The television had a drastic effect on the people after its introduction to the public and helped show Americans the truth on some topics of life in other parts of America
One major event that the television helped promote was the Civil Rights Movement and how bad the situation was in the south for many Americans. The images of people being beaten and attacked by dogs helped show viewers the intensity of the protests and how dangerous they were while at the same time promoting the movement.
Another event that was broadcasted majorly on television was the Vietnam War. For the first time, Americans could see the atrocities that war created and how bad it really was to fight in battles. This imagery of the dead and of engagements with Viet Cong helped some Americans realize that Vietnam was unnecessary and was only resulting in a loss of death. Others were convinced by the reporters who went to Vietnam and broadcasted their disapproval of the war, showing Americans the extreme bloodshed and revealing the exaggeration in casualties the Vietnamese had sustained.
Overall, the television was able to connect Americans and show how certain events were worse than it seemed from the perspective you could get from a newspaper or radio. This helped connect Americans and give a perspective they would have otherwise not had.
I think in this day and age it's hard for anybody including the government to hid thing's that they are doing because it's difficult with all the publicity and news we have today. Although with the press it tends to keep people more aware and therefore less inclined to do the wrong thing.
ReplyDeleteI like how you focused your post on a method of media and talked about how it affected America at the time. Most posts are about an event in American History or a person but you chose an invention which affected American society. Very interesting and insightful post.
ReplyDeleteTelevision was ground breaking tech when it first came out, for reasons as you stated like it connected Americans to wars from their households and got them more informed with how "horrible" our world actually was. Without out it I don't think, even in this day and age, we would be as a mature in the mind and tolerant of obscene things as we are in our present day.
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