FREE ESSAY ON ROLE OF TELEVISION PLAY IN SOCIETY

ROLE OF TELEVISION PLAY IN SOCIETY

What role does television play in society?
For decades we have seen many parts of our world rapidly going through changes in
technology. Today's society has been transformed by means of communication and the
available information through mass media. Most Americans rely on television for news,
sports, and entertainment. Television is just one of the many examples of how technology
has changed our lives. Since the invention of the television in the early 1900's, it has
played a very important role in our lives. 
Having a television set in the home has become very essential in today's society. We
depend on it to entertain us with its sitcoms and to inform us about current world
issues. The problem is that sometimes what we hear or see on television is not always
accurate or correct. Sometimes news stories give us the wrong information and we believe
that it is true because it is being said on television. They may give you a story, but
they may leave out some details to prove their point or to make the story more
interesting. According to Neil Postman in "Future Shlock," "…Americans are among
the most ill-informed people in the world" (676). He goes on to say that "Television, in
other words, is not the great information machine. It is the great disinformation
machine" (677). I agree with his statements because TV tends to mislead us with its
stories. I also believe he says that we are "among the most ill-informed people" because
we tend to want to watch the entertainment shows and not tune it to the news broadcasts
so we are not informed about what is going on in our world. We complain that there aren't
enough intelligent people in the world and yet we are being misinformed by what is
supposed to be our main source of information.
Another way television misleads its viewers is by the way that they present candidates
for an election of politicians. They spend all their time and money trying to put
together a commercial that only puts down the other candidate. How are voters supposed to
know whom to vote for if all they are presented with is negative ideas about each
candidate? 
Television also tries to persuade us to vote for a certain proposition. Voters are also
lured into voting for or against a proposition by listening to the music being played in
the background of the commercial. An example of this type of situation may be the
campaign on proposition 5 dealing with the Indian Casinos. They play sad, and convincing,
music in the background of their commercial so the viewers can soften their hearts and
vote "yes" on their proposition. 
Television is powerful enough to make our shopping easier. Actually, it is making us
lazier. TV shows such as the Home Shopping Network make shopping as easy as dialing some
numbers on a touch tone phone. 
People are also convinced to buy a certain product because a celebrity is presenting it.
For example: if supermodel Cindy Crawford presents make-up, ladies will buy it and wear
it because they believe that it will make them look like her.
As a television viewer myself, I believe that television has us all trapped in a world
where we believe everything that is being said. As technology keeps advancing there will
be less tasks for us to do. Television is one of the many advances in technology that has
made our lives easier, or should I say it has made us lazier? Whether that is good or
bad, I don't know, but what I do know is that technology is robbing us of our ability to
think for ourselves.