Article 1
“Society`s Storyteller: How TV Creates the Myths by Which We Live”
This article talks about the hidden impact television has on people. The author argues that television shapes the human view of the world, which might have quite a dangerous effect. It is important to note that this article was written in 1992, when television was the peak of the mass media. Today the situation has changed dramatically since more than twenty years have passed since then. Therefore, this article should be analyzed carefully, considering all the recent changes in the media sphere.
I liked the idea that “most people do not watch TV by the program, but by the clock” (Gerbner, 1992, p. 118). Thus, TV dictates the rhythm of life to those who watching it.
Another Gerbner`s idea, which is now also topical, is that at the time of this article writing, about a hundred people in Hollywood used to produce about 95% of content that most Americans were watching. This idea may be extended to all over the world today. Nevertheless, the idea is that less than half of one percent of people controls the way of thinking of all other people. This idea sounds shocking, but still it is true.
One of the most valuable ideas in this article is Gerbner`s claim about “the need for media literacy and for critical engagement with TV watching” (Gerbner, 1992, p. 117). Although this idea was written in 1992, it is still applicable today. Earlier media was represented by television and the press, but now most people have unlimited access to the Internet, where there are answers to all questions. Thus, because of the high availability of any information, people must evaluate each resource critically in order to find the most objective information.
Article 2
“Watching TV Makes You Smarter” by Steven Johnson
It seems that Johnson is one of those authors, who tend to look for the positive effect in every situation. He argues that despite the commercial breaks (advertising), TV shows are full of logical problems, difficulties and unsolvable riddles that make viewers think.
Interestingly, Johnson justifies even such things as violence and ethnic stereotypes in TV content. According to him, in spite of the violent content, these programs make the audience “pay attention, draw conclusions and track of the logical chain of events shown” (Johnson, 2005, p. 133). As a result, in order to understand the inappropriate content, people have to use their intelligence, logic and attention. This is what the author calls a good influence of television.
In fact, this is one of the most controversial items that were found in the article. However, it is necessary to accept the fact that all programs, movies, TV shows and other media content is being developed in two directions. Firstly, it is becoming more sophisticated and difficult to understand, what makes people think. This is a positive effect of television. Secondly, media programs are becoming more violent from the moral point of view, which is a negative effect. What do we get as a result? The audience, which is a consumer of the media content, develops logical thinking and becomes less sensitive to violence. As a result, people get transformed into rational and violent ones. This is a rather frightening trend.
Article 3
“Gin, Television, and Social Surplus” by Clay Shirky
Before reading this article, I did not think about why TV was invented. Of course, this was is one of the most progressive media channels. At the same time, it is one of the most powerful tools of social influence. However, Shirky goes further and says that the TV was a tool that organized people`s free time after the Second World War, when most of the people started to work five days a week (Shirky, 2008, p. 145). Indeed, TV has its own timetable. This means that people are able to plan their free time in accordance with the schedule of TV programs.
Nowadays, TV is rapidly giving the reins of governance to the Internet. Nevertheless, the technology human of people`s free time regulation remains the same. In their spare time, people use the Internet, which has two effects: it gives the illusion of freedom of choice about what content to consume, and it takes much more time than TV used to do.
Another useful idea for today is the idea of a lifetime surplus. Projects such as TV, Internet and billions of web pages are the result of an excessive amount of time. People just do not know what to do with it. The found solution in this situation is simple: the media. Shirky`s explanation of the media is the following: "People like to consume, people like to produce, and they like to share» (Shirky, 2008, p. 148). This ingenious assertion is a simple but true explanation for all manifestations of the media that people had, have and will have in the future.
References
Gerbner, G. (1992). Society’s storyteller: How television creates the myths by which we live. Media & Values, 59(60), 8-9.
Johnson, S. (2005). Watching TV makes you smarter. The New York Times, 24.
Shirky, C. (2008). Gin, television, and social surplus. Here Comes Everybody, 26.
