| II.
Background: |
Ever
since the B.B.C. television service began in 1926 and
the first transatlantic picture was sent by the Telstar
Communications Satellite in 1962, the influence of television
has been growing ever stronger and can be felt in almost
every household throughout the world. Indeed, the power
of this magic box is so great that it has virtually changed
the life style of millions of people and has even caused
panic among those who have come to see more and more the
negative side of this mass medium.
Regular television broadcasting
began in the U.S. in 1940, and in the 1950s and 1960s
radio was overtaken by television. Television resembles
a private performance in the home. Like a talking picture
magazine, going on daily and nightly, it gives out along
with its entertainment a quantity of easily assimilated
information ranging from formal news coverage to informal
discussion of the lighter affairs of the day. Through
it music, drama, poetry, ballet, and spectacle have all
become universally available, reaching audiences that
number in the millions.
Television is also an important
teaching aid in bringing to a number of students simultaneously
the details of a subject or an experiment that otherwise
could be viewed only by a single person or small group.
In education, television’s most impressive use is extending
the range of a gifted teacher beyond a single classroom
so that millions of students can benefit from his teaching.
A scientific experiment can be learned by watching how
it is done. The best example is the landing on the moon
by the American astronauts in 1069, which was carried
by satellite to an estimated audience of more than 100,000,000
viewers.
The author, Robert MacNeil, only
takes up TV’s adverse effect on American culture in the
text. But, of course, the good or evil effects of television
largely depend on the people who manipulate it. |
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