English Test 2: Essay

Television, AKA the boob tube, idiot box, etc. is widely blamed for the dumbing down of society. Television has revolutionized entertainment. Families watch Prime Time sitcoms and children engross themselves in Saturday morning cartoons and accompanying toy and cereal commercials. Just as television has changed the way we spend our evenings and weekends, it has also changed the way we view politics. Politics and current events have become another form of entertainment. Dozens of talk shows air political gossip. Twenty-four hour news channels provide continuous coverage for the news junky. Up until the events of September 11, TV was filled with wild speculation and stories about Gary Condit and Bill Clinton. Whenever a conflict broke out, CNN reporters would be in distant locales to give their commentary in front of a night-shrouded skyline. Television has changed politics with its immediacy, reach and intimacy.

Television broadcasts images nearly instantaneously. This instantaneous transmission has wide-reaching effects during times of both war and peace. During the Vietnam War, reporters would send raw video footage to Japan where it was edited and broadcast in the United States the next day. During more recent conflicts, such as the Gulf War and the bombings of Kosovo and Afghanistan, television sends up-to-the minute information into millions of households and offices. On September 11, 2001, millions of people around the world witnessed the horrible live images of the Twin Towers burning. Addresses by the President were broadcast live by the same news networks to the same audiences.

Canadians were on the edge of their seats as the results of the 1995 Quebec Referendum were tallied up at the polls. The impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton were broadcast live into people’s homes.

The near-instantaneous nature of television has profound implications on how people perceive events. If something happens in the world, it will become news the next day. The immediacy of television has made people more informed, but it has also created an impatient society. Two weeks after the bombing of Afghanistan began, people became agitated over the perceived lack of progress. For a while there were doubts over America’s eventual victory over the Taliban. Of course no one remembers that it was 7 months after Pearl Harbour before the Americans engaged the Japanese. Or in 1979 the Soviets overran Afghanistan within 2 weeks and spent the next 9 years fighting guerrillas. The public demands quick fixes for tough problems and politicians are too ready to give them. Bill Clinton’s bombing of terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan after the double embassy bombings in 1998 inflicted little damage on the terrorists, but it had the appearance of swift and decisive action. This failure to undertake serious action resulted in the failure to prevent the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Instantaneous television has reduced the attention span and patience of society to fruit fly proportions.

Television has unprecedented reach. Over 98% of all households in Canada own a colour television. When President George Bush gave his State of the Union address, millions of families tuned in. Large amounts of cash and massive political machines are required for candidates to buy exposure and ultimately reach office. Unknown candidates are unelected candidates. Political parties court large corporations and unions for the large amounts of cash needed to buy nationwide television, print and radio coverage. Hence the political system has shifted its focus from individual donors and party members to special interests with deep pockets. George W. Bush’s election campaign cost US$85 million. Bill Clinton rented out the Lincoln bedroom in the White House in exchange for ‘soft money’ donations. This focus on political fundraising has been blamed for voter apathy and a public disengagement from democracy. Voter turnout in elections has been declining slowly for decades. Calls for fundraising reform have been growing steadily louder.

Television is the most intimate of the mass media. Printed articles in newspapers may have accurate statistics and facts, but they do not connect with the reader like television can. Television can create powerful images. Footage of the Vietnam War was often broadcast in a biased fashion. When audiences were shown images of American soldiers being carried off in body bags, they received the impression that the Americans were losing. Cold and impersonal body count statistics just did not create the same effect. Many Vietnam veterans bitterly blame the media for ‘losing the war’ by negatively swaying public opinion. Television’s power of persuasion is great indeed. Big media companies have a strong influence over public perceptions. They have the power to make or break political careers. Therefore politicians take pains to appear telegenic and maintain a favourable relationship with the media, as they are the modern kingmakers.

The television has and will continue to have a profound effect upon the political landscape. Television has created the need for expensive political machines to propel candidates into office. Special interests feed these machines and set the agenda. Television has also created a generation of instant gratification. Nowadays wars that last more than a few weeks are long. People demand information immediately and lots of it. When something happens, people demand the authorities take action immediately. The power wielded by media corporations over public opinion should not be underestimated. Overall television has changed society, unfortunately for the worse in many ways.