Violence on Television

At the end of World War II, most children in the United States had never heard of television. When the medium was first introduced, it was little more than a luxury for the wealthy, but it was a luxury with great appeal, especially for children. Children whose families had a television set quickly became popular. Groups of neighborhood children swarmed to the nearest TV-equipped home to soak up early cartoon and adventure offerings. Given this response, it is not surprising that within two decades (of 1940) virtually every American home had a TV and many had two or more. Despite inflation, the cost of television sets has decreased over the years. While the average cost of a black and white receiver was $279 in 1947, by 1976 the cost had dropped to $89. Today, the overwhelming majority of American households have a color receiver ("What It Does Best," 1989, pp. 102-112).

Television use in the United States quickly stabilized, cutting out its own substantial niche of time in our daily lives. When television entertainment is constantly available through the day, evening and night (as it has been in the United States for many years,) the average household television set is on between five and six hours a day, a

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d this ultimately creates pressure to show advertisements that sell as effectively as possible. Moreover, advertisements directed to children use a variety of sophisticated techniques to appeal to young viewers. Parents claim that children are unable to understand the commercials and that advertising to children over television is unfair. In addition, there are concerns about what is advertised on television. Because of pricing and other considerations it makes more sense to advertise manufacturers treats than fresh farm items, to take one example (Zoglin, 1988, p. 95). Serving the public interest is the fifth concern of parents. Traditionally, two forms of mass media have been distinguished. Print media are those providing access to information by producing and distributing copies. Thus, books, magazines, newspapers, records, tapes, photos and movies are all print media. Printing invites competition. Anyone, can, for example, go into the newspaper business without interfering with anyone else. By contrast the broadcast media, radio and television (excepting cable systems, which however carry some broadcast programs,) must use specific public airwaves to transmit their signals to individual receivers. The licensee giv
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Approximate Word count = 2425
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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