Societal Context: Module 3

For Module 3 of Societal Context, we were given the task to recognize the strains that exist between the necessity for economic survival and at the same time maintaining an ethical behavior. For my e-Portfolio, I have decided to choose “Television” as my main subject. I believe the creation of television has brought many positives and beneficial impact towards the people of today. However, I also do believe that television has also brought along negative impacts and at the same time some ethical issues as well towards the people. The e-Portfolio below will explain further, enjoy.

Television – A Good Invention or a Bad Invention?

Television: Good or Bad? (Richardson, 2012)

Even though television is a somewhat recent invention, television is a pillar of the global culture. There are some people out there who states that they do not watch television or even own one, but like it or not, everyone has to admit that television has inevitably shaped the life of all the people in today’s world to some extent (Hutchinson, 2013).

Over 60 years, television has occupied the role of surrogate storyteller in today’s world that no longer needs to spend their evenings huddling around campfires for a good story. Televisions are reasonably priced and their ability to entertain and mesmerize the people guarantees that they can be found anywhere, even in the emerging market countries (Hutchinson, 2013).  

What is a Television?

Television (Tech2Date, 2011)

Television is a telecommunication system that is used worldwide for receiving and broadcasting sounds, moving pictures and more over a distance. The term television may also be specifically referring to television transmission, a television set or programming. The word television derives from a mixture of Greek and Latin roots which means “far sight” (Kidsfront, 2013).

History of Television

First Mass Produced Television Set (Wikipedia, 2013)

Televisions are not like other inventions that have been created throughout history. The difference between television and other inventions is that the creation of the television credits numerous inventors instead of just one specific inventor. In other words, there were numerous inventors that had the same idea and at the same time were working on that idea. The idea was to create something which enables them to watch pictures on a screen (Saperecom, 2013).

Since the 1830’s, inventors from all over the globe had been working on that one idea which is to transmit objects or pictures onto a screen. However, the first physical television did not begin to evolve during the 1830’s, but instead during the 1900’s. Amongst all the inventors worldwide, 5 inventors became prestigious and most popular for the invention of television (Saperecom, 2013). The 5 inventors were:-

• Paul Nipkow
  
  
  
  
  
  Paul Nipkow (Drukuj, 2010)
  
  
  In 1884, Paul Nipkow, a German inventor, invented the first rotating disk which transmits pictures over a wire. Paul Nipkow invention was known to be the first electromechanical television scanning system in the world. This rotating disk invented by Paul Nipkow would rotate at a fast speed and at the same time a beam of light would pass through the holes on the rotating disk to produce an image on a screen (Saperecom, 2013).

• John Baird
  
  
  
  
  
  John Baird (Doramusic, n.d.)
  
  
  In 1924, John Baird became well-known for inventing the first images in motion that were televised all around Europe. Later on, John Baird was able to transmit the human face onto a screen and also invented the first color image tube during the World War II. Even though it took some time before color television became a staple worldwide, John Baird contributions towards the existence of the television were huge (Saperecom, 2013).

• Charles Jenkins
  
  
  
  
  
  Charles Jenkins (Morrisson-Reeves Library, n.d.)
  
  
  The inventor who invented a mechanical television called “radiovision”. During 1923, Charles Jenkins invention was said to have transmitted one of the first moving images. Charles Jenkins along with other numerous inventors, continued to promote the theories in the technology of the television when they managed to transmit the first live images onto a screen. Charles Jenkins is also well-known for forming the first television station in North America (Saperecom, 2013).

• Vladimir Zworykin
  
  
  
  
  
  Vladimir Zworykin (CED Magic, n.d.)
  
  
  Vladimir Zworykin, the inventor of the Kinescope, which is a Cathode Ray tube, and also the person that is responsible for starting a new era in television history. In the 1920’s, before the invention of the Kinescope, televisions were all mechanical. Vladimir Zworykin’s invention was not only needed for transmission, but also has transformed television from a mechanical device into an electronic device (Saperecom, 2013).

• Philo Farnsworth
  
  
  
  
  
  Philo Farnsworth (Bio, 2013)
  
  
  At the age of 13, Philo Farnsworth, an American farmer, made one of the biggest breakthroughs in the history of television. Philo Farnsworth discovered a way on how to transmit images onto a screen by using 60 horizontal lines, which actually made the images that appear on the screen clearer. This American farmer also invented over 165 devices and one of it is the dissector tube, which turns out to be the foundation for today’s televisions.

The Good

• Informative
  
  
  
  
  
  Television, Source of Information (Aleksander, 2013)
  
  
  Television has helped the people to keep themselves up to date on current events by broadcasting the news, weather and more. Without television, the benefit for the people to keep themselves on top of current events within their area or globally will be gone. Since the people in today’s world need to know what is going on around them, this makes television a very beneficial invention (Palmer, 2010).

• Educational
  
  
  
  
  
  Educational Programs Aired on Television (POPSUGAR Entertainment, 2007)
  
  
  Television can be very educational for the viewers. Television gives the viewers a chance to learn and discover new things though educational programs. These educational programs like the science and history channel are good sources to learn from (Palmer, 2010).

• Family Bonding
  
  
  
  
  
  Family Bonding (Patricia, 2012)
  
  
  The television could also be an excellent device used for family bonding. The television allows a family to watch movies, series, talk shows and more together and at more importantly, have great time together (Palmer, 2010). 

• Intelligence
  
  
  
  
  
  Television Aids in Thinking Skills (Chung, 2012)
  
  
  Some of the television shows or movies that are shown today can be very complex, like the movie Inception, and requires a great amount of intelligence in order to understand the show or movie. Television is not all about fantasy, comedy and drama but even more (Palmer, 2010).

• Learn About Different Cultures
  
  
  
  
  
  Different Types of Cultures Worldwide (Matt, 2005)
  
  
  Television gives the viewers a chance to experience and get to know different types of cultures and people right at the comfort of their own home, without the need to go to that certain place just to experience it. This is possible due to the Travel channels, Food Networking channels and more (Palmer, 2010).

• Water Cooler Effect
  
  
  
  
  
  A Conversation Starter (Chung, 2012)
  
  
  Television is able to bring in plenty of different things into the family room. This gives the people who have little in common plenty to talk about (Palmer, 2010).

• How To Do Things
  
  
  

  
  Television as a Source of Information (Lucian, 2011)
  
  
  Television can be a really good informant towards the viewers. Television can aid the viewers in doing things whether if it is making a thing, creating a thing or building a thing (Palmer, 2010).

• Entertainment
  
  
  
  
  
  Television for Entertainment (Florida Cable, 2013)
  
  
  With a whole bunch of different reality shows, cartoons, movies, series and more, television makes for a great source of entertainment (Palmer, 2010). 

• Exercise
  
  
  
  
  
  Television Used for Exercising (POPSUGAR, 2013)
  
  
  Television helps to make exercising even simpler and also cheaper. A person will not need to sign up for any gym memberships, clubs, exercise class and more to get professional help. Television has it all thanks to certain channels that shows the viewer how to exercise at home, how to maintain a healthy diet and lots more (Palmer, 2010).

• Memory
  
  
  
  
  
  Current Series and Dramas Seen on Television (Loulitla, 2013)
  
  
  Plenty of television shows, especially drama and series, requires the viewers to remember the plot on a weekly basis. In a way, television helps the viewers to train their remembering skills in order for the viewers to get the most out of those types of shows (Palmer, 2010).

The Bad

• Increases Stress
  
  
  
  
  
  Television Increases Mental Stress (Kate, 2010)
  
  
  For some people, television helps them to release off some stress. However, what most people do not know is that television actually increases the amount of stress mentally. Yes, television does help a viewer to release some tensions but at the same time, television is actually adding more burden to a viewer’s brain. Television tends to manifests its negative effects and also will leave a severe negative impact towards the minds of the viewers (Oak, 2013).

• Time Wasting
  
  
  
  
  
  Too Much Television is a Waste of Time (Kim, 2012)
  
  
  Some viewers today tend to watch television too much, hence consuming the precious time that can be spent in a healthier and fruitful activities like reading, exercising, travelling and more. Television also takes up the time that could have been used for spending time with friends and family which is a better expenditure of time compared to just watching television (Oak, 2013). 

• Health Concerns
  
  
  
  
  
  Too Much Television Will Lead to Health Problems (Stephen, 2012)
  
  
  Television contributes to one of the biggest health issue that exists in today’s world which is eyesight problems. Watching television is harmful to one’s eyesight. Other than that, researchers also claimed that attention deficit disorders in people are caused by watching too much television. Researchers say that watching too much television may lead to developmental disorder, affecting that one area in a human’s brain which is responsible for language skills. People who read less and watches more television tends to show difficulties in concentrating or paying attention (Oak, 2013).

• Bad Influence
  
  
  
  
  
  Television Can Be Very Influential (Leadership Ethics Online, 2011)
  
  
  Unsupervised watching of the television, especially towards the young ones, may lead to an early exposure to things that the young ones might not understand or may have misinterpreted.  Television shows, movies, dramas and more may have a major influence towards the young ones, thus making them resort to improper measures. Attractively presented series, advertisements, movies and more can deeply effect the young ones mind, hence influencing the young ones behavior and thoughts (Oak, 2013).
  
  Furthermore, these young viewers would also start to identify what is shown on the television and will start to relate to those shows, movies, drama and more that are shown on television to a point where these young viewers will get bored of living a simple and normal life. They tend to crave for riches, fame, desire to live out their lives like their favorite celebrities and more. All this existing issues may lead to frustration and dissatisfaction amongst the young ones due to the contrast between their real life and the life showed on television, such television addicts are bound to become hungry for status, money, power and more (Oak, 2013).

• Disturbs The Mind
  
  
  
  
  
  Some Television Programs Can Be Mentally Disturbing (Lyriquediscorde, 2013)
  
  
  Psychological studies have shown that watching extreme emotional shows, movies, drama and more on television may leave a long-term impact on a viewer’s mind. Frightful scenes, ghosts, horror scenes that are shown on television leave a negative effect on the minds of the viewers watching those types of movies, series and more. Adding on, bloodshed, murder, violence, physical abuse scenes that are shown on television would also have negative effects towards the viewer’s emotions and thoughts (Oak, 2013).

Ethical Issues

• Violence
  
  
  
  
  
  Violence on Television (Kerby, n.d.)
  
  
  Television violence may actually lead to real-life violent actions. According to researches, young viewers would probably have watched roughly 8,000 murder scenes, random violence, war scenes and more shown on television programs throughout their young life. Although young ones has the reasoning abilities to reason that the violence seen on television are all fantasy, there are still some that might misunderstood or misinterpret it. The endless bombardment of violence shown on television programs may desensitize the young ones to these actions or even worse, make them seem captivating towards the young ones (Loop, 2013).
  
  
  
  
  Sex and Violence in Television and the Media Must Be Stopped (Alaskalive, 2009)
  
  
  The video above is trying to send out a message about how television can highly influence the young ones. For example, in the introduction of the video, a young girl finds a boy on the train she was on quite attractive. In order to impress him, she decides to use the pole in the train and starts to give the boy a show, an erotic pole dancing show if i may add. Furthermore, there is a question towards the end of the introduction and the question is, "Can you guess what i want to be when i grow up?". By watching the video, it is a clear cut answer that the girl wants to be a exotic pole dancer. As you go on with the video, there is a scene where it shows a boy celebrating his birthday and ends up stabbing his cake to death. Why and how did both of this actions happened? All thanks to the influence of television. The video above also contains information about how much sex and violence does the children in the United States watch in their whole entire life and more.
  
  

• Unhealthy & Bad Habits
  
  
  
  
  
  Smoking, One of The Worse Unhealthy Habits (Kate, 2013)
  
  
  As if peer pressure was not already enough, television might also have influenced viewers when it comes to unhealthy and bad habits like smoking, doing drugs and more. Television programs nowadays tend to show images of popular, beautiful, young people doing these unhealthy and bad habits and making it seem cool or the “in thing” to do towards impressionable viewers. In short, television is glorifying these unhealthy and bad habits and telling the viewers that it is not an issue to be doing all these habits (Loop, 2013).
  
  
  
  
  Family Guy - Peter On Ecstasy (Hulu, 2008)
  
  
  The video above is a clip from a famous series called "Family Guy". In this brief clip, you see the man in the middle is high on Ecstasy and how he reacts towards his surroundings. From my point of view, the clip is hilarious. However, let us look at a bigger picture. The clip above shows us how you would react if you were to take Ecstasy, but is it the truth? Some viewers would look at it as a fun thing to do and to react that way but everyone in the world knows that Ecstasy is not a toy and can be fatal. Sadly, the clip above did not show the consequences of Ecstasy but instead just shows the viewers what happens if you take Ecstasy and makes turns it into a comedy. In conclusion, television programs such as this can be the cause of why some people have all this unhealthy and bad habits such as doing drugs and smoking. 

• Dating & Sex
  
  
  
  
  
  Sex on Television (Wspot, 2013)
  
  
  Nowadays, television programs tend to make viewers think that sexual acts are acceptable, if not expected or glorifying promiscuity. This issue also makes viewers ignore the real-world consequences and the negative effects of promiscuous (Loop, 2013).

• Body Image
  
  
  
  
  
  Television Can Be The Cause Reason for Low Self-Confidence (Broken Mind, 2012)
  
  
  Often television programs show super-skinny actress or overly-muscular actor on their programs. Most viewers will think this is harmless but truth be told, I can leave a negative influence towards one’s self-perception and body image. Viewers might just compare themselves to the flawless images of the human form that is shown on television programs, hence making viewers see themselves as mediocre compared to the flawless image that they see on the television. This may lead to viewers having a negative self-image of themselves and also lowers their self-confidence (Loop, 2013).
  
  
  
  
  Kids Media Tip: Girls Body Image (Common Sense Media, 2013)
  
  
  For some people, body image is everything. The video above is telling us how people are being influenced by the media, including television, that they would be happier if they had a flawless body. A perfectly good exmaple is in the video itself where a girl posted up a video on youtube asking the world whether she is ugly or not. As you can see, television has a major influence towards the people especially towards the young ones. From my point of view, if this continues, people from all around the world will start to doubt themselves, have low self-confidence or even may result to suicide due to imperfection.

• Humiliation as Entertainment
  
  
  
  
  
  Humiliation as a Source of Entertainment (Romuald, 2006)
  
  
  Schadenfreude is a German word used to describe people’s entertainment and delight at the problems and failings of others. For example, if someone were to slip on the ice and you laugh   at that person that is considered Schadenfreude. If you find a company’s downfall pleasurable, that is also considered Schadenfreude. In conclusion, television programs nowadays are using humiliation of others as the main source of entertainment for others, which from my point of view is highly unethical (Cline, 2013).
  
  
  
  
  TV humiliation - Mexican women (John, 2012)
  
  

  The video above is showing a segment from a television program. In this television program, random women are being humiliated in front of a live crowd and at the same time through international television. For example, in the beginning of the video you will see the host demonstrating what needs to be done and all the woman needs to do is copy him. However, the bed that the woman will be jumping on is fake and filled with water, hence making the woman completely soaking wet, embarassed and humiliated. The television program above is clearly a good example of how one's humiliation is used as a source of entertainment for the world.

• Moral Responsibility
  
  
  
  
  
  Money or Morals? (Freedom Tights, 2011)
  
  
  Production companies that are trying to make money by creating shows based on the suffering and humiliation of people, which the production companies themselves create, for unwary viewers is a very unethical, unconscionable and immoral action. However, not only the production companies are at fault but also the people watching these types of programs. Some viewers are still willing to watch and find enjoyment in these types of programs which do not dismiss them from the responsibility for orchestrating the events happening on the program and also willed the responses in the first place. Long story short, production companies are trying to increase their earnings and viewers are entertained by other people’s suffering, humiliation and embarrassment is considered to be unethical (Cline, 2013).
  
  
  
  
  Did 'Family Guy' go too far? (HLN, 2011)
  
  

  The video above shows us a clip from a news program talking about the popular series "Family Guy" going over-board with their comedy. According to the news, this episode of "Family Guy" is about a woman who is constantly being abused by her boyfriend and she is just fine with it, covering up for the boyfriend and more. Many people would be wondering, "How is that comedy?" or "Abuse is funny?" and more. Not only that, what if children were to watch this kind of television program? Somehow television is telling the young ones that abuse is a normal thing but we all know that it is not. As you can see, some television programs that are shown on television can cause serious issues, ethically and morally.

Reference

• Cline, A. (2013). Ethics of Reality TV: Should We Watch? Retrieved from http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/phil/blphil_eth_realitytv.htm

• Hutchinson, L. (2013, June 13). The Trajectory of Television—Starting with a big history of the small screen. Retrieved from http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/06/the-future-of-tv-a-star-is-born/3/

• Saperecom (2013). History Of Television. Retrieved from http://www.historyoftelevision.net/

• Kidsfront (2013). What is Television - History of Television, Television Systems. Retrieved from http://www.kidsfront.com/television.html

• Loop, E. (2013). The Negative Influence TV Has on Teens | Everyday Life - Global Post. Retrieved from http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/negative-influence-tv-teens-7224.html

• Palmer, B. (2010, May 1). 10 Benefits Of Television | Made Manual. Retrieved from http://www.mademan.com/mm/10-benefits-television.html

• Buzzle (2013). Negative Effects of Television. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/negative-effects-of-television.html

• Buzzle (2013). Is Television a Bad Influence? Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/is-television-a-bad-influence.html

• Alaskalive (2009, August 10). Sex and Violence in Television and the Media Must Be Stopped [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f3OsF_AT0U

• Hulu (2008, November 20). Family Guy - Peter On Ecstasy [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHXi8h8H2VA

• Common Sense Media (2013, April 23). Kids Media Tip: Girls Body Image [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97p6LHCYGD0

• Steve (2009, November 24). Women humiliated on Mexican Television Show [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kH1hd-OqI8

• HLN (2011, October 31). Did 'Family Guy' go too far? [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5qyHEYeGNM

End.

Thank You.