Television....

Television can be a powerful entertainment and education tool for families, children specifically, given the right programming. However, studies have shown that television, and media in general, can also have a very negative influence. Some studies indicate it can shorten attention span, distort body image, work in conjunction with other factors to escalate obesity, create fear, and increase aggressive and anti-social behaviors if exposure is unmonitored and unlimited.

Children are most susceptible to these resulting aspects. Over the past 30 years, thousands of studies have examined the effects of TV violence on children. Viewing violence on TV has been linked to aggression in both males and females despite other factors such as intelligence, social status, or parenting style. It has been said to be a powerful influence in developing value systems and shaping behavior. Obviously television can be seen as a dangerous tool against our society. So why have it so available?

Despite most arguments that have been presented in the past, television programming has not made any positive change... ever. In relation to the video Tough Guise an evolution is television has been going in the opposite direction. More violence, more profanity and overall more explicit content.

The worst thing about this unfortunate evolution is the availability of these programs are increasing at almost an exponential rate. Even though most logical conclusions would result in the belief that television is a tool that does more harm than good, but the truth is: people have control over what they view. But even though all of the effects stated above can be seen as direct relations to television, the only reason these effects are significant is because television is not sufficiently monitered.

In conclusion, the television programes that play such a large role in each of our lives, should not be blamed for faults in our society. A look deeper into these problems may be benificial in regard to there solutions.

The Fallacy of Quoting Out of Context

Today's media effects many aspects of life beyond our own. Politics, advertising, even religious subjects are all altered in one way or another to please a certain audience, to make an argument easier to refute, or to simply change the overall meaning of a excerpt.

This unusual practice (yes it is a profession) alters the main point any person , magazine, TV show, political group... is trying to display. Usually referred to as "contextonomy" or "quote-mining", it basically removes any unneeded passages from its surrounding matter in such a way as to distort its intended meaning. This is a completely legal discipline and in fact, quite a useful and needed job regarding many political and journalistic corporations. As legal as it may be, it is a logical fallacy none-the-less.

There are typically two main arguments that are based upon this fallacious thinking. As a "straw man" argument, ,which is frequently found in politics it involves quoting an opponent out of context in order to misrepresent their position (usually to make it seem more simplistic or extreme) in order to make it easier to refute. Below is an example of how the straw man fallacy works. As you can see, it can be used very effectively distorted to change the meaning of any (usually political) passage.

1. Person A has position X.
2. Person B presents position Y (which is a distorted version of X).
3. Person B attacks position Y.
4. Therefore X is false/incorrect/flawed.
   

And as an appeal to authority argument , it involves quoting an authority on the subject out of context, in order to misrepresent that authority as supporting some position. Below, another example display how this fallacy's form

1. Person A is (claimed to be) an authority on subject S.
2. Person A makes claim C about subject S.
3. Therefore, C is true.

So regarding the media triangle, the audience is a very important supporter of these logical fallacies. Depending on how susceptible the chosen audience is, these altered passages can create a major impact on society. Whether it be a major refute to a government party, a bias regarding entertainment, or a change in religious heart, this contextonomy discipline can be used to alter the response that is received from the audience.

Examples:

• Entertainment: with The Times reporting its frequent abuse by promoters with, for example, "I couldn’t help feeling that, for all the energy, razzmatazz and technical wizardry, the audience had been shortchanged" being pared down to "having 'energy, razzmatazz and technical wizardry'".
• Politics: in the 2000 United States Republican primary campaign, George W. Bush's campaign screened advertising including a 'warning' from John McCain's "conservative hometown paper" that "It's time the rest of the nation learns about the McCain we know." The paper (The Arizona Republic), however went on to say "There is much there to admire. After all, we have supported McCain in his past runs for office."
• Religion: The following quote, mentioned in New Scientist, has been used to attempt to discredit evolution. “ In any case, no real evolutionist, whether gradualist or punctuationist, uses the fossil record as evidence in favour of the theory of evolution as opposed to special creation. ” However, the quote leaves out the very next sentence, which not only provides context, but shows the authors point of view much more accurately: “ This does not mean that the theory of evolution is unproven. ”

Overall, this idea of contextonomy or quote mining can, and does on a daily basis, change and audiences conception/opinion of a sampled piece of media. It heavily is related to key concept number 2, media construct reality.

Media Construct Reality- The CSI Effect.

Media construct reality. Obviously, the hit television series CSI, is quite unrealistic, at least to most sensible people, but a strange phenomenon called the CSI effect disturbes some veiwers sense of reality through a number of methods. This strange concept is changing people's perception of how real crime scene investigations actually occur.

Generally, a crime scene investigation takes quite a while; much longer than what CSI depicts. This can heavily distort the opinion and even standards of judges and other court evaluates. The convincing imitations on this show of how real crime scene investigators work to distort viewers into believing that technology, such as databases, devices and other futuristic gadgets, actually do exists. This raises the standards, and lowers the patience, of people everywhere.

For sake of an example, think of a family that has just had a member murdered, while ignoring the morbidity at hand. This hypothetical family is emotionally scarred and furious, and they want the criminal to be punished. "In CSI this would have been figured out already". But the problems for the actual crime scene investigators don't stop there. When they do finally find sufficient, or previously sufficient, evidence (which could include witnesses, alibis, or video footage) the judge asks for more. What he is looking for is material evidence, because its so easy to find with the all new high tech gadgets. This may seem absurd, but this kind of thing is becoming more and more real, all based on the images being displayed through the media that constantly distort our perception of how things really work.


This is what people don't understand; CSI is a production designed solely for the entertainment of it's viewers, not for the purpose of educating in any way.

The media triangle can be used in this situation, to examine the audience that is being altered. Through the very theatrical and dramatic production, a false understanding is adhered. Because the audience does not see how this production that actually makes the show entertaining, their thought are directed towards a reality that does not exist. "If this is how it is being portrayed, it must happen kinda like that", but the problem with this thought is, is that the word kinda is not fully understood, and usually ignored.

Now this is quite a general statement, and obviously media texts appeal differently to everyone, but it is safe to say that the population of these impressionable people is growing almost exponentially.