Television Has Influence; What Does It Mean?

Television Has Influence; What Does It Mean?

October 23, 2003

The value of television has long been a major topic of disagreement for casual observers of American culture. While TV has unquestionably been a lucrative cash cow for the programming and marketing moguls of the world, many people question whether or not television has had any positive effect in its over 50 years of existence. In 1961, FCC Chairman Newt Minow condemned the TV programming landscape as a “vast wasteland,” but has all of television’s influence been negative?

The first source of the day would seem to confirm the notion that TV has been almost exclusively a cultural blight. An essay by an unknown student author at the website 4essays.com largely deprecates television’s effect on American culture. The essay claims that people have abandoned other pursuits in favor of watching TV. Attending minor league sports games have been replaced by TV coverage of major league matches, outdoor child’s play has been passed over for kids’ TV shows, and national network news has gained favor over local newspapers. Even though television may have had a negative effect on the culture, the essay concludes that TV is not inherently negative; people need to find television’s proper place in society and keep it there.

Today’s number two source looks at the influence of TV from a slightly different perspective: the effect on high-school-aged adolescents. A 1997 article from Denebola, the official newspaper of Newton South High School in Newton, MA delves into this topic. Denebola writer Jessica Bean presents poll results identifying students’ media influences, and television lands a decisive first place. Bean (no, not the Rowan Atkinson character) also gives readers the products of many student interviews, and her subjects readily admit that TV shapes their opinions and provides them with characters whose behavior they attempt to emulate. Some of the interviewees give outwardly positive opinions of television; “I think it’s made me a better person, because I’m more culturally aware,” one student declares. Bean concludes that TV—as well as all media, for that matter—has a great influence on the students of Newton South High, but she does not firmly indicate whether that influence is positive or negative.

Bean’s conclusion, or rather, Bean’s lack of conclusion about television’s influence being a constructive or destructive presence in our culture is probably quite accurate. While many people concur that TV has influence, who could ever realistically determine the merit of its effect? Sure, TV is home to Fox, but it is also home to PBS. Do the two counterbalance? How could you tell?

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