Article Response
The role of the media (radio, television and cable television) was believed to educate and entertain their audiences and when cable television took over from broadcast television, there was an aura of expectations that television viewing was moving in the right direction. Sadly, that didn’t happen. Banet-Weiser, in ‘The Success Story: Nickelodeon,’ discusses the role of media in the civilized world. In what was construed to be the advent of technology that would touch the sentiments of the public, cable television became the puppet of advertisers.
In discussing the topic, the author takes the reader through the various facets of media revolution and considers the children’s entertainment network, Nickelodeon, to be a stand-alone and complete authority in autonomous television telecast. Today, almost all cable television networks broadcast for commercial purposes. They run because of the revenue they generate from advertisements. The basic idea of the media to regulate and produce programs for their audiences has given way to respect for advertising and the commercial structure of television. When television took over from radio broadcasting, the impression that it created was that it would telecast programs that were audience-specific. However, in a short period of time, television was forced to make way for cable television. There was a lot of anticipation that cable TV, being private-owned, would televise programs to suit their audiences, but their hopes were short-lived. Cable TV was run by advertisers and they were the ones who dictated what kind of programs should be screened and for whom and when. Minow, in his ‘vast wasteland’ speech said, “In the 1930S and 1940S, television's creators expressed their hope that the new medium would be the greatest instrument of enlightenment ever invented, a blessing to future generations” (Banet-Weiser, p.39). This is far from true as most cable television are owned and run by the political and bureaucrats whose aim is the commercialize commercialization of cable networks. It wasn’t until years of struggle that Nickelodeon claimed itself as a broadcaster that stood for the public interest of kids, emerged. The network tried new ideas, developed a new kind of relationship with the audience that was based on a kind of ‘respect,’ and created its own original programming without the external pressure or influence of advertisers.
Networking the World
Mattelart takes a look at the role of the media during and after the World War. According to him, the media has played a vital role in propaganda. He says that the media has played an important role in shaping the history of the world. It was the power of propaganda.
The idea of media was for propaganda. Manipulation of information to masses globally, before and during the World War II made the media a respectable form of news gathering. The radio was so powerful in propagating information to allies that “German strategists recognized the effectiveness of the Allies propaganda as one of the decisive causes for their defeat” (Mattelart, p.37) Once the war was over, the Americans disbanded the services of the radio that propagated to the world on the war. The British established a marketing Board whose mission was to promote products of the Empire (Mattelart, p.38). What Mattelart speaks of through this article is the chronological development of the media; from radios to movies to newspapers and magazines. During the World War, the Americans used the radio to propagate the allies’ progress in the war with Germany and after the war; the British used it as a marketing tool. “It was in the 1920s that America witnessed the growth of marketing agencies that sought to be strategists and one that dealt with social relations through the incorporation of masses into the nascent consumer society” (Mattelart, p.42-43). “In 1924, an alliance was formed between British advertising agencies and their counterparts in the U.S with the agenda of making marketing ethical through the adherence of the International Code of Advertising Practices” (Mattelart, p.43). Their aim was to create a new world economic order. It was the radio that rose to play a role in global politics; The Voice of America was born in February, 1942.
Works Cited
Banet-Weiser, (n.d), The Success Story: Nickelodeon and the Cable Industry, Ch.2, p. 38-68
Mattelart, A, (n.d), Networking the World, 1794-2000, University of Minnesota Press, p. 34-47
