Public Opinion and Television Essay - 5264 Words

Public Opinion and Television The paper explores how dangerous such an important mass media as TV can be, if too many power is concentrated in just a few hands, and how our perception of reality can be manipulated by the selection and manipulation of information presented on TV. Introduction The following term paper deals with the development of television from its early beginnings in the 1920s up to now. My attention focuses on the powers which influence what is shown on TV and the analysis of methods they use in order to manipulate the public opinion. Outlining the success story of this important means of mass media at the beginning of the first chapter, I will then explain the effects of globalisation on the TV market.†¦show more content†¦During the first World War this invention was also used by the military forces (cf. Plake 2004:13). The electronic tube was a further achievement which improved the capacity and performance of the transmitter. This technical advance finally lead to the development of the first radio stations. In 1920 the RCA (Radio Corporation of America) started broadcasting the first radio programs and soon others radio stations were founded (cf. Plake 2004:13). While the radio business flourished, television was still in its infancy. In 1928, after a long period of unrealised dreams, concepts and initial discoveries the RCA and the inventor Vladimir Zworykin put the first electronic TV-set called Kinescope and shortly after the first electronic film-camera, the Ikonoscope on the market. All their mechanical predecessors had failed because of their lacking picture quality, but Zworykin ´s revolutionary technology lead to an immediate growth of the TV market. In 1930 in New York the first TV station was founded, which frequently broadcasted TV programs in black and white. Still this was just an experiment, but TV was on its way to become a mean of mass media (cf. Plake 2004:15ff). At about the same time the Scotsman John Logie Baird used the telephone net to transmit pictures from London to Glasgow and invented cable TV. This new transmitting method improved the quality of reception and even live transmission was possible (cf. PlakeShow MoreRelatedPublic Opinion And Policy Implications Of Television1810 Words   |  8 PagesTelevision remains a very important standard regarding how the community view the criminal justice system. Most residents have very little contact with the criminal justice system, usually limited to contacts with police. Only an estimated 21 % of citizens have contact with police officers in a year, and 40 % of those contacts are merely traffic stops (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002). Most people get their information and perceptions about crime and the criminal justice system through variousRead MoreThe Success of the Medias Manipulation on the Publics Opinion of the War920 Words   |  4 PagesManipulation on the Publics Opinion of the War Source K suggests the media was more influential to the opinion of ordinary American citizens than the elected politicians of their country, whom many of the public had voted for and trusted. The source implies that the reason for this was because the horrific images of the war made the American public realise that the war was not going well, contrary to the claims of their government. Television coverage of the war meantRead MoreMass Media and the Vietnam War Essay842 Words   |  4 Pagesthing; this mainly consisted of the American public. By the time it had reached the peak of the war much of the American public had swung towards being for the war. This was mainly due the mass media at the time, one integral part of the mass media that often swayed public opinion was television, it proved to be such an effective method of communication, that it often shocked and consequently altered public opinion. Television wasn’t the only form of mass media; there wereRead MoreCritical Analysis - Cognitive Dissonance, Media Illiteracy and Public Opinion on News Media’1546 Words   |  7 PagesClaussen, Dane S. 2004, ‘Cognitive Dissonance, Media illiteracy and Public Opinion on News Media’, American Behavioral Scientist, Volume 48, Issue 2, pp. 212-218. Topic – The article ‘Cognitive Dissonance, Media Illiteracy and Public Opinion on News Media’ is examining and discussing public opinion, media illiteracy and cognitive dissonance. The author takes you through a break down on public opinion of newspapers and television news and shows why a lot of the quantitative research taken overRead MoreUnited States Involvement in South Vietnam1676 Words   |  7 Pagescount. Study sources D and E How useful are these sources as evidence of the public reaction in the USAto the war in Vietnamin the mid 1960s? Source D is useful because it shows how the media influenced the public opinion of America in 1967. the article appeared in a popular American magazine that was very pro-America. However, the utility of this source to show the public reaction is limited because the percentages of people asked do not add up to 100. ThereRead MoreHow Media Uses Different Methods Manipulate The Public And The Influence It Has On Society1411 Words   |  6 PagesPublic Opinion â€Å"Public opinion, an aggregate of the individual views, attitudes, and beliefs about a particular topic, expressed by a significant proportion of a community.† Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2015. Britannica. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.britannica.com/topic/public-opinion. [Accessed 11 November 15] â€Å"The collective opinion of many people on some issue, problem, etc., especially as a guide to action, decision, or the like.† Dictionary.com. 2015. dictionary.reference.com. [ONLINE] AvailableRead More Televisions Manipulation of the Facts Essay1304 Words   |  6 Pagesparticipate in during their free time is watching the television. Since its invention over sixty years ago, the television has been a source of enjoyment and information for the American citizen (Pember, 1981). Though what one sees on the television is not what one should always believe. Many people look at television with the camera never lies attitude, and are easily manipulated by this medium. People are manipulated by television because most television programming is controlled by a small number ofRead MoreMedia Analysis of a Current Controversial Issue875 Words   |  4 Pagesblamed of being bias while reporting on gay marriages and homosexuality. The homosexuality group is a minority group that is always viewed very different by the society. Many forms of media are used to address these topic namely; the social media, television, newspapers, and magazines. The social media has been known to be on the leading end on tackling controversial issues. The online community has given the homosexuality topic more attention than the mainstream press and also much opinionated intensityRead MoreLegal Aspects of News Gathering in War Essay1529 Words   |  7 Pageson citizens morale and the attitude of nations. Journalists are often confronted with the ethical and moral dilemmas of producing accurate, yet interesting stories. They must be responsible with their reporting, but at the same time keep the public interest high in order to be successful. It is suspected the propaganda has been around as long as freedom of expression. One of the earliest and most famous cases in which the media was used to shape the ways in which war itself is waged andRead MoreMedia Effect On Public Opinion Essay1527 Words   |  7 Pagesable to control and influence opinions of the public through news stories within the last 80 years through the development of framing. Framing is when a story or piece of news is portrayed in a certain way that is meant to control the audience’s opinion and attitude, to agree one way or the other that the media wants them to. The technique of framing can be seen as a controlling technique of journalism writing to sway or trick the audience to base their own opinion on what is being presented. The