The Influence of Television

560 Words3 Pages
The influence of Television. Television has the ability to set trends and fashion, it also has the ability to make ordinary people rich and famous beyond their wildest imagination. On the flip side it can also exploit and destroy the same people that it made famous. Looking at the world of Television from Functionalist view one would notice the following traits. Television has be responsible for bring more people together to share a global event than any other medium prior. During the 2012 Super Bowl an estimates 166.8 million tuned into the game. That means that more than 50% of the United States 313 million citizens shared an experience that would otherwise not have been possible. Another example of the benefits of television is that it allows news to be broadcasted and disseminated to the masses in real time. This allows for critical information, especially in the case of natural or other types of disaster. Last year during Hurricane Sandy New York and New Jersey residents were able to be kept informed of the storm track and conditions thus reducing the risk of injury or even death. Television has also taken on the role of educating people who has an interest in a wide range of topics or hobbies. In recent years we have seen show such as “This Old House” that educate and entertain at the same time. Of course at the end of the day the number one use of Television is to entertain. It allows us to forget about the issues in our day to day lives and immerse ourselves in a world a fiction. If one was to look at the Television Industry from the Conflicting View they would have a different view. Television has always glorified some of the more unsavory things about our society. For instance the T.V. show “The Sopranos” not only glorified a world where violence was accept but was embraced, it also portrayed the stereotype that all Italian Americans were

More about The Influence of Television

Open Document