Television as a Cultural Transporter in Human Lives - Essay Example

Running Head: Television as Cultural Transporter Television as a Cultural Transporter in Human Lives of Television as a Cultural Transporter in Human Lives Since the advent of humans on this planet, a long way has been passed during the journey that has progressed from the Iron Age until the present era of information technology. In the result, more and more facilities and amenities have been developed by man, which has revolutionized and benefited the human race around the world. In this regard, the invention of television has been considered as one of the major twists during the thirties. Before approximately five decades, most of the populace was practically unknown with the term of television. However, nowadays, this term has enveloped almost all the homes, offices, malls, and a number of places around the world. Man has been benefiting by the abovementioned term that has powerfully provided an informative, as well as, interactive platform throughout the world. Briefly, various services and resources have been collected and provided by the television in an entertaining manner for the improvement and promotion of humankind. In the history of humankind, the field of communication has developed a lot, and one of the most outstanding innovations is conceivably, the television. (Burns, pp. 52-56, 1998) However, everything has its advantages, as well as, disadvantages, and it depends upon the person to either benefit by it, or allow the matter to harm the surroundings. Thus, television and television broadcasting has also advantages, as well as, drawbacks; however, disadvantages have been outweighed by the superior enormity of its advantages. Although, it is a common thought that the principle ingredients of the television are dramas, soaps, advertising, and the news. However, television constitutes of more than the abovementioned tools and resources, which will be discussed in this paper. Nowadays, contemporary state of affairs has been benefiting by this tool, which has proved itself as one of the best among rest of the world. Today, a single room has been presented as a new and innovative appearance of the whole globe. (Dornfield, pp. 51-54, 1998) Currently, a student can even acquire his education on the television without even standing up from his chair. On the other hand, a businessperson can make a deal by being updated of best suppliers, as well as, latest technologies around the world without any visa application, as well as, without any travelling expenses, which was not possible some decades ago. Moreover, a South African can catch latest news of an event occurring in United Kingdom, which has only become possible due to the availability of the television broadcasting in almost every corner of the world. In addition, hundreds of channels can be seen and entertain millions of viewers and captivate them within some remote clicks, and without collecting the videos that require lots of space. Interestingly, shopping can also be done on television within minutes with the help of credit cards without roaming in the rush of shopping malls, which has been greatly appreciated by the female populace of the globe. Thus, television has become a matter of just fingertips, and has promoted, as well as, assisted the humans in achieving a better and improved place in their lives. (Cole, pp. 32-38, 1970) In other words, a small global village has been formed by the creation and introduction of television into the human lives. Communication has become a matter of seconds from one corner of the world to another. A number of news channels have been established to provide current affairs, recent updates, breaking news, business news, etc. to millions of viewers from different and diverse cultures around the globe. Reliability and speed is being innovated and improved day by day, which has changed the perceptions of humans at all. It is now just a fraction of second to check the weather report of an African city, or study the European culture from the National Geographic while residing in the United States. (Williams, pp. 22-29, 2003) One of the biggest advantages of the television is the plenty of information that has been provided by this platform. A virtual library of millions of entertaining stories, music, literature, and art has been an innovative wardrobe of the television, which is one of the major reasons of its popularity and demand around the world. In addition, the cultural changes and visible impacts are the lively proofs of the television. In the result, television watching has become one of the common and popular hobbies of students and children around the world. One of the advantages of the television is its reliability, as the information on the television is updated within seconds. Businesspersons can be informed of latest foreign exchange rates and products that would be in trend in the near future. (Collins, pp. 40-44, 1990) Thus, television has become a necessity, rather than a luxury in almost every part of the world. Until now, we have described and discussed some of the advantages of the television, such as communication, information, entertainment, services, e-commerce, etc. Now, the impacts and effects of television broadcasting will be discussed in the following pages. As television has masses of advantages that have benefited almost every sector of the planet, it has influenced and affected thousands of people culturally, emotionally, and psychologically. (Gordon, pp. 98-99, 1978) As we have discussed earlier than the paper that gradually, man has developed a lot and has innovated a number of things for his new demands and necessities. However, it has been observed that these technologies have now become a major influencing factor in the human lives, and the lives of many people have been affected by the contribution of different inventions and innovations of the humans. In the past, it has been an observation that creation and introduction of automotives and airplanes in human lives changed the perception and thinking mode of almost every human in the world. (Butler, pp. 25-27, 2006) Prior to the creation of these inventions, for instance, it was impossible for a British to check the latest news related to an Asian country in some minutes. However, the invention of television changed the perspectives of luxury and necessities in human lives. Nowadays, reality is very much visible and transparent in front of everybody. Let it be the War in Iraq or tsunami in Asia, or a bomb blast, the television keeps on updating its viewers within seconds, and therefore, a television viewer can be the part of news or an event without being a participant of it. (Miller, pp. 69-72, 2003) In addition, television has also provided a means of cultural diversity to its million of viewers in different parts of the world. Now, an African can experience an American culture with the help of television broadcasting without even being stepping in the region. In the past, one of the most important and major tool for the transportation and communication of cultures, intellect, and entertainment was considered the invention of cars, airplanes, etc, as already discussed in the paper. However, the television broadcasting has crossed the cultural and political limitations and restrictions of communication that have been imposed by the previous inventions before the television. The term 'television' is used not only for an electronic box that provides a transmission by receiving and sending particular images and sounds within a distance; however, a new commercial world of entertainment and technology has been emerged through this idiot box, as referred in some of the parts of the United Kingdom. In this regard, the earlier writings that have considered the television and its globalized flow have also deemed the abovementioned as importance concerns. In particular, the role of a cultural, political, social, as well as, technological equipment and tool is being played by the television in the light of related writings. (Zworykin, pp. 17-19, 1954) For instance, the television medium was considered by Rudolf Arnheim in his notable writings in which, the characteristics of providing global mobility and pluralism have been stressed by him. In other words, different cultures are being transported from one corner to another corner of the world. In this regard, it can be seen that people from a place are provided with an opportunity of travelling without even moving from a seat. (Gordon, pp. 70-73, 1978) In the past, people used to think of one place of their living as the whole world, as they were not known about the different places and civilizations of the world. One of the reasons of this unfamiliarity with the surroundings was due to the unavailability of required resources and technologies that can provide information to the people. However, as the television came into the human lives, it provided the knowledge to the populace that connected and interlinked them with rest of the world. One of the reasons of popularity of the television in almost every part of the world is its interactive environment that provides the information about almost everything, and especially, within an interactive manner. (Butler, pp. 55-59, 2006) In the result, diffidence and modesty for each other was increased, and selfishness was decreased, as television brought a lot of cultures and civilizations with itself. The television has taught us the story of prince of Egypt in an interactive mode that a little child, as well as, an old man can sit together and learn about the same event that had been considered as one of the major events of the human history. However, this cultural diversity of television has brought a number of disadvantages with it. For instance, it has been observed that not everybody is sensitive and comfortable with the televise-media that it has deteriorated the lives of several people around the world. Television programs and entertainment does not work according to a specified target, as little children, teenagers, adolescents, adults, and older people may watch the same program at the same time. Thus, the outcomes of the television may be very deteriorating, as different understandings might be made by different viewers regarding the same program. In this regard, as different cultures are brought together with the help of television, it may also take connected civilizations away from each other. For instance, different television programs promote the War in Iraq, which may be due to the influence of American government on these channels. On the other hand, some channels may oppose the involvement of American government and army in this war. Thus, at the same time, same event is presented in different and diverse manner, which may result in several misunderstandings about a single event. Consequently, there are many chances that it may corrupt and damage the thinking of different people in one society or community, and may force these people to oppose each other. (Fiske, pp. 12-15, 1987) In this regard, a very crucial and significant role is played by the television, as it may nurture, as well as, deteriorate the thinking, intellect, culture, society, and most important, expectations and potentials of the future generations. In this respect, parents also play an important role in supporting the television broadcasting, as many courses of it may weaken the lives of children, and in brief, damage the fundamentals of a society. Thus, the instructions that are considered for the representation of cultural, social, and political information to the viewers must be planned, created, and analyzed properly prior to their implementation. Nearly transparency has been observed in the tools of education by an important role that has been played by the communication, and especially, television in the human lives. Nowadays, absence of even small tools like pencils, books, newspapers has become very important due to a demanding life of the humans. Similarly, the crucial and vital responsibility that is being fulfilled by the television has been forgotten by humans unfortunately. However, if one day the television broadcasting discontinues, our lives start to become bored and jaded, and vice versa. (Trenarman, pp. 88-93, 1961) In other words, it has become a part of life of every human, and human life may be incomplete for almost every person. For instance, a child may cry, if his/her cartoon channel may stop for sometime. Similarly, a housewife may feel bored, if her soap may not be telecasted on her time. Likewise, a businessperson may fall into losses, if the business channel may not be broadcasted on his/her television set. Thus, everybody has been depended on the television in same or different way, and its role cannot be ignored in any way. In brief, introduction and creation of television has not been done to add a new variety to the technologies, however, astonishing rates have been employed to connect different cultures with this remarkable and amazing tool. In the past, only one medium was used to communicate or define literacy or any subject before the invention of television and its incorporation in our lives. In this regard, meta-medium has been provided by the television, which has encouraged and supported the accessibility and capabilities of different cultures. As a new range of media has been provided by the technology of television, evolution of literacy related skills has been observed in the societies. Thus, television has become an alternative of formal schools to even educate people, whether they are teenagers, or retired after their fifties. Nowadays, technology of television has become so advanced that traditional ways can be employed to understand and represent each other. Presently, most of the stories, comics, news, etc. are being heard and seen by children from the television, and not from their parents or elder siblings, which has occurred for the first time in the history of humankind. The television is playing the role of a father that scolds by sketching a reality, and at the same time, entertains with the interactive and animated programs. In this regard, the television can make a very radical effect on the human lives, especially the children. It is a very serious concern, as children are the future of our world. In other words, television can even change the environment and surroundings by its influencing curriculum. (Bogart, pp. 37-40, 1958) As earlier mentioned in the paper, programs and soaps have been considered as the only constituent of the television; however, more than that is the capability and ability of the television. A collection of mythologies can be referred while defining and explaining the television. It has been observed that the abovementioned collection of traditional mythologies is repeated with such a high frequency on the television that reality-based conceptions of the cultures and societies may be influenced by them. In the result, the affairs and issues, and the way of dealing with such subjects and concerns may change gradually, and change the perspectives of its constituents. During the cultivation of new and sometimes, diverse traditions and perspectives by the technology of television, violence is inculcated in the environment, and reality becomes opaque by the provided mysterious reality of the media, which takes the viewers in a different world. However, a number of experts have noted and evaluated that violence is project by the television media in a cool and effective manner. Thrill and swiftness is considered while presenting the information and entertainment to its viewers. However, once again, the viewership may be different and diverse, in terms of culture, society, literacy, and thus, may not understand the perception of the projectors behind the technology. In this regard, one of the major disadvantages of the television media is that it encourages the violence in the society, but in a controlled manner. However, sometimes, the media cannot retain the controlling power, as the viewers are not bounded by the television. Therefore, while the television provides an interactive cultural tour of the world, it also takes the risk of deteriorating the cultural perspective of this planet. (Brown, pp. 90-93, 1973) As we have already discussed that the attitude and perception towards the reality is changed and sometimes, misguided by the television, this alteration in the attitude results in a perception that tends the viewers to consider the misguided and opaque reality to be the real one, and thus, the realistic reality is affected adversely. For instance, a European TV channel may represent their traditions and ways of living, and it may influence an Asian viewer. On the other hand, the influenced viewer may try to incorporate the learned thing from that European TV channel, which may not be acceptable in his/her society or culture. In the result, this viewer may incorporate the thing, but may reject by the people. In the result, television provides a deep and intellectual thinking of a culture; however, at the same time, it tends the people to even oppose their own traditions and cultures, which may deteriorate the society, and hurt the people that are deeply interlinked with the culture. In this regard, it is the utmost duty of directors, producers, and related professionals to plan and analyze the instructions for the TV channels. The invention of television has benefited a lot to the human lives, as we have discussed some of the cultural and social effects of the television that have changed the perceptions and perspectives of the human world. (Brainard, pp. 102-105, 2004) We have discussed that in the history of humankind, the field of communication has developed a lot, and one of the most outstanding innovations is conceivably, the television. However, everything has its advantages, as well as, disadvantages, and it depends upon the person to either benefit by it, or allow the matter to harm the surroundings. Thus, television and television broadcasting has advantages, as well as, drawbacks. (Brown, pp. 89-91, 1990) However, disadvantages have been outweighed by the superior enormity of its advantages. A small global village has been formed by the creation and introduction of television into the human lives. Communication has become a matter of seconds from one corner of the world to another. A number of news channels have been established to provide current affairs, recent updates, breaking news, business news, etc. to millions of viewers from different and diverse cultures around the globe. Conclusively, we have discussed some of the effects and the role of television as a cultural transporter in the human lives. It has been hoped that this paper will help the professionals and students in the better understanding of role of television in the world. References Barry Dornfield. (1998). Producing Public Television, Producing Public Culture. Princeton University Press: New York, USA. Barry G. Cole. (1970). Television. Free Press: New York, USA. Gordon. (1978). Mass Communication Effects and Processes. Verna: Texas, USA. Jeremy G. Butler. (2006). Television. Routledge: UK. John Fiske. (1987). Television Culture. Routledge: UK. Joseph M. Trenarman. (1961). Television and the Political Image. Methuen: New York, USA. Leo. Bogart. (1958). The Age of Television. F. Ungar Pub. Co: Colorado, USA. Les Brown. (1973). Television. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich: USA. Lon A. Brainard. (2004). Television. Lynne Rienner Publishers: New York, USA. Marry Ellen Brown. (1990). Television and Women's Culture. Currency Press: USA. R. W. Burns. (1998). Television. IET: Texas, USA. Raymond Williams. (2003). Television. Routledge: UK. Richard Collins. (1990). Television. Routledge: UK. Toby Miller. (2003). Television. Taylor & Francis: New York, USA. Vldamir Kosma Zworykin. (1954). Television. J. Wiley: New York, USA. Read More