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Table of ContentsSynopsis3Introduction3Background3Discussion4Media4Theoretical analysis of media4Structural - Functional Paradigm4Manifest functions5Latent functions5Dysfunctions5Social - Conflict Paradigm5Symbolic Interaction Paradigm6The truth about Television/Cable TV6Alcohol7Violence7Commercialism7Achievement and Intelligence8Five paths to Cognitive Damage8Social Interaction10Obesity11Attention Deficit Disorder11Conclusion12Recommendations13References151
 
SynopsisThere are few societies in current times, even among the more traditional cultures, whichremain completely untouched by the mass media. Electronic communication is accessibleeven to those who are completely illiterate and in the most isolated areas of third worldcountries it is common to find people owning radios, or even television sets. Newspapers, journals etc flourished at the end of 18
th
century onwards, but were confinedto a fairly small readership. It was not until a century afterwards that such printed media became part of the day-to-day experience of millions of people, influencing their attitudesand opinions. The spread of mass media involving printed documents was soonaccompanied by electronic communication. Children spend the equivalent of almost ahundred school days per year watching television. Adults watch almost as much.Research indicates that if a news report on television differs from a newspaper account,more than twice as many people will believe the televised version as the newspaper one.A vast amount of research work has been carried out in an attempt to analyze theinfluence of particular television programs or type of television programs on the attitudesof children and adults. Most of this research is not conclusive in its implications. It is stillnot agreed, for example, how far the portrayal of violence promotes aggressive behavior among children. But it cannot be doubted that the media profoundly influences people’sattitudes and outlooks. They convey a whole variety of information, which individualswould not otherwise acquire. Newspapers, books, radio, television, films, recorded musicand popular magazines bring us into close contact with experiences which we wouldotherwise have little awareness of.IntroductionThis report is basically about how television/Cable TV has become a part of everyday lifein ways that are not acceptable and are highly disgraceful and harmful for our growth as anation and country.BackgroundAlthough there are some notable exceptions, analysis of television programs designed for children conform to the findings about children’s books. Studies of the most frequentlywatched cartoons show that virtually all the leading figures are males and that malesdominate the active pursuits depicted. Similar images are found in the commercials thatappear at regular intervals throughout the programs.The mass media forms of communication directed to large audiences also socialize us.Radio, television, newspapers and magazines do not merely entertain us; they also shapeour attitudes, values and other basic orientations to life.Television has become the dominant medium and watching television is a favoriteactivity of almost everyone, you and I included. The average adult watches 15 hrs. of 2
 
television a week. School children now spend more time in front of a television than theydo in school and most children spend more time watching television than interacting withtheir parents. Many parents use television as an electronic babysitter, this was firstcommon in the West but now is becoming increasingly popular among the households of Pakistan as well. They do not know however know that the values presented on it maysharply conflict with their own and even if they know they under rate the power of TV asa socializing agent. Since most children are exposed to so much TV, it is not surprisingthat some social analysts have become concerned about the content of what children see.As Joshua Meyrowita (1984) has pointed out that to use television as an electronic babysitter is equivalent to a broad social decision to allow young children to be present atwars & funerals, courtships & seductions, criminal plots & cocktail parties etc. Televisionexposes children to many topics and behaviors that adults have spent centuries trying tokeep hidden from them.Violence on TV has become a special concern. Researchers have found that by the age of 18, the average child has watched about 18,000 people being strangled, stabbed, shot, poisoned, blown up, drowned, run over, beaten to death or otherwise ingeniously done in(Messner1986). The big question of course is what effects does television violence haveon its viewers? Perhaps it simply drains off aggressive impulses through fantasy.Researchers have probed this question for decades with mixed results. Increasingly,however, studies indicate that a heavy diet of TV violence does promote aggressive behavior in children. Studies in the West have identified a circular path. Both boys andgirls who experience a heavy diet of televised violence are more aggressive whileaggressive children are less popular with their peers and spend more solitary timewatching more violent programs. (Eron 1982).DiscussionTo understand what television/Cable TV is and how it is affecting us as a nation, we shallfirst discuss media in general.MediaA society’s means for communication begins with the different forms of media. Radio,television, printed materials and the Internet are just a few resources that people use tostay in touch with everything that is happening in today’s world.Theoretical analysis of mediaWe’ll start of by a theoretical analysis of media where we shall examine the structural-functional, social- conflict, and symbolic interaction analyses of media.Structural-Functional Paradigm - a framework for building theory that sees society as acomplex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability.3
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