TV and Media
News editors decide what to broadcast on television and what to print in newspapers. There are two factors that influence their decisions. The first is the kind of customers they tend on. Because each kind of readers and watchers has its own features. For example, if your customers are almost teenagers, you have to concentrate on something attracting them such as stories, photographs about singer stars, film stars, funny tales, and young fashion. It will be very silly if you try to provide teenagers with economic, politic news. On the contrary, business men and politicians may never read news about James Blunt or Keira Knightley. Therefore, what influence news editors’ decisions the most is the taste of their customers.
The second is the hot, the attraction of news. Who will reads or watches your news if it was one year, one month ago even last week? The answer is nobody absolutely. In the energetic and competitive world nowadays, people always ask for really new news. So that to satisfy customers, there is a pressure on all editors to find continually what has already happened not only yesterday but even an hour ago. Or else, they will lose their customers. None of editors wants that bad future.
On television or in newspaper, we seem to become used to bad news. It is a little of difficult for us to meet a piece of good news. We can’t deny that bad things occur on the earth day by day. However, news editors try to gain more and more customer, which means more and more money, by bad news. Because bad news makes us curious. We want to know why it is bad, what it is about, whether it influences us or not. As a result, we will buy newspapers or watch television to find out. And the happiest people are, of course, news editors.
I think it would be better if more good news was reported. Bad news makes us worry and sad. Whereas good news makes us happy. How much bad news is, there should be the same amount of good news. So, we can give something bad a lot of thought while still be joyful with good news. Any inequalities between good news and bad news should be avoided. That is the best solution.
Now, we can’t live without news. Thereby, the role of news editors is very important. We should support them. And what they have to do is try their best to provide us useful news, both good and bad.
Televisual media has become a pervasive force in the lives of families around the world today. Yet, a central question remains regarding whether watching television is harmful or beneficial for children. An analysis of this question reveals that television programs present three major concerns in the case of children, including depictions of violence, the use of profane language, and the representation of poor moral role models.
Television programs that portray violence are a paramount concern for parents nowadays. Recent research has shown that children may commit acts of violence because they wish to emulate the behavior that they see on television. This is especially true when violent acts are committed by well-known action “heroes.” In addition, television programs show cartoon figures, as well as actors, committing violent acts. Using comic situations to depict violent themes causes further problems with the way in which young people view violence.
Television programs that contain profane or disrespectful language also worry parents with young children. Because censorship laws have relaxed over the past few decades, it has become very common for television programs of each and every kind to show characters expressing impolite, rude, and insulting utterances to one another. Bearing resemblance to the case of portrayals of violence, children unfortunately often try to imitate these actions they watch on their television screens.
Finally, some parents are upset about the moral behavior depicted on television. As they struggle to teach their children moral and ethical values, parents might despair about the lack of morals and ethics represented in some of the so-called role models on television. For instance, certain characters not only have no remorse for their immoral actions, but also frequently go unpunished by larger society.
Because of these factors, many parents believe that television programs send their youth the wrong kinds of messages. The emulation of this poor behavior by their children is something they wish to avoid at all costs, and they have accordingly decided to ban television in their households for these reasons.
It has been around forty years since television was first introduced into Australian households and people today still have mixed views on whether it has a positive or a negative influence on the society.
Many people believe that television damages culture. It promotes the stronger cultures of countries such as Britain and North America and weakens the cultures of less wealthy countries. This is because the stronger, wealthier countries are able to assert their own culture by producing more programs that are shown widely around the world. These programs then influence people, particularly young people, in the countries where they are shown.
Also, because television networks need to attract large audiences to secure their financial survival, they must produce programs which are interesting to a broad range of people. In Australia this range is very broad because we are a multicultural society and people of all ages like to watch television. To interest all these different people, most television programs are short in length, full of action and excitement, do not require much intelligence or knowledge to understand, and follow universal themes common to all cultures, such as love and crime. Television programs which concentrate on or develop themes pertinent to one particular culture are not so successful because they interest a smaller audience.
Nevertheless we much acknowledge that television does have some positive effects on the cultures within a society as well. People who do not live within their own culture can, in a limited way, access it through the multicultural station on the television. For example, Aboriginal children who have grown up in white families, or migrants and international students living in Australia, can watch programs from their own culture on the television.
In conclusion, I hold the view that television promotes and strengthens those cultures that are wealthy and influential while it weakens the cultures that are already in a weakened position.
The mass media have a powerful influence in shaping our lives. We have come to depend on them for information and entertainment, and in doing so we let them affect important aspects of our lives.
The undeniable usefulness of the media in almost instantly providing information about events around the world is largely taken for granted. But in our dependence on the media we have allowed them to mould our notions and opinions of events, places and people. Though few of us probably think about it, our conceptions of, say, our elected officials spring from television images and newspaper stories. Most of us will never meet prime ministers or presidents, but anyone who is regularly exposed to the media will have an opinion of them. When it is time to cast our vote, we will make our decision based on how the media portray the candidates. We are similarly swayed by coverage of wars. The media, representing the values of their owners, societies and governments, tend to report wars with a bias; which is the ‘good’ side and which the ‘bad’ is determined for us by reporters, editors and commentators, and sure enough the public begins to form opinions that reflect the coverage they see, hear and read in the major media.
The media are also influential in the way they facilitate the spread of culture and lifestyle. The so-called ‘global youth culture’, in which one finds young people around the world displaying a common interest in music, clothing styles and films, is an example of the media’s enormous sway in this regard. A popular figure such as Michael Jackson would never be so well known were it not for the media’s extensive reach into every society on the globe.
Thus I would argue that the mass media’s influence is certainly great. Indeed, with technological advancements such as the Internet bringing even more forms of electronic media to our homes and workplaces, it is likely the media’s influence will grow even stronger.
Some people think that reading for pleasure increases people’s imagination and language skills more so than watching TV does. Personally, I totally agree with this view and will analyse the reasons in the following essay.
Reading for enjoyment can help people to develop their imagination and improve their language skills in many ways. Firstly, while watching television is said to be more of a passive activity, reading is considered to be an active form of learning. Reading stimulates people’s brains more as they have to use their imagination to visualise the characters and plot of the story, and this helps to further develop their imaginative thinking skills. Secondly, language skills can also be improved from reading. By reading regularly, people can expand their vocabulary and learn different grammatical structures and how to use them effectively.
Watching TV, on the other hand, does little to enhance people’s imagination and language skills. While reading, people have plenty of time to read the text and visualise the content of the story. However, when watching TV, viewers use their imagination very little, as they can see the images on the screen. Furthermore, the dialogue of the story or movie is usually spoken at a fast pace, which does not give viewers much time to comprehend what is being said, let alone learning anything new. Finally, television is full of advertisements these days and therefore distracts viewers from what they are watching. This makes it even more difficult for people to absorb information that might enhance their language skills.
In conclusion, I believe that reading books is a more efficient way for people to enhance their imagination and language skills, while watching TV is simply more of a source of entertainment.
While some people consider films simply a source of entertainment, others suggest that films should be educational. Personally, I believe that films can be either, or both, entertaining and educational; however, it is up to each individual to choose what films they like to watch and for what reasons they watch them.
These days, films and TV are extremely popular forms of entertainment. Almost every household owns one or more televisions, and almost everybody loves to watch a certain television program or type of film. After a long day at work or school, many people simply want to come home and sit in front of the TV to relax and be entertained. They may not have the energy or enthusiasm to sit and learn about something. Furthermore, films and television programs are a part of the entertainment industry. The purpose of this industry is for entertainment, and it is a multibillion-dollar industry that creates jobs and generates a lot of money in many countries.
On the other hand, films and TV programs can have very strong effects on the minds of audiences and therefore people should be careful about how the content of the films that they watch affect them and their families. For example, many people’s morals and values are shaped by what they watch on TV and in films. In addition, children can learn about right and wrong through the cartoons they watch, while adults can also learn many important lessons through watching films. For instance, watching a film about war may cause people to have a strong sense of patriotism for their country which could be seen as a positive educational effect.
In conclusion, while educational films, such as documentaries, can also be entertaining, and some films for entertainment can also have many educational aspects, I believe it is not necessary that all films need to be educational.
A large number of media channels these days are too focused on negative news, probably to increase viewership. However, many people often say that they prefer more good news being covered in the media. I personally agree with this Idea and will explain my reasoning in my essay below.
Bad news dominating the headlines is having an undesirable influence on society. Psychologically, this type of news, unless managed properly, may keep readers in a state of stress and lead them to experience trauma. Stories about ISIS slaughtering innocent citizens for example caused massive damage to people’s mental states and instilled fear into their minds. Also, frequent exposure to negative news can distort readers’ perception of reality. In Vietnam for example, it seems that members of the media do not focus on keeping the public informed of current events anymore, both locally and globally. Instead, they are trying to publish articles with the primary aim of attracting more viewers and therefore increasing profits. This, unfortunately, shapes readers’ outlook on society in a negative way.
On the other hand, including good news in the media may have positive effects on the general public. It helps restore our faith in humanity, which inspires moral courses of action to uphold ethical social values. Media stories of good news, as opposed to bad news, can also have a positive psychological implication. Such stories can uplift people to become more optimistic and generally improve both physical and mental health.
In conclusion, I believe recounting more stories of good news can positively affect the moral behavior of a group of people and therefore should receive more attention. Although negative news still has an important place in our life, its severity should be realized so that readers can fully reap all the benefits that the media has to offer.
The news media have long been a great part of our lives. In my opinion, contrary to its original objective of ‘spreading factual news to people’, the media nowadays do more harm than good.
Television and the press, whether conventional or online-based, have influenced virtually every aspect of our lives. Pop fans rely on tabloids to keep themselves informed of their idols’ lives. Those who are more concerned with global affairs say that the tensions between Israel and Palestine could not reach them without the assistance of the news media. Indeed, the media have become our extended eyes and ears, and it is not an overstatement to say that a day without reading a paper or surfing the internet and we would be completely ignorant of what’s happening in the surrounding world.
Sadly, such great influences have gradually driven our society in a negative way. Firstly, the media submerge our society in a horrendous, ever-changing whirlwind of terror and anxiety. Too much news coverage of terrorism, war, killings and racism can be found on every news site on the internet, and its impact is so strong that it causes great distress to citizens and can incite violence among many individuals. Furthermore, our perceptions and perspectives are likely to be manipulated by the news media, for they are our only source of information. Indeed, we form our opinions about a particular event based on what we gather from media reports, regardless of the degree of authenticity. Distorted news leads to distorted minds, social unrest, unjust judgment and global conflicts; which all take their roots from distorted news.
In conclusion, I believe that the news media has a direct influence on our minds and lives, and it appears to be detrimental to our way of thinking. Therefore, people need to make good judgments over what they read in their daily newspaper.