Television Research - Coursework Example

RESEARCHING TELEVISION STUDIES By Name Course Instructor Institution City/State Date Researching Television Studies Introduction The emergency of television has transformed the media and broadcasting industry in various ways. This has led to various people to review the importance of the television and the various transformations that resulted from the invention. Raymond Williams was a historical cultural critic known for his contribution in cultural studies (O'Connor, 2005, p. 23). In his work, Raymond Williams tries to find the control of technology in society. He seeks to study the influence of television in the cultural context. In his book television: technology and cultural forms, Raymond explain the various effects of television and the media and how such effects may be controlled in society in order to maintain the culture. In his early writings on television, Raymond Williams explains the emergence of television technology using the Marxism point of view (Smith, 2008, p. 45). He criticises the emergence of technology since it has various effects on cultural activities of various societies. In his point of view, Raymond examines television as a means in which tradition was communicated. According to Raymond, the evolution and development of technology and television has undergone various changes. These changes have affected the society in various forms including the social institution. He believed that the development and invention of technology were with the primary intention of transmitting news but did not foresee the effects that the technology will have on the social institution. In his writings, Raymond has described the various forms of televisions and their evolution. This paper examines the development of television and the ways in which Raymond William’s views technology in terms of communication has affected the various forms of culture (Williams, 2003, p. 132). Technology and Society: Emergency of Television The emergency of technology and television in general can be viewed in different perspectives. The status of television and technology can be viewed as an effect in the society or a cause in the society. The development of television was questioned on the basis of whether or not roles were appropriate in the technological determinism, or the emergence of technology was brought in by different groups of people with certain intentions and motives. According tom Raymond Williams, the emergence of television was due to several reasons. He believes that television was developed because of scientific research in the entertainment industry in order to alter the news and entertainment industries (O'Connor, 2005, p. 23). However, the power of this technological advancement was too much such that everything in the media and news industry was controlled by the television technology. This scientific research led to the development of social communications, which in terms of television overpowered the various norms and cultural beliefs in the society. Raymond believes that television developed as a scientific research and intervention tool, which altered the perception of people on electronic world such that people have a different perception of the realities of the world and the way different individuals related with one another (Williams, 2003, p. 156). Williams goes ahead and describes the notion that television was invented intentionally in order to meet the demands of the environment in terms of investments. This is through providing news and entertainment on a commercial basis. This implies that the development of the television was meant for commercial purposes and was used as an investments machine at home in order to develop the economies of the world. Therefore, Raymond Williams suggests that television was invented intentionally in order to meet virtuous need in the society. However, he notes that the emergency of television and technology should not determine the use of the same technology and people’s perceptions on the use of television. According to Williams, technology can be isolated in the society, views that are contradicting the current anthropological studies that suggest technology and culture cannot be separated. Therefore, television was developed as a tool of communication, but there was no definition of the emerging contents in technology (Williams, 2006, p. 231). Television: Technology and Society The development of television was not a single event but was due to various technological advancements that were going on. These technological developments were in response to various social and economic changes in various parts of the world. The development of television was a part of the idea in technological developments hence could not be separated from the others (Williams, 2012, p. 68). The earlier developments in technology included the electricity with led to the emergence of telegraphs and photographing. Other developments were suggested which could be able to transmit photos from one technological device to another. These developments were on a community emphasis although some were on an individual basis. The developments were all aimed at the social transmission of images and sounds. Therefore, the earliest form of communications such as photographing and telegraphy increased the social demand for a new way communication, which led to the development of television (Williams, 2003, p. 20). Technology Institutions The various forms of communications need regulations in order to avoid misuse by different parties in the world. Various parties such as the state and corporations have been in competition in order to express their interests using television. The conflicting interests were between manufactures of television technology and the politicians. Although television was used to transmit news and photos in order to assist the society in meeting some its need, people at different levels in the society have always wanted to benefit from the television developments (Williams, 2012, 28). This brought marginalisation between the broadcasters and the political authorities. This has led to a failure in controlling the political authorities over their powers on their broadcasting industry. This has led to colonialism in the field of broadcasting (Williams, 2003, 26). Television was seen to have an authoritative nature, which was not similar to that of the radio and earlier forms of communication. This means that the political authorities have been used to intimidate the privacy and independence of the television networks. Companies that had influence could be given broadcasting rights, which created a monopoly in the television industry. Forms of Television In Raymond Williams’ view, television can be divided into different forms. This means that there are various forms of television, which are broadly categorized into two groups. According to Williams, the first group consists of the forms of information contents that were already in existence before the development of the television. These include news, argument and discussion, films, dramas, sport, advertising, and education (Williams, 2012, p. 104). News Before the development of broadcast news, there was the newspaper, which has fully developed. With the development of television, the news was supposed to be read by news anchors that were assumed neutral and authoritative in nature. This led to the development of distinctive reporters on issues of politics and environments. Various departments were involved in news preparation, which involved gathering the news, editing and presentation. However, others continued to use the general news agencies, which were found inn different broadcasting companies. The relationship between the newspaper and television broadcasting was not clearly understood hence brought various complications. The newspapers had adopted a sequence in which they would present the news in the newspaper (Williams, 2012, p. 140). This was in such a way that certain pages only contained selected information making it possible for the reader to scan the newspaper. This sequence of news presentation was also adopted by the television broadcasters. This made it possible for the television industry to adopt a linear system on presenting news. In addition, the broadcasters adopted ‘the head lines’ systems where news could be presented in headlines before the full bulletin (Smith, 2008, 127). However, most of the televisions adopted the linear structure of presenting news. The linear mode of transmission enables the presenter to prioritise news, in a way that the vital news could be read at the start of a news bulletin while the other news then follows. This was consistent with the earlier newspapers that had various ways of attracting the attention of the reader using the mosaic format. In terms of presentation, Raymond notes that, news presentation on the television was by anonymous individuals (Smith, 2008, p. 58). Most of the announcers were coming from the authoritative class that included the ruling class. The introduction of the broadcaster was later improved for security purposes where the station may be under threats of attacks. Therefore, the news presenters could adopt a certain formula in which they present the news. They would start with the news and then introduce themselves or with their names before the introduction of the news. The news has also undergone alteration in terms of content. In current bulletins, the news is accompanied by more visual contents. This is crucial especially during times of war where live proceedings and developments are used to make instant decisions (Williams, 2003, p. 53). Arguments and Discussion Earlier forms of television had less involvement of political elites and prominent people in discussing matters of national and personal interest. In current television, there is the emphasis on discussing political matters by elected leaders and other famous people in the society. This means that earlier forms of the broadcast were denying the society the various governments’ news on governance of the countries, the debates in various parliaments. Only a limited number of individuals were able to access such discussions. Therefore, there has been a change in the quality of television access in the world over the decades. The current television allows more discussions and arguments in order to promote transparency and accountability (Williams, 2003, p.45). Education Television has brought education in the limelight. Unlike before, demonstration, research and invention are broadcasted live on television, a transformation that did never exist. The development of television has enabled lecturer to reach a wider range of students through live broadcasts of lecture programs. The emergency of television has made it possible for educators to use visual demonstrations thus improving their presentation skills. The live demonstrations of learning materials have encouraged better understanding among the students. Different television channels have educational programs where interaction between students and their instructors is possible (Cole, 2008). Films and Drama The development of films on television was necessary after the cinema decline. This enabled the broadcasting of various dramas using the visual effects. Unlike before, when drama was only through radio, the emergence of television has made it possible to link films and television drama. This made it possible for various institutions to broadcast their various performances in terms of drama. Therefore, the emergence of television transformed the film and the drama industry from the existing ones. More performances could be broadcasted since they were now able to reach a larger audience. In additions, the performance were broadcasted live or recorded on television. This was an improvement from radio drama, which lacked visuals (Williams, 2003, p. 53). Therefore, as Raymond appreciates the impact of technology and television, he disagrees with the technological determinism. This implied that technology does not exist as an independent entity, but incorporate itself in the social values of life hence can be used by authorities and those acting against the various authorities. Therefore, the existence of a controlling mechanism is necessary in television networks. In addition, William suggests alternative methods of technology that may not be influential. He added that the development of satellite and cable television would be necessary to control the television technology (Williams, 2008, p.47). Conclusion The developments of television have various impacts on culture and the way people live. Raymond Williams has discussed various reasons as to why the invention of television was necessary. In his writings, Raymond believes that television was developed as a scientific research and technological intervention. This technology was aimed at transmitting news from one device to the other. Raymond believes that the invention of television was not an accidental research but was intentional in order to meet the growing needs of the society. He believed that technological invention of television was due to the need to improve the economy of the world in terms of entertainment and commercial television. However, such developments did not predict the impact that would be caused by television. Raymond believes that television and technology in general has transformed the world in various ways. In addition, political authority has used the invention in their favour. According to Raymond, televising has improved education, drama, films and the way of presenting news. However, the emergence of technology and television should be controlled in order to prevent those effects, which are not desirable in society. In such control, he suggests alternative technologies, which should be adopted. According to Raymond, such methods will be able to exist on their own without causing any effects on the world. These alternatives include satellite and the cable television. References Cole, J., 2008. Raymond Williams and education - a slow reach again for control. The encyclopaedia of informal education. [online]. Available at: http://www.infed.org/thinkers/raymond_williams.htm. Accessed on 22-03-2013. O'Connor, A., 2005. Raymond Williams. Critical Media Studies. Rowman and Littlefield Smith, D., 2008. Raymond Williams: A Warrior's Tale. Cardigan: Parthian. Williams, R., 2012. Raymond Williams on Television (Routledge Revivals): Selected Writings. London: Taylor & Francis Group. Williams, R., 2003. Television: Technology and Cultural Form. London: Routledge. Read More