Un-informative Information

In my first lesson of Economics, I learnt that people are selfish. People will do whatever they can to ensure that they’re life is as comfortable as it can possibly be. If an issue does not affect them directly, it’s not worth concerning themselves about it. This is evidently the problem at hand here. Everyday people don’t want to hear about the problems of global warming or pollution; they would rather immerse themselves in a false reality. Such as the backstreets of Coronation Street where it’s a surprise there are any cast members left courtesy of the plethora of murders that go on or the wonders of X Factor where it’s inexplicable how two terrible entertainers can paradoxically capture the hearts of half of Britain. People love a good mystery. Those in charge of providing entertainment to the masses certainly know what they’re doing. If they want people to watch their shows, they’re going to have to appeal to their tastes, throw all acknowledgement of what’s happening in the world out of the window and create a mindless session of moving pictures for people to unwind to. It’s not as if I don’t partake in such an activity though. After a long day of studying, I find it much more preferable to watch the activities of that famous family of yellow Americans than to watch and hear the terrible atrocities that people of the world create. My view is that the majority of people who wish to know more about serious world issues, have the ability to do so, therefore the problem does not lie there. The problem is that people just do not want to know. What they don’t know can’t hurt them. Except it can, which will no doubt cause more fear and regression into the land of soap operas. Inserting current day issues into dramas has become more and more popular but often subtle enough to avoid viewers turning over. Personally, I have seen many programs where a new cast character has been introduced as coming from India or China or another foreign country and not once have I ever associated that with the issue of migration. Yet as I write this I feel fairly certain that the episode I watched would have had some impact on my sub-conscious. That maybe the opinions of the writers of that episode had been passed on to me via a program I enjoy to watch. If that is the case then it worries me how influential a simple television program can be yet I am pleased that the programs I watch are written by open minded people.

Television broadcasting is the most influential media form in the world. Four hours of television a day means that by the age of 60, the average person has spent 10 years watching. A huge amount of television viewing is done by children with approximately 30 hours of schooling a week compared to 38 hours of watching. It is advised that children under the age of 2 do not watch television. It is at this time that humans learn about social interaction and at that stage, the distinction between reality and fantasy is impossible for a child. After a hard day’s work, the distinction can become quite difficult for adults as well. We will allow anything to play in the background as long as it does not require thinking. Television is not all bad though, for children it can be an excellent tool for learning. The same can be said for adults who are actively watching. Documentaries can be both entertaining and highly informative on a subject that the viewer has chosen to watch. I myself am looking forward to watching the Copenhagen Conference on different news channels but will most definitely only watch it when I am ready to, in order to absorb as much as possible. So referring back to my original point, I believe that the means to watch informative and none biased programs is available to everyone; it is just whether we can be bothered to seek them out.

Now it is quite easy to simply talk about the influence of television but to see it in action is a different story. Below is a link of a hidden camera’s recording of children watching television.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny3JpoLJixM

Although it is difficult to distinguish what one boy says, the phrase “Tag Team Champions” can be heard quite clearly and an act of violence is committed. It is my impression that these children have been watching or at some point watched some form of wrestling program and the effects are quite apparent. Even more interesting is the way the adult in this clip is using the television as some sort of nanny for the children and then even he becomes hypnotised by the adverts. This level of influence is disturbing and even more so if it could be used to plant notions and opinions in the general public. However I don’t think the different stages of quality control could allow sub-conscious racism to be projected from every set in the country.

I have more issue with newspapers though. Being a Guardian reader, I enjoy the informative content and find any obvious political views of the writers to be either just or called for. Not often have I seen cheap insults at members of the opposite party, less than can be said for The Sun. One of my housemates regularly buys and reads The Sun. On several occasions a story may have caught my eye but I would always find the issue was never properly concluded and often would just have outrageous remarks throughout. The Sun is a tabloid newspaper and as such has the role of providing news on the less important problems in the world. Focusing on celebrities and scandal are some of its more sophisticated aims. People want to know what is going on in a celebrity’s life and The Sun provides that. Not much can be faulted in their intentions until stories are completely fabricated which The Sun has done a few times during its course. Now not only are irrelevant stories being read by nearly 8million a day but they’re also complete rubbish. One of their more researched headlines stated “STRAIGHT SEX CANNOT GIVE YOU AIDS – OFFICIAL."

However newspapers aim to please their readers and to do that they provide what the readers want. If only a small percentage of readers want to know about serious environmental issues then that is more a fault of our own then any media service. Once again the human race has disappointed itself.