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We Are Underestimating The Power Of The Television, And We Have To Change This Now

The history of television that has allowed us to develop the way we have today.

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Unsplash / Jed Villejo

Televisions have made a significant impact on Americans by increasing communication and interaction with one another. Televisions were invented during the 1920's, but did not become popular until after World War II, where people began watching the Vietnam War on their televisions at home. The idea of televisions in America began to disperse once Franklin Delano Roosevelt began to air 1939 New York World's Fair. This drastically changed the way Americans communicated, as they began to exchange information with one another through the television medium.

During the Vietnam War, Americans viewed the information of the entire war on television and broadcast. They were informed through this new way of communication. Though there was this rapid communication, the United States aimed to make Americans have hope by not always telling the complete truth.

The United States broadcast would show the ultimate casualties and injuries in the war, while the president would inform whether or not the war is going well. In order for the United States government to not lose the trust of their Americans, they created the idea of Vietnamization, where they removed American soldiers and added South Vietnam soldiers. They surrendered quickly in order to stop them from losing too miserably and losing more soldiers.

The disbursement idea of the television allowed for the United States to realize they can not put their people in more danger or wars that cause them to win because everything is now shown instantly and anything going wrong can significantly harm the trust Americans have in the government. Communication was drastically changing because earlier news was spread through newspapers, but now they had an instant technology to allow communication in seconds that fascinated them. By 1946, There were already five television channels in areas like New York City and Chicago.

As televisions became a means for entertainment purposes, they also increased simultaneously with politics. Mccarthyism was first initiated on broadcast, where everyone feared about Communism spreading which grew witch hunt. Though, as time went on, McCarthy's ideas began to decline and people like Edward Murrow began to report against McCarthy to bring him down. Because of this instant technology, McCarthy's ideas declined rapidly, which caused him to be censured by the United States Senate. Though the new technology helped with introducing new ways of entertainment, it also made it easier for Americans to hear news instantly.

Nowadays, televisions are a huge part of people's lives. This holds true not just in the United States, but worldwide. Anywhere you go in the United States or western world, there's a television. Life has significantly changed since the early 1900's because newspapers were still used. Now, everything is instant. Finding out news or sharing news is done in seconds in color, not black and white, and is easily done. Television is loved for seven reasons: authority, creating communities, inspire minds, giving voice to a good cause, stimulating economy, embracing digital age, and reaching consumers to build brands.

When televisions were first invented, they didn't start with all these goals. It's primary intent for existing began first with entertainment and eventually politics significantly dispersed as new televisions and technologies came about. One of the reasons television is loved is because of authority. It is crazy how people's lives revolves around a screen that shares all the information needed for entertainment and the country. It is popular for that reason that it has validity and people can trust what is said on there because everything is checked and censured beforehand.

Television gains people's trust, allowing the people to sit and enjoy watching it. This allows the creation of communities because people begin to watch entertainment tv shows or sports together in their leisure time. While enjoying entertainment, people begin to get fascinated by new ideas that are introduced on televisions. This allows then to be inspired and created new ideas of their own, which results in new innovative technology on the rise and increasing digital age. This results in new technology innovations to be created by the people who were fascinated by what they saw on the television. The Televisions inspiration doesn't come naturally. It comes from the good cause voices that the television shares with people. When campaigning, it is most significant to make it go on television to inspire people not only to support, but join the cause. This also results in the increase in communities because people begin supporting each other on an idea that allows them to work as one.

Furthermore, television allows the people to know how the economy of the country is and where there was issues. There are new stations such as CBS news that inform the people about issues occurring in the country as well as political news. Elections are based off television. How a person views the candidate on television is significant because it is based of people's perspectives who wins the election. Candidates share their views and depict how they would approach issues on televisions that builds the perspective people have on them. Companies have begun to do the same and create advertisement to inform people about their company and what they have to offer in order to expand their own businesses.

In conclusion, the expansion of television has significantly changed the way people communicate, exchange information, and has positively provided a means for a reliable and readily available resource.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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