcasts of significant sporting events, political news and other events taking place throughout the world. This gives us a direct understanding of things, places, and events that are far away. Thus, television has brought the entire globe into the living room. Through watching television we also become knowledgeable.

Television is also another effective tool for widespread teaching. Millions of people can receive educational programmes on health care, family planning, and general knowledge via audio-visual presentation on TV.

200 Words Essay on Television

Television connects the world. In the modern world, nothing is more familiar than television. In 1925, John Baird invented it. It was introduced in India in 1959. It is truly a wonder to behold in science. Television has two functions. On one side is the radio, and on the other is a movie theatre. Radio was listened to in the past but nowadays people go to movie theatres to see movies on the big screen. In many ways, television is a very beneficial tool. It is an effective tool for both instruction and entertainment. Through television people can study and gain knowledge.

Television shows us cinema and live telecast on games and sports. On its screen we have delightful scenery of nature and thrilling sights of animals roaming in the jungles and in the deep waters of the seas. We can enjoy many shows and serials and movies. It is also a mighty medium of advertisement.

People should watch television a minimum of half an hour a day. Sometimes television has a bad effect on children because they sit the whole day in front of television and see their favourite show which is very bad for them. Television is good for professional people and bad for unprofessional people.

500 Words Essay on Television

Television is the best thing to have in house. One of the most widely used technologies for entertainment in the world today is the television. Nowadays, practically every home has a television, and it has become fairly widespread. In the beginning people didn't want to use it but now everyone wants it in their house. This was primarily due to the focus on entertainment during that time. There weren't as many educational channels as there are now. Nowadays what you see on television is because of technology.

After the invention of television, the craze attracted many people to spend all their time watching TV. Parents started considering it harmful as it attracted the kids the most. Because kids spend most of their time watching television and not studying. However, as times passed, the channels of television changed. More and more channels were broadcasted with different specialties. Thus, it gave us knowledge along with entertainment.

Benefits of Watching Television

There are many advantages to the development of television. Television gives the average person access to a low-cost kind of entertainment and knowledge about the world. Now that televisions are not so expensive, everybody can buy one and have access to entertainment.

Television keeps us informed on the most recent world events. News from various parts of the world can now be obtained from television. Similarly, television also provides instructional shows that advance our understanding of science, animals, and other topics.

People are inspired to learn new skills by television as well. Additionally, television has a number of shows that feature presentations from motivational speakers. This show encourages people to improve their skill and lifestyle. You may also argue that television increases our exposure. Television broadens our understanding of many sports, world events, and other topics.

While television comes with a lot of benefits, television also has a negative side.

Disadvantage of Watching Television

We see that television broadcasts unsuitable material that encourages various social evil acts, like violence, eve-teasing, and more. Additionally, watching television for long periods is bad for our health. Our eyesight will deteriorate if we watch television for long periods of time. Our neck and back will also be painful as a result of our bad posture while watching TV.

Television also turns people into addicts. People avoid social connection because of their TV addiction. As a result, kids spend more time alone in their rooms, which has an impact on their social life. They become vulnerable due to their addiction and take their programmes way too seriously.

My Life Experience

When I was kid I used to watch television very much which affected my studies and physical health. After that my mother gave me some valuable tips about health and told me the disadvantages of television. I reduced the hours I spent watching TV and went to play games on the ground. After some time I noticed my health getting better and my mind becoming clearer. Television is good when people watch in their limits. But when people exceed their number of hours, then it will affect their mental health and body health. Television is beneficial because it gives knowledge about all the world and shows low cost entertainment.

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• Construction
• Entertainment
• Manufacturing
• Information Technology

Data Administrator

Database professionals use software to store and organise data such as financial information, and customer shipping records. Individuals who opt for a career as data administrators ensure that data is available for users and secured from unauthorised sales. DB administrators may work in various types of industries. It may involve computer systems design, service firms, insurance companies, banks and hospitals.

Bio Medical Engineer

The field of biomedical engineering opens up a universe of expert chances. An Individual in the biomedical engineering career path work in the field of engineering as well as medicine, in order to find out solutions to common problems of the two fields. The biomedical engineering job opportunities are to collaborate with doctors and researchers to develop medical systems, equipment, or devices that can solve clinical problems. Here we will be discussing jobs after biomedical engineering, how to get a job in biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering scope, and salary. 

Ethical Hacker

A career as ethical hacker involves various challenges and provides lucrative opportunities in the digital era where every giant business and startup owns its cyberspace on the world wide web. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path try to find the vulnerabilities in the cyber system to get its authority. If he or she succeeds in it then he or she gets its illegal authority. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path then steal information or delete the file that could affect the business, functioning, or services of the organization.

GIS officer work on various GIS software to conduct a study and gather spatial and non-spatial information. GIS experts update the GIS data and maintain it. The databases include aerial or satellite imagery, latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates, and manually digitized images of maps. In a career as GIS expert, one is responsible for creating online and mobile maps.

Data Analyst

The invention of the database has given fresh breath to the people involved in the data analytics career path. Analysis refers to splitting up a whole into its individual components for individual analysis. Data analysis is a method through which raw data are processed and transformed into information that would be beneficial for user strategic thinking.

Data are collected and examined to respond to questions, evaluate hypotheses or contradict theories. It is a tool for analyzing, transforming, modeling, and arranging data with useful knowledge, to assist in decision-making and methods, encompassing various strategies, and is used in different fields of business, research, and social science.

Geothermal Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as geothermal engineers are the professionals involved in the processing of geothermal energy. The responsibilities of geothermal engineers may vary depending on the workplace location. Those who work in fields design facilities to process and distribute geothermal energy. They oversee the functioning of machinery used in the field.

Database Architect

If you are intrigued by the programming world and are interested in developing communications networks then a career as database architect may be a good option for you. Data architect roles and responsibilities include building design models for data communication networks. Wide Area Networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), and intranets are included in the database networks. It is expected that database architects will have in-depth knowledge of a company's business to develop a network to fulfil the requirements of the organisation. Stay tuned as we look at the larger picture and give you more information on what is db architecture, why you should pursue database architecture, what to expect from such a degree and what your job opportunities will be after graduation. Here, we will be discussing how to become a data architect. Students can visit NIT Trichy , IIT Kharagpur , JMI New Delhi . 

Remote Sensing Technician

Individuals who opt for a career as a remote sensing technician possess unique personalities. Remote sensing analysts seem to be rational human beings, they are strong, independent, persistent, sincere, realistic and resourceful. Some of them are analytical as well, which means they are intelligent, introspective and inquisitive. 

Remote sensing scientists use remote sensing technology to support scientists in fields such as community planning, flight planning or the management of natural resources. Analysing data collected from aircraft, satellites or ground-based platforms using statistical analysis software, image analysis software or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a significant part of their work. Do you want to learn how to become remote sensing technician? There's no need to be concerned; we've devised a simple remote sensing technician career path for you. Scroll through the pages and read.

Budget Analyst

Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.

Underwriter

An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.

Finance Executive

Product manager.

A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.  

Operations Manager

Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.

Stock Analyst

Individuals who opt for a career as a stock analyst examine the company's investments makes decisions and keep track of financial securities. The nature of such investments will differ from one business to the next. Individuals in the stock analyst career use data mining to forecast a company's profits and revenues, advise clients on whether to buy or sell, participate in seminars, and discussing financial matters with executives and evaluate annual reports.

A Researcher is a professional who is responsible for collecting data and information by reviewing the literature and conducting experiments and surveys. He or she uses various methodological processes to provide accurate data and information that is utilised by academicians and other industry professionals. Here, we will discuss what is a researcher, the researcher's salary, types of researchers.

Welding Engineer

Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues. 

Transportation Planner

A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.

Environmental Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as an environmental engineer are construction professionals who utilise the skills and knowledge of biology, soil science, chemistry and the concept of engineering to design and develop projects that serve as solutions to various environmental problems. 

Safety Manager

A Safety Manager is a professional responsible for employee’s safety at work. He or she plans, implements and oversees the company’s employee safety. A Safety Manager ensures compliance and adherence to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) guidelines.

Conservation Architect

A Conservation Architect is a professional responsible for conserving and restoring buildings or monuments having a historic value. He or she applies techniques to document and stabilise the object’s state without any further damage. A Conservation Architect restores the monuments and heritage buildings to bring them back to their original state.

Structural Engineer

A Structural Engineer designs buildings, bridges, and other related structures. He or she analyzes the structures and makes sure the structures are strong enough to be used by the people. A career as a Structural Engineer requires working in the construction process. It comes under the civil engineering discipline. A Structure Engineer creates structural models with the help of computer-aided design software. 

Highway Engineer

Highway Engineer Job Description:  A Highway Engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in planning and building thousands of miles of roads that support connectivity and allow transportation across the country. He or she ensures that traffic management schemes are effectively planned concerning economic sustainability and successful implementation.

Field Surveyor

Are you searching for a Field Surveyor Job Description? A Field Surveyor is a professional responsible for conducting field surveys for various places or geographical conditions. He or she collects the required data and information as per the instructions given by senior officials. 

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Pathologist

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Veterinary Doctor

Speech therapist, gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth. 

Audiologist

The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.

An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.

Are you searching for an ‘Anatomist job description’? An Anatomist is a research professional who applies the laws of biological science to determine the ability of bodies of various living organisms including animals and humans to regenerate the damaged or destroyed organs. If you want to know what does an anatomist do, then read the entire article, where we will answer all your questions.

For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs. 

Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.

Video Game Designer

Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.

Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.

Radio Jockey

Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.

A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.

Choreographer

The word “choreography" actually comes from Greek words that mean “dance writing." Individuals who opt for a career as a choreographer create and direct original dances, in addition to developing interpretations of existing dances. A Choreographer dances and utilises his or her creativity in other aspects of dance performance. For example, he or she may work with the music director to select music or collaborate with other famous choreographers to enhance such performance elements as lighting, costume and set design.

Social Media Manager

A career as social media manager involves implementing the company’s or brand’s marketing plan across all social media channels. Social media managers help in building or improving a brand’s or a company’s website traffic, build brand awareness, create and implement marketing and brand strategy. Social media managers are key to important social communication as well.

Photographer

Photography is considered both a science and an art, an artistic means of expression in which the camera replaces the pen. In a career as a photographer, an individual is hired to capture the moments of public and private events, such as press conferences or weddings, or may also work inside a studio, where people go to get their picture clicked. Photography is divided into many streams each generating numerous career opportunities in photography. With the boom in advertising, media, and the fashion industry, photography has emerged as a lucrative and thrilling career option for many Indian youths.

An individual who is pursuing a career as a producer is responsible for managing the business aspects of production. They are involved in each aspect of production from its inception to deception. Famous movie producers review the script, recommend changes and visualise the story. 

They are responsible for overseeing the finance involved in the project and distributing the film for broadcasting on various platforms. A career as a producer is quite fulfilling as well as exhaustive in terms of playing different roles in order for a production to be successful. Famous movie producers are responsible for hiring creative and technical personnel on contract basis.

Copy Writer

In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism , Advertising , Marketing Management . Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook. 

In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion. 

Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article. 

For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.

Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.

Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.

Individuals who opt for a career as a reporter may often be at work on national holidays and festivities. He or she pitches various story ideas and covers news stories in risky situations. Students can pursue a BMC (Bachelor of Mass Communication) , B.M.M. (Bachelor of Mass Media) , or  MAJMC (MA in Journalism and Mass Communication) to become a reporter. While we sit at home reporters travel to locations to collect information that carries a news value.  

Corporate Executive

Are you searching for a Corporate Executive job description? A Corporate Executive role comes with administrative duties. He or she provides support to the leadership of the organisation. A Corporate Executive fulfils the business purpose and ensures its financial stability. In this article, we are going to discuss how to become corporate executive.

Multimedia Specialist

A multimedia specialist is a media professional who creates, audio, videos, graphic image files, computer animations for multimedia applications. He or she is responsible for planning, producing, and maintaining websites and applications. 

Quality Controller

A quality controller plays a crucial role in an organisation. He or she is responsible for performing quality checks on manufactured products. He or she identifies the defects in a product and rejects the product. 

A quality controller records detailed information about products with defects and sends it to the supervisor or plant manager to take necessary actions to improve the production process.

Production Manager

A QA Lead is in charge of the QA Team. The role of QA Lead comes with the responsibility of assessing services and products in order to determine that he or she meets the quality standards. He or she develops, implements and manages test plans. 

Process Development Engineer

The Process Development Engineers design, implement, manufacture, mine, and other production systems using technical knowledge and expertise in the industry. They use computer modeling software to test technologies and machinery. An individual who is opting career as Process Development Engineer is responsible for developing cost-effective and efficient processes. They also monitor the production process and ensure it functions smoothly and efficiently.

AWS Solution Architect

An AWS Solution Architect is someone who specializes in developing and implementing cloud computing systems. He or she has a good understanding of the various aspects of cloud computing and can confidently deploy and manage their systems. He or she troubleshoots the issues and evaluates the risk from the third party. 

Azure Administrator

An Azure Administrator is a professional responsible for implementing, monitoring, and maintaining Azure Solutions. He or she manages cloud infrastructure service instances and various cloud servers as well as sets up public and private cloud systems. 

Computer Programmer

Careers in computer programming primarily refer to the systematic act of writing code and moreover include wider computer science areas. The word 'programmer' or 'coder' has entered into practice with the growing number of newly self-taught tech enthusiasts. Computer programming careers involve the use of designs created by software developers and engineers and transforming them into commands that can be implemented by computers. These commands result in regular usage of social media sites, word-processing applications and browsers.

Information Security Manager

Individuals in the information security manager career path involves in overseeing and controlling all aspects of computer security. The IT security manager job description includes planning and carrying out security measures to protect the business data and information from corruption, theft, unauthorised access, and deliberate attack 

ITSM Manager

Automation test engineer.

An Automation Test Engineer job involves executing automated test scripts. He or she identifies the project’s problems and troubleshoots them. The role involves documenting the defect using management tools. He or she works with the application team in order to resolve any issues arising during the testing process. 

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9.2 The Relationship Between Television and Culture

Learning objectives.

• Identify ways in which American culture is reflected on television.
• Identify ways in which television affects the development of American culture.

Since its inception as an integral part of American life in the 1950s, television has both reflected and nurtured cultural mores and values. From the escapist dramas of the 1960s, which consciously avoided controversial issues and glossed over life’s harsher realities in favor of an idealized portrayal, to the copious reality TV shows in recent years, on which participants discuss even the most personal and taboo issues, television has held up a mirror to society. But the relationship between social attitudes and television is reciprocal; broadcasters have often demonstrated their power to influence viewers, either consciously through slanted political commentary, or subtly, by portraying controversial relationships (such as single parenthood, same-sex marriages, or interracial couplings) as socially acceptable. The symbiotic nature of television and culture is exemplified in every broadcast, from family sitcoms to serious news reports.

Cultural Influences on Television

In the 1950s, most television entertainment programs ignored current events and political issues. Instead, the three major networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS) developed prime-time shows that would appeal to a general family audience. Chief among these types of shows was the domestic comedy —a generic family comedy that was identified by its character-based humor and usually set within the home. Seminal examples included popular 1950s shows such as Leave It to Beaver, The Donna Reed Show , and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet . Presenting a standardized version of the White middle-class suburban family, domestic comedies portrayed the conservative values of an idealized American life. Studiously avoiding prevalent social issues such as racial discrimination and civil rights, the shows focused on mostly White middle-class families with traditional nuclear roles (mother in the home, father in the office) and implied that most domestic problems could be solved within a 30-minute time slot, always ending with a strong moral lesson.

Although these shows depicted an idealized version of American family life, many families in the 1950s were traditional nuclear families. Following the widespread poverty, political uncertainty, and physical separation of the war years, many Americans wanted to settle down, have children, and enjoy the peace and security that family life appeared to offer. During the booming postwar era, a period of optimism and prosperity, the traditional nuclear family flourished. However, the families and lifestyles presented in domestic comedies did not encompass the overall American experience by any stretch of the imagination. As historian Stephanie Coontz points out, “the June Cleaver or Donna Stone homemaker role was not available to the more than 40 percent of black women with small children who worked outside the home (Coontz, 1992).” Although nearly 60 percent of the U.S. population was labeled middle class by the mid-1950s, 25 percent of all families and more than 50 percent of two-parent Black families were poor. Migrant workers suffered horrific deprivations, and racial tensions were rife. None of this was reflected in the world of domestic comedies, where even the Hispanic gardener in Father Knows Best was named Frank Smith (Coontz, 1992).

Most domestic comedies in the 1950s portrayed an idealized version of family life and ignored social and political events.

Dennis S. Hurd – The Cleavers – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Not all programs in the 1950s were afraid to tackle controversial social or political issues. In March 1954, journalist Edward R. Murrow broadcast an unflattering portrait of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy on his show See It Now . McCarthy, a member of the Senate Investigation Committee, had launched inquiries regarding potential Communist infiltration in U.S. institutions. Murrow thought that McCarthy’s aggressive tactics were a potential threat to civil liberties. His portrait cast the senator from Wisconsin in an unflattering light by pointing out contradictions in his speeches. This led to such an uproar that McCarthy was formally reprimanded by the U.S. Senate (Friedman, 2008).

Entertainment programs also tackled controversial issues. The long-running television western Gunsmoke , which aired on CBS from 1955 to 1975, flourished in a Cold War society, where U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) stood up to lawlessness in defense of civilization. The characters and community in Gunsmoke faced relevant social issues, including the treatment of minority groups, the meaning of family, the legitimacy of violence, and the strength of religious belief. During the 1960s, the show adapted to the desires of its viewing audience, becoming increasingly aware of and sympathetic to ethnic minorities, in tune with the national mood during the civil rights era. This adaptability helped the show to become the longest-running western in TV history.

Violence and Escapism in the 1960s

During the 1960s, television news broadcasts brought the realities of real-world events into people’s living rooms in vivid detail. The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite , which debuted in 1962, quickly became the country’s most popular newscast, and by the end of the decade, journalist Walter Cronkite was known as the most trusted man in America. Following John F. Kennedy’s election to the presidency at the beginning of the decade, the 1960s took an ominous turn. Shocked viewers tuned into Cronkite’s broadcast on November 22, 1963, to learn about the assassination of their president. During the next few days, viewers followed every aspect of the tragedy on television, from the tremor in Cronkite’s voice as he removed his glasses and announced the news of Kennedy’s death, to the frantic scenes from Dallas police headquarters where the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was gunned down by nightclub owner Jack Ruby, to the thousands of mourners lining up next to the president’s flag-draped coffin.

Television began to play a major role in U.S. politics during the presidency of John. F. Kennedy.

Wikimedia Commons – public domain.

Around the same time as Kennedy’s assassination, horrific images from Vietnam were streaming into people’s living rooms during the nation’s first televised war. With five camera crews on duty in the Saigon bureau, news crews captured vivid details of the war in progress. Although graphic images were rarely shown on network TV, several instances of violence reached the screen, including a CBS report in 1965 that showed Marines lighting the thatched roofs of the village of Cam Ne with Zippo lighters and an NBC news report in 1968 that aired a shot of South Vietnamese General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a captive on a Saigon street. Further images, of children being burned and scarred by napalm and prisoners being tortured, fueled the antiwar sentiments of many Americans. In addition to the devastation caused by the president’s death and the Vietnam War, Americans were also feeling the pressure of the Cold War—the clash between the United States and the Soviet Union in the years following World War II. This pressure was especially great during periods of tension throughout the 1950s and 1960s, such as the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, a confrontation that caused many people to fear nuclear war.

As a result of the intense stress faced by many Americans during the 1960s, broadcasters and viewers turned to escapist programs such as I Dream of Jeannie , a fantasy show about a 2,000-year-old genie who marries an astronaut, and Bewitched , a supernatural-themed show about a witch who tries to live as a suburban housewife. Both shows typified the situation comedy , or sitcom, a comedy genre featuring a recurring cast of characters who resolve zany situations based on their everyday lives. Other popular sitcoms in the 1960s included The Beverly Hillbillies , a show about a poor backwoods family who move to Beverly Hills, California, after finding oil on their land, and Gilligan’s Island , the ultimate escapist comedy about seven characters shipwrecked on an uncharted island. None of the 1960s sitcoms mentioned any of the political unease that was taking place in the outside world, providing audiences with a welcome diversion from real life. Other than an occasional documentary, TV programming in the 1960s consisted of a sharp dichotomy between prime-time escapist comedy and hard news.

Figure 9.10

Escapist sitcoms like I Dream of Jeannie provided Americans with a much-needed diversion from the stressful events of the 1960s.

Diversity and Politics in the 1970s

During the 1970s, broadcasters began to diversify families on their shows to reflect changing social attitudes toward formerly controversial issues such as single parenthood and divorce. Feminist groups including the National Organization for Women (NOW), the National Women’s Political Caucus, and the Coalition of Labor Union Women pushed for equality on issues such as pay and encouraged women to enter the workforce. In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court sanctioned women’s right to abortion, giving them control over their reproductive rights. Divorce rates skyrocketed during the 1970s, as states adopted no-fault divorce laws, and the change in family dynamics was reflected on television. Between 1972 and 1978, CBS aired the socially controversial sitcom Maude . Featuring a middle-aged feminist living with her fourth husband and divorced daughter, the show exploded the dominant values of the White middle-class domestic sitcom and its traditional gender roles. Throughout its 7-year run, Maude tackled social and political issues such as abortion, menopause, birth control, alcoholism, and depression. During its first four seasons, the show was in the top 10 in Nielsen ratings, illustrating the changing tastes of the viewing audience, who had come of age during the era of civil rights and Vietnam protests and developed a taste for socially conscious television. Other 1970s sitcoms took the same approach, including Maude ’s CBS predecessor, All in the Family , which covered issues ranging from racism and homophobia to rape and miscarriage, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show , which reflected changing attitudes toward women’s rights by featuring television’s first never-married independent career woman as the central character. Even wholesome family favorite The Brady Bunch , which ran from 1969 to 1974, featured a non-nuclear family, reflecting the rising rates of blended families in American society.

Figure 9.11

The popularity of controversial shows like Maude reflected the changing cultural and social values of the 1970s.

In addition to changing family dynamics on sitcoms and other prime-time shows, variety and comedy sketch shows developed a political awareness in the 1970s that reflected audiences’ growing appetite for social and political commentary. Sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live ( SNL ) premiered on NBC in 1975 and has remained on air ever since. Featuring a different celebrity guest host every week and relatively unknown comedy regulars, the show parodies contemporary popular culture and politics, lambasting presidential candidates and pop stars alike. Earlier NBC sketch comedy show Laugh-In , which ran from 1968 to 1973, also featured politically charged material, though it lacked the satirical bite of later series such as SNL . By the end of the decade, television broadcasting reflected a far more politically conscious and socially aware viewing audience.

The Influence of Cable Television in the 1980s

Until the mid-1980s, the top three networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS) dominated television broadcasting in the United States. However, as cable services gained popularity following the deregulation of the industry in 1984, viewers found themselves with a multitude of options. Services such as Cable News Network (CNN), Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN), and Music Television (MTV) profoundly altered the television landscape in the world of news, sports, and music. New markets opened up for these innovative program types, as well as for older genres such as the sitcom. During the 1980s, a revival of family sitcoms took place with two enormous hits: The Cosby Show and Family Ties . Both featured a new take on modern family life, with the mothers working outside of the home and the fathers pitching in with housework and parental duties. Despite their success on network television, sitcoms faced stiff competition from cable’s variety of choices. Between 1983 and 1994, weekly broadcast audience shares (a measure of the number of televisions in use that are tuned to a particular show) for network television dropped from 69 to 52, while cable networks’ shares rose from 9 to 26 (Newcomb, 2004).

With a growing number of households subscribing to cable TV, concern began to grow about the levels of violence to which children were becoming exposed. In addition to regularly broadcast network programs, cable offered viewers the chance to watch films and adult-themed shows during all hours, many of which had far more violent content than normal network programming. One study found that by the time an average child leaves elementary school, he or she has witnessed 8,000 murders and more than 100,000 other acts of violence on television (Blakey, 2002). Although no conclusive links have been drawn between witnessing violence on television and carrying out violence in real life, the loosening boundaries regarding sexual and violent content on television is a persistent cause for concern for many parents. For more information on the social effects of violence in the media, please refer to Chapter 2 “Media Effects” .

Specialization in the 1990s and 2000s

Although TV viewership is growing, the vast number of cable channels and other, newer content delivery platforms means that audiences are thinly stretched. In recent years, broadcasters have been narrowing the focus of their programming to meet the needs and interests of an increasingly fragmented audience. Entire cable channels devoted to cooking, music, news, African American interests (see sidebar below), weather, and courtroom drama enable viewers to choose exactly what type of show they want to watch, and many news channels are further specialized according to viewers’ political opinions. This trend toward specialization reflects a more general shift within society, as companies cater increasingly to smaller, more targeted consumer bases. Business magazine editor Chris Anderson explains, “We’re leaving the watercooler era, when most of us listened, watched and read from the same relatively small pool of mostly hit content. And we’re entering the microculture era, when we are all into different things (Gunther, 2006).” Just as cable broadcasters are catering to niche markets, Internet-based companies such as Amazon.com and Netflix are taking advantage of this concept by selling large numbers of books, DVDs, and music albums with narrow appeal. Section 9.3 “Issues and Trends in the Television Industry” and Section 9.4 “Influence of New Technologies” of this chapter will cover the recent trends and issues of this era in television.

Black Entertainment Television (BET)

Launched in 1980, Black Entertainment Television (BET) was the first television network in the United States dedicated to the interests of African American viewers. The basic-cable franchise was created in Washington, DC, by media entrepreneur Robert Johnson, who initially invested $15,000 in the venture. Within a decade, he had turned the company into a multimillion-dollar enterprise, and in 1991 it became the first Black-controlled company on the New York Stock Exchange. The company was sold to Viacom in 2003 for $3 billion.

Pre-dating MTV by a year, BET initially focused on Black-oriented music videos but soon diversified into original urban-oriented programs and public affairs shows. Although BET compensated somewhat for the underrepresentation of Blacks on television (African Americans made up 8 percent of the prime-time characters on television in 1980 but made up 12 percent of the population), viewers complained about the portrayal of stereotypical images and inappropriate violent or sexual behavior in many of the rap videos shown by the network. In a 2004 interview with BET vice president of communications Michael Lewellen, former BET talk show host Bev Smith said, “We had videos on BET in those days that were graphic but didn’t proliferate as they seem to be doing now. That’s all you do seem to see are scantily dressed women who a lot of African American women are upset about in those videos (Fox News, 2004).” Despite the criticisms, BET remained the No. 1 cable network among Blacks 18 to 34 in 2010 and retained an average audience of 524,000 total viewers during the first quarter of the year (Forbes, 2010).

Television’s Influence on Culture

Despite entering a microculture era with a variety of niche markets, television remains the most important unifying cultural presence in the United States. During times of national crises, television news broadcasts have galvanized the country by providing real-time coverage of major events. When terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center towers in 2001, 24-hour TV news crews provided stunned viewers around the world with continuous updates about the attack and its aftermath. Meanwhile, network blockbusters such as Lost and 24 have united viewers in shared anticipation, launching numerous blogs, fan sites, and speculative workplace discussions about characters’ fates.

Televised coverage of the news has had several cultural effects since the 1950s. Providing viewers with footage of the most intense human experiences, televised news has been able to reach people in a way that radio and newspapers cannot. The images themselves have played an important role in influencing viewer opinion. During the coverage of the civil rights movement, for example, footage of a 1963 attack on civil rights protesters in Birmingham, Alabama, showed police blasting African American demonstrators—many of them children—with fire hoses. Coupled with images of angry White segregationist mobs squaring off against Black students, the news footage did much to sway public opinion in favor of liberal legislation such as the 1964 Voting Rights Act. Conversely, when volatile pictures of the race riots in Detroit and other cities in the late 1960s hit the airwaves, horrified viewers saw the need for a return to law and order. The footage helped create an anti-civil-rights backlash that encouraged many viewers to vote for conservative Republican Richard Nixon during the 1968 presidential election.

During the past few decades, mass-media news coverage has gone beyond swaying public opinion through mere imagery. Trusted centrist voices such as that of Walter Cronkite, who was known for his impartial reporting of some of the biggest news stories in the 1960s, have been replaced by highly politicized news coverage on cable channels such as conservative Fox News and liberal MSNBC. As broadcasters narrow their focus to cater to more specialized audiences, viewers choose to watch the networks that suit their political bias. Middle-of-the-road network CNN, which aims for nonpartisanship, frequently loses out in the ratings wars against Fox and MSNBC, both of which have fierce groups of supporters. As one reporter put it, “A small partisan base is enough for big ratings; the mildly interested middle might rather watch Grey’s Anatomy (Poniewozik, 2010).” Critics argue that partisan news networks cause viewers to have less understanding of opposing political opinions, making them more polarized.

Table 9.1 Partisan Profile of TV News Audiences in 2008

Social Controversy

The issue of whether television producers have a responsibility to promote particular social values continues to generate heated discussion. When the unmarried title character in the CBS series Murphy Brown —a comedy show about a divorced anchorwoman—got pregnant and chose to have the baby without any involvement from the father, then–Vice President Dan Quayle referenced the show as an example of degenerating family values. Linking the 1992 Los Angeles riots to a breakdown of family structure and social order, Quayle lambasted producers’ poor judgment, saying, “It doesn’t help matters when prime-time TV has Murphy Brown, a character who supposedly epitomizes today’s intelligent, highly paid professional woman, mocking the importance of fathers by bearing a child alone, and calling it just another ‘lifestyle choice (Time, 1992).’” Quayle’s outburst sparked lively debate between supporters and opponents of his viewpoint, with some praising his outspoken social commentary and others dismissing him as out of touch with America and its growing number of single mothers.

Similar controversy arose with the portrayal of openly gay characters on prime-time television shows. When the lead character on the ABC sitcom Ellen came out in 1997 (2 weeks after Ellen DeGeneres, the actress who played the role, announced that she was gay), she became the first leading gay character on both broadcast and cable networks. The show proved to be a test case for the nation’s tolerance of openly gay characters on prime-time TV and became the subject of much debate. Embraced by liberal supporters and lambasted by conservative objectors (evangelical Baptist minister Jerry Falwell infamously dubbed her “Ellen DeGenerate”), both the actress and the show furthered the quest to make homosexuality acceptable to mainstream audiences. Although Ellen was canceled the following year (amid disagreements with producers about whether it should contain a parental advisory warning), DeGeneres successfully returned to television in 2003 with her own talk show. Subsequent shows with prominent gay characters were quick to follow in Ellen ’s footsteps. According to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), 18 lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender characters accounted for 3 percent of scripted series regulars in the 2009–2010 broadcast television schedule, up from 1.3 percent in 2006 (Mitchell, 2009).

Creating Stars via Reality Television

Emerging out of the 1948 TV series Candid Camera , in which people were secretly filmed responding to elaborate practical jokes, reality television aimed to capture real, unscripted life on camera. The genre developed in several different directions, from home-video clip shows ( America’s Funniest Home Videos , America’s Funniest People ) to true-crime reenactment shows ( America’s Most Wanted , Unsolved Mysteries ) to thematic shows based on professions of interest ( Project Runway , Police Women of Broward County , Top Chef ). Near the turn of the millennium, the genre began to lean toward more voyeuristic shows, such as MTV’s The Real World , an unscripted “documentary” that followed the lives of seven strangers selected to live together in a large house or apartment in a major city. The show drew criticisms for glamorizing bad behavior and encouraging excessive drinking and casual sex, although its ratings soared with each successive controversy (a trend that critics claim encouraged producers to actively stage rating-grabbing scenarios). During the late 1990s and 2000s, a wave of copycat reality TV shows emerged, including the voyeuristic series Big Brother , which filmed a group of strangers living together in an isolated house full of cameras in an attempt to win large amounts of cash, and Survivor , a game show in which participants competed against each other by performing endurance challenges on an uninhabited island. Survivor ’s success as the most popular show on television in the summer of 2000 ensured the continued growth of the reality television genre, and producers turned their attention to reality dating shows such as The Bachelor , Temptation Island , and Dating in the Dark . Cheap to produce, with a seemingly never-ending supply of willing contestants and eager advertising sponsors, reality TV shows continue to bring in big ratings. As of 2010, singing talent competition American Idol is television’s biggest revenue generator, pulling in $8.1 million in advertising sales every 30 minutes it is on the air (Bond, 2010).

Figure 9.12

The stress of appearing on reality television shows has proved detrimental to some contestants’ health. Britain’s Got Talent star Susan Boyle suffered a nervous breakdown in 2009.

Banalities – SuBo Dreamed a Dream – CC BY 2.0.

Reality TV has created the cultural phenomenon of the instant celebrity. Famous for simply being on the air, reality show contestants are extending their 15 minutes in the spotlight. Kate Gosselin, star of Jon & Kate Plus 8 , a cable TV show about a couple who have eight children, has since appeared in numerous magazine articles, and in 2010 she starred on celebrity reality dance show Dancing with the Stars . Survivor contestant Elisabeth Hasselbeck became a co-host on TV talk show The View , and several American Idol contestants (including Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood) have become household names. The genre has drawn criticism for creating a generation that expects to achieve instant wealth without having to try very hard and also for preying on vulnerable people whom critics call “disposable.” When Britain’s Got Talent star Susan Boyle suffered a public meltdown in 2009 after the stress of transitioning from obscurity to stardom in an extremely short time period, the media began to point out the dangers of reality television. In 2009, TheWrap.com investigated the current lives of former stars of reality shows such as The Contender , Paradise Hotel , Wife Swap , and Extreme Makeover , and found that at least 11 participants had committed suicide as an apparent result of their appearances on screen (Adams, 2009; Feldlinger).

Key Takeaways

• Television has been reflecting changing cultural values since it first gained popularity after World War II. During the 1950s, most programs ignored current events and political issues in favor of family-friendly domestic comedies, which featured White suburban middle-class families. Extreme stress during the 1960s, caused by political events such as the Vietnam War and the Cuban Missile Crisis, led people to turn to escapist television offered by fantasy sitcoms. These provided a sharp dichotomy with the hard-news shows of the era. Social consciousness during the 1970s prompted television producers to reflect changing social attitudes regarding single parenthood, women’s roles, and divorce, and sitcom families began to reflect the increasing number of non-nuclear families in society. The increasing popularity of cable TV in the 1980s led to an explosion of news and entertainment channels, some of which raised concerns about the levels of violence on television. During the 1990s and 2000s, TV networks became more specialized, catering to niche markets in order to meet the needs of an increasingly fragmented audience.
• Television reflects cultural values, and it also influences culture. One example of this is the polarization of cable TV news, which is no longer centrist but caters to individual political tastes. Critics argue that this influences cable news viewers’ opinions and makes them less open to opposing political viewpoints. Entertainment programs also play an influential role within society. By portraying controversial relationships such as single parents or gay couples as acceptable, TV shows have the power to shape viewers’ attitudes. In recent years, broadcasters have created the concept of the instant celebrity through the genre of reality television. Contestants on reality TV shows now permeate every aspect of culture and the media, from the music charts to popular magazines and newspapers.

Please respond to the following short-answer writing prompts. Each response should be a minimum of one paragraph.

• Choose a popular sitcom from the past 50 years you are familiar with (you can view episodes on Hulu.com to refamiliarize yourself if necessary). Using the ideas in this section as a starting point, identify three ways in which your chosen sitcom reflects or reflected American culture.
• Spend a few days reviewing news coverage on Fox News and MSNBC. How is coverage of similar news stories different? Do you think partisan news networks can affect public opinion? Why or why not?

Adams, Guy. “Lessons From America on the Dangers of Reality Television,” Independent (London), June 6, 2009, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/lessons-from-america-on-the-dangers-of-reality-television-1698165.html .

Blakey, Rea. “Study Links TV Viewing Among Kids to Later Violence,” CNN Health , March 28, 2002, http://archives.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/parenting/03/28/kids.tv.violence/index.html .

Bond, Paul. “‘Idol’ Listed as TV’s Biggest Revenue Generator,” Hollywood Reporter , May 5, 2010, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i8f1f42046a622bda2d602430b16d3ed9 .

Coontz, Stephanie. “‘Leave It to Beaver’ and ‘Ozzie and Harriet’: American Families in the 1950s,” in The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trip (New York: BasicBooks, 1992), 28.

Forbes, “BET Networks Unveils New African American Consumer Market Research and New Programming at 2010 Upfront Presentation,” April 14, 2010, http://www.forbes.com/feeds/prnewswire/2010/04/14/prnewswire201004141601PR_NEWS_USPR_____NE86679.html .

Fox News, The O’Reilly Factor, “Is Black Entertainment Television Taking a Disturbing Turn?” Fox News , May 26, 2004, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,120993,00.html .

Frank Feldlinger, “TheWrap Investigates: 11 Players Have Committed Suicide,” TheWrap, http://www.thewrap.com/television/article/thewrap-investigates-11-players-have-committed-suicide-3409 .

Friedman, Michael J. “‘See It Now’: Murrow vs. McCarthy,” in Edward R. Murrow: Journalism at Its Best , publication of U.S. Department of State, June 1, 2008, http://www.america.gov/st/democracyhr-english/2008/June/20080601110244eaifas8.602542e-02.html .

Gunther, Marc. “The Extinction of Mass Culture, CNN Money , July 12, 2006, http://money.cnn.com/2006/07/11/news/economy/pluggedin_gunther.fortune/index.htm .

Mitchell, Wendy. “GLAAD Report: Gay Characters on Network TV Still on the Rise,” Entertainment Weekly , September 30, 2009, http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/09/30/glaad-report-gay-characters-on-rise/ .

Newcomb, Horace. ed., Encyclopedia of Television (New York: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2004), 389.

Poniewozik, James. “CNN: Can a Mainstream News Outlet Survive?” Time , May 3, 2010, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1983901,00.html .

Time, “Dan Quayle vs. Murphy Brown,” June 1, 1992, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,975627,00.html .

Understanding Media and Culture Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Television Essay for Students and Children in 1000+ Words

In this Television Essay for Students and Children you will read its definition, origin, history, importance, advantages, disadvantages, 10 lines. We have published this essay on tv in 1000+ words.

So, lets start this essay on television…

Table of Contents

Introduction (Television Essay)

Television is the most powerful medium for the promotion of entertainment and knowledge of science . It is one of the unique, superlative and brilliant discoveries of science.

Television eradicates the tiredness of this runaway life of man, gives him mental peace, and freshens the person again, replenishing the energy to work again.

Origin and History of Television

Televisions comprise two words – Tele and Vision . Which means distant worlds or all the beautiful and bizarre pictures before the eyes?

That is why it is called Doordarshan in Hindi. Television is considered as an advanced form of the technology other than radio. A person in radio can keep himself up to date from all the news of the country and the world and can entertain him by listening to various jokes and songs broadcast in radio.

In the same way, through television, a person can increase his knowledge by watching and listening to TV along with entertainment.

Let me tell you that in the year 1925, John L. from Britain Baird used this brilliant discovery on television for the first time.

After this, in 1926, he discovered TV, while Doordarshan was broadcast for the first time in India in 1959. Initially, it was very expensive, but now it has reached every home, and now at affordable rates too.

We can purchase television as per your need. This is the reason that now the roots of television are spread all over the world and now it has become a necessity for every household.

Importance of Television

Television has a different importance for everyone. The programs aired on the cartoon channel by children are very much liked, now that the characters of these programs have replaced the cartoon characters of the comics book.

Then it is a better medium for students to learn, because now Many such educational programs are broadcast on television, by which students can increase their knowledge by learning, and it also helps them to easily understand many tough topics through television.

Television has a different significance for the youth, most of the youth enjoy the movies, TV shows etc. that are broadcast on TV, along with it, remove their mental tension by watching it.

While television has a different significance for the elders, they entertain their minds by watching television in their spare time, and move towards spirituality through religious programs aired on it.

Also read: Pros and Cons of watching television

Advantages of Television in points

The benefits and use of television are as follows-

1. Good for news & information

Television broadcasts many such news channels, which keep us updated with all the news happening in the country and the world.

Which includes news related to a particular person, small institutions, sports world, weather, criminal events, development of India and abroad, all other news including economy?

2. The most powerful medium of entertainment

Television is the best, cheapest and best means of entertainment, through television, people of all age groups can entertain themselves by watching programs according to their interest and needs.

3. Better means to increase human knowledge

Nowadays many enlightening programs are broadcast in TV channels, along with English-speaking classes are also given to children, topic wise courses of competitive exam etc. are shown, which will help children to understand many topics and they Can increase your information.

4. Helps to relieve mental stress

When a man comes home after a day’s run, watching television, forgets all his troubles and troubles for a few moments and causes him to feel fresh, and helps him to overcome his mental stress. Television is also a wonderful friend of man’s free time.

5. Can watch with family

Many sports channels are telecasted on television so that one can enjoy watching the live broadcast of sports like cricket matches , football matches , badminton etc. in the country and the world.

Apart from this, many cartoon TV channels are also broadcast for children, along with it has also emerged as a suitable medium to take the elderly to the spiritual world.

In fact, companies broadcast TV channels associated with many religions and faith , in which many religious programs are telecast. Apart from this, many programs related to agriculture are also broadcasted, so that farmers get information about the weather and how to grow good crops.

Television also has many other benefits, which humans can avail according to their needs.

Disadvantages of Television in points

Every coin has two sides, in the same way that television has, we discuss its effects below-

1. Effect on eyes

Watching TV more than necessary has an adverse effect on the eyes, which also increases the risk of human eyesight being reduced, so one should not watch TV closely.

2. TV makes diseases

People who always stick to television and sit on the same posture and watch TV, then such people are at increased risk of heart disease and hypertension.

Many people do not remember their mealtime while watching TV, because of which their food and drink becomes irregular, and they fall prey to many diseases.

Along with this, the habit of eating food while watching TV causes a person to become obese because people eat more while watching TV.

3. Wastage of time

Watching TV in free time is right, but some people cannot do their important work because of watching their favourite TV program or movie. So many students stick to the TV during the exam which is a waste of time.

4. Some TV programs have adverse effects on children

Channels broadcasts many such films and television programs on television, which has a terrible effect on the brain of children and promotes criminal activities. Along with this, they show some such advertisements which are not suitable for children at all.

10 Lines about Television

• Television is one of the most popular devices used for entertainment worldwide.
• If you spend hours in front of the television, your eyesight will become weak. your
• Television was invented in 1926 by John L. Baird, a Scottish scientist.
• But later, colour television started being replaced by black-white television.
• Television is one of the greatest inventions of mankind.
• The world’s first electronic television was invented in 1927 by a 21-year-old inventor – Philo Taylor Farnsworth.
• Television offers various other non-formal education programs that increase your overall knowledge on issues other than the subject.
• Television is a boon for humanity.
• Uncontrolled display of violent and corrupt programs makes the youth a victim of egoistic, violent and corrupt conduct.
• These days, under the influence of television, many youths are committing bullying, smoking, alcohol consumption, other corrupt practices .

Through television, we can easily get information of every field, along with programs related to the culture and tradition of any country. They can make people aware and also help in guiding people right through it.

It is found that the development of television as a big industry has also encouraged the economy of the country and new employment options have been created, it has many benefits, but it should be viewed according to its needs, otherwise it leads to bad health effect.

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Essay on Television for Students [100, 150, 200, 350 Words]

Essay on Television: Television is one of the most influential innovations of modern times. In this article, you are going to learn to write a paragraph or essay on Television (100, 150, 200 and 350 Words). You’ll learn what are the uses and abuses of television or what are the advantages and disadvantages of television. So, let’s get started.

Table of Contents

Short Essay on Television: 100 Words

Television is based on a highly sophisticated science of vision and sound. A man can see as far the horizon. He hears as far as the sound is audible to him. But television takes his vision to a place far beyond his horizon. He sees a thing or person long beyond his actual physical reach. It brings to him also sound from a very remote place.

In fact, television brings vision and sound together from a distance which is beyond the range of human sight and hearing. It is a powerful and very useful invention of modern science. It has conquered space for human eye-sight. It has brought about a great development in the science of communication. It can well be used for entertainment and knowledge.

Television Essay: 150 Words

One of the latest wonders of science is Television. It is an effective medium of communication and entertainment. We can watch live important political, sports and other events happening at distant places. This enables us to have a direct knowledge of the things, places and events far away. TV has thus brought the whole world into the drawing room.

Television is also a powerful medium of mass education. Educational programmes on healthcare and family planning, general knowledge can be sent to millions of viewers through audio-visual presentation in the TV. It also keeps off loneliness.

But TV has its bad effects too. Watching TV sometimes becomes an addiction, People remain glued to the TV and it makes them idle- particularly the students and young people. They neglect sports and games and their studies. Too much of viewing affects our vision. Programmes, if not properly selected, cast bad effects on young minds. Social visits become very rare and people become unsocial.

Also Read: Paragraph on Computer

Essay on the Television: 200 Words

No other thing is as familiar as Television in our present times. It was invented by John Baird in 1925. It first appeared in India in 1959. It is really a wonder of science today. It is a two-in-one. It is the radio on one side and the cinema on the other. Television is a very useful instrument in many ways. It is a powerful medium for education and recreation. It gives lessons on the subjects like science and mathematics and also on geography and history.

It shows us cinema and live telecast on games and sports. On its screen we have a delightful scenery of nature and thrilling sights of animals roaming in the jungles and in the deep waters of the seas. We can amuse the shows of serials. It is also a mighty medium of advertisement.

Sometimes it has bad effects on children. In most cases, they sit tight with it to witness their favorite items which captivate them greatly. Sometimes they neglect their bounden duties as students. They try to copy the most interesting show-style. In some cases they even face their death. Many things are very good with television but its price is very high and the poor cannot benefit by it.

Also Read: Newspaper Essay in English

Television Essay in English: 350 Words

Television is a modern invention. When television was first invented, people of the world were very happy because they had the scope to know the world around them and to entertain themselves in the best possible ways. Television is no doubt something which ushered progress of civilization. Some electronic media like BBC took over the most important role to make the people of the world aware of the society to which they were belonging and the environment by which they were being nourished. It is quite well known that, BBC produced all of the plays of Shakespeare as films. Even this world famous electronic media focused on the two World Wars so much so that people of the world came to know how horrible was war and warfare. Thus social consciousness was an important factor that was first aroused by the aid of television.

But this television is now being abused constantly by some commercially debased people. In West Bengal, television is so abused that the young generation is now misguided. The young people follow the bad culture and become oblivious of the hoary tradition of our country. Mere entertainment has been presented on the different television channels. Meaningless serials and reality shows are heart-throbbing without any moral impact. Crimes and social disorder are presented so crudely that the minds of the young people are overwhelmed with frustration, dilapidation, and despair. It seems that there is no escape from despair. The ultimate result is social alienation which brings about moral dilemma.

Yet, the concerned authority is really callous to the problems. Advertisement, sponsors, etc. are the sources of the economic structure of the different channels. Thus, the producers intend to draw the attention of the businessman by claiming the popularity of the channels. The inevitable result of this kind of commercial debasement is of Course disintegration that causes serious disbelief in the sphere of culture and education. Therefore, we must be conscious of the fact that television is not merely a media for entertainment; rather it is a source of important social and cultural messages.

Read More: 1. Blood Donation Essay in English 2. APJ Abdul Kalam Essay in English 3. Essay on Mother Teresa in English

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I really enjoyed reading your essay on television. It was very informative and I learned a lot. I especially liked the part about how television can be used to teach different subjects.

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Essay on Television Impact

Students are often asked to write an essay on Television Impact in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Television Impact

Effects of television.

Television has become an integral part of modern life. It has the power to inform, entertain, and even educate. While television can be a positive force in our lives, it can also have negative consequences.

Positive Impacts

One of the positive impacts of television is that it can keep us informed about current events. News programs, documentaries, and talk shows can provide us with information about what is happening in the world around us. Television can also be a source of entertainment. Comedies, dramas, and reality shows can provide us with a way to relax and escape from the stresses of everyday life.

Negative Impacts

However, television can also have negative consequences. One of the biggest concerns is that television can lead to obesity and other health problems. Studies have shown that people who watch a lot of television are more likely to be overweight or obese. Television can also be addictive. People who spend a lot of time watching television may find it difficult to tear themselves away from the screen, even when they know they should be doing something else.

In conclusion, television can have both positive and negative impacts on our lives. It is important to be aware of both the benefits and the risks of television so that we can make informed choices about how we use it.

250 Words Essay on Television Impact

Television impact on entertainment.

Television has become a major source of entertainment for people of all ages. It offers a wide variety of programs, from news and sports to dramas and comedies. From the comfort of their own homes, people enjoy watching TV whenever they want. Television can be a great way to relax and unwind after a long day.

Television Impact on Education

Television can also be used as a tool for education. There are many educational channels that offer programs on various subjects, such as science, history, and math. These programs can be a great way for children to learn new things and supplement their schoolwork.

Television Impact on Health and Fitness

Television can promote health-related information and encourage people to live healthy lives. Television programs can provide tips on healthy eating, exercising, and managing stress. Some channels are dedicated to fitness and health, offering a variety of workout programs and healthy recipes.

Television Impact on Social and Political Views

Television can influence people’s social and political views. The way in which news and current events are presented can shape public opinion. Documentaries and talk shows can also influence how people think about different social and political issues.

Television is a powerful medium that has a significant impact on society. It can educate, entertain, and inform. It can also influence people’s social and political views. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the positive and negative effects of television and to use it wisely.

500 Words Essay on Television Impact

Television: its impact on society.

Television is a powerful medium of communication that has permeated almost every household. However, the effects of television on society are still a subject of debate. While it offers educational and entertainment benefits, the potential negative impacts are undeniable.

Positive Effects of Television

Educational Value: Educational programs can provide valuable knowledge and lessons. Nature documentaries and historical dramas can expose viewers to topics they might not encounter otherwise. Even entertainment shows can convey underlying messages and raise awareness about important issues.

Entertainment and Relaxation: Television provides a source of entertainment and relaxation after a long day or during leisure time. It offers a wide variety of shows, including comedies, dramas, reality shows, and sports, that cater to diverse tastes. Watching television can help alleviate stress and provide a sense of escapism.

News and Information: Television keeps people informed about current events and allows them to stay connected with the world. News programs and documentaries provide information on political, economic, and social issues, enabling viewers to form opinions and engage in discussions.

Negative Effects of Television

Excessive Screen Time: Excessive television viewing can lead to sedentary behavior and lack of physical activity, increasing the risk of health problems such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. It can also interfere with sleep and academic performance in children and adolescents.

Unrealistic Portrayals: The media can often portray unrealistic standards of beauty, body image, and lifestyle, which can lead to body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem, and eating disorders. Exposure to violence and negative content can also desensitize viewers and contribute to aggressive behavior.

Advertising: Television commercials bombard viewers with messages that promote consumerism and materialism. While advertising can provide information about products and services, it can also manipulate consumers into making impulsive purchases and create a sense of dissatisfaction with what they have.

In conclusion, television has both positive and negative effects on society. As responsible viewers, we should strive to maximize the benefits and minimize the potential harms by being mindful of our viewing habits, encouraging critical thinking, and supporting responsible content creation.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Television Boon Or Bane
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Essay on Television for Students in English | 500+ Words Essay

December 10, 2020 by Sandeep

Essay on Television: Television is a device that enables us to watch our favourite movies and shows. This audio-visual component was invented in 1926. A Scottish scientist named J.L. Baird invented the colour television. Television plays a major role in our lives. It is one of the cheapest forms of entertainment in our home. With its help, we get information regarding all the corners of the world. Various television sets like CRT, LCD, LED, and OLED are nowadays available to us. The latest versions of smart televisions can access multiple shows via the internet. The television industry in India is vast, containing more than 850 channels.

Below we have provided an essay on television for class 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 school students, written in easy and simple words.

Essay on Television in English 500 Words

Please find below extended essay on Television, suitable for class 7, 8, 9 and 10 students.

“Science is simply the word we use to describe a method of organizing our curiosity” ~ Tim Minchin

The contribution of science towards our society is marvellous. It has truly helped us discover a lot of beautiful things in this world. Science has made our lives all the more comfortable and peaceful. Out of all the significant inventions in the scientific field, television is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating ones. It has revolutionized the way we live today. People have incorporated it as part and parcel of their lives.

Television encompasses a variety of things which is accessible to the customers. Starting from movies to music videos, television has both informative and educative properties to it. The onset of wireless sparked the experiments for creating a product like television. It was finally developed by a Scottish scientist named J.L Baird in the year 1926.

The very first center for television in India was established in the year 1951. However, it took a while to initiate the public broadcast successfully. The original television which was promoted in our country was a black & white version. Eventually, it was replaced by the colour television, and its promotion escalated since 1982.

Television as a word originates from Ancient Greek. It comprises of two words “tele” meaning far and “vision” meaning sight. Some of the frequently used acronyms for television include telly, TV, tube, etc. Throughout these years, many variants of this product have been manufactured. Nowadays, TV comes in a variety of features, sizes, and price ranges. However, some of its predominant characteristics include:

• It is an audio-visual medium which means a typical TV has both sound and sight.
• TV is a platform that incorporates multiple forms of media.
• It is a highly credible mass communication medium that has connected the entire world in a big loop.
• It has influenced us by widening our ability to perceive.
• TV is known as a magic box because of its ability to fascinate millions of people.
• The shows which TV exhibits such as glamour, popular personalities, and fashion attract a huge target audience.
• TV is something that brings a family together.
• It is a crucial platform for advertising. Businessmen rely on TV to reach a greater audience and hike their sales.
• Most of all, it is an important medium for reporting information regarding the latest events.

The importance of television cannot be undermined. TV is an incredible source of information for the common man. Moreover, it is a great tool for learning especially for children. It covers numerous aspects of our daily life. These include current happenings, sports, weather reports, information regarding a certain crime, and most of all, entertainment. Enjoying the liberty of staying home and procuring all this valuable information is possible because of the television.

On top of that, it provides us with the option of shifting from one channel to another. Besides, TV has always been a great platform to develop our vocabulary skills. Programs which offer motivational content helps us evolve as an individual. Television widens the mental horizon and drives us towards acquiring more knowledge and wisdom. The right choice of programs can also help us explore different cultures. Though TV has many advantages, it has its fair share of disadvantages as well. Some of the negative impacts of television include:

• People watching TV for too long are prone to vision-related issues.
• TV curbs physical activity and is one of the reasons for obesity amongst kids.
• TV owes to the lack of efficient social interaction.
• It affects our cognitive abilities and behaviour.
• It can corrupt the mindset of the children.

Television is a remarkable discovery in our contemporary world. It has shaped our lives and improved our standard of living. We must be responsible enough to use this gadget in moderation.

Short Essay on Television in English 200 Words

Below we have provided a Television Essay in English, suitable for class 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 school students.

“Television is the triumph of machine over people” ~ Fred Allen

Synonymous with this remarkable quote, television is indeed one of the most prominent mediums of entertainment in the entire world. It has become the new standard in life. Every household has at least one set of television, if not multiple. Television is a telecommunication medium that is used for transmission of moving images in colour or black & white. It is one of the significant inventions of this era. The onset of television was as popular as the radio.

Gone are the days, when people used to refer to it as the “idiot box”. The new generation television sets are packed with innovative features. TV is not just concentrated on entertainment anymore. It has widened into different areas like providing informative content for both kids and adults. Moreover, it enables us to stay updated with the latest happenings of our day to day lives. One can procure news related to a distant area of the world through the TV.

Television Effects on Society Essay

Introduction, whom does television affect, how does television affect the public, suggestions for reducing the time spent in front of screens.

Can you imagine our life without television? Modern technologies allow people’s watching programs and shows with the help of a lot of devices, and it is rather difficult to imagine the day without watching TV or using it as the background noise while being involved in the other activities. Today, a lot of people spend their spare time sitting in front of screens and watching many programs which are really not necessary to be watched because they do not include any useful information.

Furthermore, they can have even harmful effects on the public’s consciousness. Television is one of the most influential aspects of the modern life because it is actively used to influence the people’s attitude to this or that situation or phenomenon, and many persons become the victims of the television impact.

Thus, television has negative effects on society because it influences the individuals’ psychological state and mental abilities, their emotions and feelings, attitudes and vision of the moral values, the capacities to make the independent decisions and effective choices.

There are few people who do not feel the impact of television on their life because even when the public is not interested in programs and shows, commercials seem to follow us in all the aspects of the life with affecting the tendencies and fashion and influencing our choice every day. Television affects all the age categories of people. Nevertheless, the impact of television on children is the most dangerous because children have no abilities to assess the information presented in TV programs and shows critically.

Many parents are inclined to use television for attracting the children’s attention and entertaining them without concentrating on the fact that the impact of television on the children’s brain and emotional state can be negative. Moreover, today it is possible to notice a lot of toddlers who spend their time in front of the screen without their parents’ control. Thus, the impact of television on children is the quite controversial question.

However, adults also feel the great impact of television on their lives because there are tendencies to watch TV while having a rest, eating, communicating with friends, and completing different everyday activities ( Television , n.d.). That is why, it is necessary to mention that television affects the majority of people without references to their age and even without focusing on their social status because now television is the most available way of entertaining and getting the information.

What is the difference between the negative impact of television on children and adults? Today, many researchers and doctors pay attention to the fact that children are more influenced by the information presented in TV programs because of their limited possibility to distinguish between fantasy and reality.

The most problematic issue is the impact of violence depicted in TV shows on the children’s minds and psychological state. The violent actions presented in TV programs are perceived by children as real, and they can consider them as possible to follow ( Television , n.d.). Thus, television can change the peculiarities of the children’s perception of moral values and definite virtues.

Violence in TV shows and cartoons can provoke the children’s brutal actions and conflicts in their relations with friends and classmates in reality because children are inclined to reflect those behavioral patterns which they observe. Moreover, not only the character of information can be influential for children.

The practice of spending many hours in front of the TV screens can affect the children’s performance at school and their classroom engagement because the habit of watching TV provokes children’s being passive, their lack of interest in school activities, and reduces the concentration of attention ( How to promote good television habits, 2008).

The impact of television on adults and their emotional state can also be negative. Focusing on the character of the information presented in TV news and shows, it is possible to note that people receive a lot of information every day which stimulates their negative reactions, different types of emotional downs, apathy and pessimism. Commercials which are used on television can have a lot of negative effects on adults.

Those persons who are influenced by commercials are inclined to buy a lot of unnecessary products. They also can feel dissatisfaction because of the impossibility to follow all the tendencies and buy all the products promoted with the help of commercials ( Television , n.d.). However, many persons use television in order to entertain themselves. In this case, TV shows and entertaining programs make people be passive and contribute to developing the habits of the sedentary lifestyle.

The family tradition to watch TV in the evening can be discussed as good only when the process is not passive, the choice of a program is relevant, and the members of the family have the opportunity to discuss it. That is why it is also important to concentrate on the negative impact of television on the people’s health, especially on their eyes, which is affected by the usage of different technological devices.

To reduce the negative effects of television on society, it is necessary to cut the time which people spend in front of their TV screens. The practice of limited watching TV is important for children who should watch TV programs less than two hours a day, and it is more useful not to watch TV during the week days and reduce all the screen-based activities which are harmful for the children’s health. Children reflect the behaviors of their parents.

That is why adults should also have the special schedule of watching TV with choosing mainly the programs about nature, history or science. The negative impact of television can be effectively reduced when people do not watch TV while eating and communicating. Moreover, to have TV sets in bedrooms is also the harmful practice. The habit to watch TV in order to spend spare time can be successfully changed with the habit to walk with friends and children ( How to promote good television habits, 2008).

Thus, television can influence our attitude to life, our choice, and our decisions without our awareness of the fact. People can react to the information presented in TV news and TV shows consciously as well as unconsciously. That is why it is almost impossible to predict the effects of television on the next actions and behaviors or our emotional state.

The impact of television on the people’s minds and health is often negative because of the lack of controlling the time in front of the screens and the choice of programs and shows. Nevertheless, it can be reduced with decreasing the role of television in the people’s everyday life.

How to promote good television habits . (2008).

Television . (n.d.) Web.

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Bibliography

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The Seven Ways To Write About Television

Linda Holmes

Perhaps it's the combination of Sunday night's Mad Men finale and the flurry of Sopranos discussion that followed the death of James Gandolfini, but it's hard not to be struck by the explosion of writing about television that's occurred in the last 15 years or so, facilitated (of course) by the ability to go from rolling credits to publication in an hour (if necessary). After any major episode, there will be a flurry of commentary, and even after minor episodes of minor shows, there are write-ups here and there.

But while these pieces — whether you call them recaps, reviews, essays, commentaries, whatever — may look the same, there are a bunch of different ways to do them, and understanding the kinds that are out there might help you find the kind you like. So here they are: the seven ways people commonly write about television.*

The Craft model . In a lot of ways, this is the kind of criticism with which people are most familiar. It's focused on the quality of work that goes into a show — how strong is the directing, writing, acting, lighting, scoring, and so forth. The higher-brow the show is, the more Craft writing there is; nobody spends a lot of time writing about the direction on NCIS or The Big Bang Theory , even if they like those shows.

That doesn't mean there is no craft — it just means either writers are usually not interested in writing about it or they don't have the familiarity with the form to analyze it effectively. Craft writing probably requires the most background knowledge and the most experience, and it's where you're most likely to fall into a hole if you don't actually know which pieces of a show's quality are the result of direction, for instance, versus writing. To give you an example of Craft done well, Matt Zoller Seitz is a Craft writer, mostly. (Although, I should note, everyone I know who's a good writer incorporates elements of all these models. But Matt is a Craft guy.)

The Ethical model. It's almost a subspecies within the Craft model, but it deserves its own section, I think. The Ethical model is where writers address the sociological implications of how the show is made. In the reality setting, this is pretty obvious — were people subjected to terrible conditions, and so forth. But Ethical writing also tends to incorporate issues of gender, race, sexuality, politics, and so forth. Perpetuating stereotypes, representation behind and in front of the camera — this is where Ethical writing gets its strength. Alyssa Rosenberg does a lot of Ethical writing at Think Progress; she's probably the only writer I can think of where that's what she sees as her primary beat (perhaps unsurprisingly).

The Puzzle model. This is the writing that tries to uncover hidden meanings and explain symbolism. The idea is to take your sharp eye, as the writer, and note things that other people perhaps wouldn't notice. The absolute best Puzzle writing I'm aware of at the moment is Mad Style , the weekly column breaking down the costuming of Mad Men , found at the fashion site Tom and Lorenzo . Most costume commentary, other than this, is part of the Craft model — admiring the sheer beauty of wardrobe choices or the skill in matching them to the period. But Mad Style treats fashion like other writing treats any other kind of messaging and applies specialized knowledge to surface pieces of the storytelling that aren't obvious.

But whenever writers are pointing out callbacks, metaphors, symbolism, lines that have double meanings — that's all Puzzle stuff. In many, many episode recaps, you'll find bullet points at the end, some of which will be Puzzle content that doesn't fit anywhere else.

The Maker model. These are the pieces of writing that focus on the relationship between a show and its creator, in spite of the fact that lots of people's work go into the final product. It's kind of like auteur theory in film, although it tends to be a little more from-the-hip with television, and it doesn't necessarily indicate that anyone is sophisticated enough to be considered an auteur. These are things like Emily Nussbaum's marvelous New Yorker piece on Ryan Murphy, "Queer Eyes, Full Heart." There are makers who attract much more Maker writing than others — Shonda Rhimes, oddly enough, attracts less of it than you might expect, given her massive impact on the ABC lineup, while Lena Dunham attracts outrageous tons of it, despite her relatively small audience. (Aaron Sorkin gets more of it the more he complains about it, which is sweet justice for someone, but I'm not sure who.)

The Riff model. This is writing that sees television primarily as a jumping-off point for jokes. It's what Television Without Pity was when I worked there, it's what Previously.tv is, and it's what a lot of Vulture recaps are, including (for instance) Dave Holmes writing about American Idol .

The Vignette model. On a personal note, this is probably the model I use the most. Monday's piece about the Mad Men finale falls into this category; on a less serious note, so does the Scandal piece I wrote about how everyone in the world should dump Fitz. In the Vignette model, you look at a piece of television as a little story, and then you address a bunch of discussion questions. Can Don be saved? Is Megan misunderstood? Can Walter White turn his life around? Should Alicia Florrick get back together with her husband? These aren't really about the quality of the product, exactly, they're questions the product provokes . The episode, in this case, just exists — it's like an essay question on a test. "Discuss."

A lot of people are completely baffled by Vignette writing. This is where you get the "What are you talking about THESE ARE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS!" stuff, as if you'd never talk about what the people in a story did unless it was true. The irony is that Vignette writing freaks people out, but it was the first literary analysis most of us ever learned: Why does this character lie? What should this person have done? What motivated Iago?

Vignette writing is also what animates just about everyone who likes writing about reality TV, because while there's a lot of craft involved in differentiating good reality from bad, that's not what most of the writing is about. Most of the writing, whether serious or funny, is about the people in the story and what their behavior says about the way people act. I don't remember ever having an incredibly fascinating conversation about the crafting of reality shows except with people who make them or appear on them, but I've had many, many great discussions about (for instance) the distinction between the kinds of men who win Survivor and the kinds of women who win, or why The Bachelor contestants act like being divorced is scandalous, or why you can't have alliances on The Amazing Race . Again, you just take the story as a story. Discuss .

The Service model. There are people who really do spend a lot of time just telling you what happened without comment, where the primary purpose of the piece is to fill you in if you missed it. This is basically a human taking the place of your DVR if you forgot to set it.

So there you have it: the seven ways to write about television. Of course, this is less a set of distinct areas with sharp boundaries and more a color wheel where one thing blends into another, because you'll usually see elements of all of them in a good and comprehensive piece of writing, but most of us are more interested in some of these kinds of writing than others, and it's good to have a sense of the landscape when you're looking for a home.

*These are ways, I should note, to write commentary. There is also a world of more traditional reporting, including profiles and breaking news, that's a separate issue entirely. That, in turn, is subdivided into business reporting (who's got a deal with which studio), show reporting (stories about production and creation), and the weird world of plot reporting (news stories about fictional characters — so-and-so will die, so-and-so will have an affair with so-and-so).

Home — Essay Samples — Information Science and Technology — Effects of Watching too much TV — The Impact of Television in Our Life (in 150 words)

The Impact of Television in Our Life (in 150 Words)

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Published: Mar 17, 2023

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2024 Midwest PCA/ACA Conference — Television Area

CALL FOR PAPERS, ABSTRACTS, AND PANEL PROPOSALS

Television Area | Midwest Popular Culture Association/Midwest American Culture Association Annual Conference

Friday-Sunday, October 4-6, 2024

DePaul University, Chicago, IL

Address: DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL 60604 | Phone: (312) 362-8000

The Television area of the Midwest Popular Culture Association/Midwest American Culture Association is now accepting proposals for its 2024 conference in Chicago on the campus of DePaul University.

We are looking for papers that examine any aspect of television, from any period and using any number of methods. Potential topics for paper or panel proposals include, but are not limited to: 

• The recent upheaval experienced by streaming portals, from the rash of canceled original series to the removal of library content
• The impact of online distribution and the rise of streaming platforms as producers of original programming
• The representations of gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, and class and economics in television programming
• The erosion and consolidation of networks and channels as organizing structures in television
• The impact of varied distribution methods, including all-at-once drops, weekly release strategies, and everything in between
• The intersections between television and social media
• The role of remakes, spin-offs, adaptations, and franchises
• The trends in less “quality” genres and formats: talk shows, soap operas, morning TV 
• Respective analyses of series celebrating significant anniversaries (i.e., debuts or finales from 1994, 2004, or 2004)

Submit paper, abstract, or panel proposals (including the title of the presentation) to the appropriate Area on the Submissions website: https://www.mpcaaca.org/submit-panels . 

Individuals may only submit one paper, and please do not submit the same paper to more than one Area. 

The deadline for receipt of proposals is May 15, 2024 .

Please include your name, affiliation, and e-mail address of each author/participant. A preliminary version of the schedule will be posted on our website around August 2024. The final version will be distributed in hard copy at the conference. 

New this year: Virtual panels will be running concurrently with in-person panels. No in-person panels will be offered virtually, but all who register will have access to the virtual panels. Please indicate when submitting if you prefer to deliver your presentation in person, virtually, or no preference. Virtual panels are available on a first-come, first-served basis. (Zoom is the planned platform and panels will be scheduled in the Central Time Zone.) If you have any questions about virtual panels, please email [email protected] .

Special notes regarding proposal submissions: (1) AV equipment will be provided. The Association does not provide laptops, cords, or speakers. (2) If necessary, indicate and submit potential scheduling conflicts along with your proposal. (3) If you wish your presentation to be listed as MACA (rather than MPCA), please include this request with your proposal. 

Conference attendance: Please plan to attend the entire conference. Panels will run at the following approximate times: Friday 9:00 am-6:00 pm, Saturday 9:00 am -5:30 pm, and Sunday 9:00 am-2:00 pm. Special events may include a game night on Thursday evening, featured speakers and awards ceremony on Friday evening, and a keynote speaker on Saturday evening. These events will be free for conference registrants. Area Chairs are strongly encouraged to attend the Annual Meeting.

Membership dues and registration fees : Membership renewal forms for the 2024 calendar year and 2024 conference registration forms are available on the MPCA website . All participants must register for the conference. Day passes will be available for guests of the conference who are not presenting a paper. Attendees are financially responsible for all costs related to their participation in the conference, e.g., transportation, lodging, meals, registration, membership, etc.

Graduate students are invited to apply for competitively awarded travel grants from MPCA. Details on these grants are available here .

Cancellation Policy: If you submit a proposal (or if you accept an invitation to appear on a panel), you are promising to attend the conference if your proposal is accepted, and you are promising to pay the conference registration fee, the Association membership fee, and a late fee of $15 if applicable. If your proposal is accepted and you do not attend the conference, it is expected that you will (1) notify all members of your panel, your Area Chair, and the MPCA President (Julia Largent Kuttler) of your cancellation; (2) provide such notification as early as possible; (3) arrange to have your paper distributed at the panel; (4) arrange for somebody else to carry out any other duties you may have; and (5) pay your membership and registration fees (plus late fee if applicable). If conditions 1-5 are met, you may file a written request, after the conference, for a refund of half your registration fee. For co-authored papers, all authors are welcome and encouraged to attend, but only one author is required to attend.

COVID-19: The Midwest Popular Culture Association continues to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely. At this point, we intend for the conference to go ahead as planned in person in October 2024. Please note that the deadline for registration is September 15, 2024. If the conference is moved into a virtual setting, postponed, or canceled, we will notify you and provide you with information as to how the organization will respond as soon as possible. Please check the MPCA website or follow MPCA on Twitter or Facebook for the latest information.

• Essay On Advantages And Disadvantages Of Television

Essay on Advantages and Disadvantages of Television

500+ words essay on advantages and disadvantages of television.

In today’s world, communication is a crucial aspect of life. Technological advancements made communication more accessible and cheaper. Among all the communication devices such as smartphones, radios, and emails, television is the prominent and common medium for communication. We get to see television in every household. It is an integral part of our society that significantly impacts our social, educational, and cultural life. It reaches a mass audience and provides information about the daily happenings in the world. Furthermore, it is a common source of entertainment among family members.

John Logie Baird invented the television in the 1920s. The word “tele” means distance, and “vision” means to see, which means to watch it from a distance. When television was invented, it showed only pictures of low resolution. But, later on, televisions were modified with the latest technologies. Televisions that we purchase today come with multiple features. We can connect our phone, laptop, tab, and internet access various online apps, HD/UHD quality pictures, 4k-8k resolutions, etc.

We can also watch various educational channels on television. It also keeps us updated by providing news about the world through different news channels. Along with information, it also entertains us with movies, serials, dramas, reality shows, music channels, yoga channels, etc.

So, having a television at home seems to be a great advantage, but the disadvantages are also threatening. The time it consumes from our day-to-day life is more. You can see people going out of routine or postponing schedules if they become addicted to watching television.

Here, in the essay, we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of watching television.

Advantages of Television

Television comes with enormous advantages. The most important is it gives us information about current affairs and events across the globe. This information is broadcasted through various news channels, which helps us to keep ourselves updated about recent happenings. It also shares information about multiple programmes or facilities launched by the government. The government also take the help of news channels to communicate with the mass.

We can watch daily soaps, reality shows, music channels, movies, etc. We can also watch food channels and try out recipes at home. During the morning time, if you switch on the television, you will get to watch telemarketing ads. Specific channels broadcast only ads for multiple products, and people can also buy them.

Children can watch various cartoons on the television. Some cartoons teach children about moral values and lessons. It also keeps us informed about the economic condition and the stock market. We also get to watch various fashion shows and keep updated about the latest trends on television.

Earlier, television was costly, but now it comes at an affordable price with multiple features. Now, we get the option to subscribe to our favourite channels and only need to pay for those channels. Educational programmes are also available on television. We can also watch live cricket shows and cheer for our country. Television also telecasts interviews of various political leaders, celebrities, influencers, famous personalities, etc. We can also gain knowledge by watching various quiz programmes.

Television provides opportunities to spend time with our family and friends. We can enjoy watching a movie together. Various channels telecast comedy shows that help us keep positivity in our lives. We also watch movies in different regional languages like Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, etc. It helps us connect with people from diverse backgrounds.

Nowadays, we can also play games on the television and watch agricultural programmes specially designed for the farmers. It promotes national integration.

Disadvantages of Television

There are advantages of watching television, but it also comes with disadvantages. Watching too much TV affects our mental and physical health. When we watch television continuously, it affects our eyes and makes us lazy. Even there are some programmes which are not suitable for kids. We even compromise our sleep to watch TV. Children lose their concentration on their studies by watching too much television. Children prefer to watch TV over reading books to spend their leisure time.

Conclusion of Essay on Advantages and Disadvantages of Television

There are advantages and disadvantages of television. If television is helpful, it is harmful too. One should not watch television excessively.

We hope you found this essay on the advantages and disadvantages of television helpful. Check BYJU’S for more such CBSE Essays on different topics. You can also find CBSE study materials and resources for Classes 1 to 12.

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