According to the webpage ‘wikipedia. org’, the most used mass media in Chile is the television. It was introduced in 1957 to our country. On October the 5th of this same year, the first television transmission happened from the Catholic University of Valparaiso, giving way to the first channel in Chile, known as “UCV”. Two years later on August 21st, the second channel was inaugurated, taking the name of “Canal 13”. Since the first television transmission happened, there have been 55 years.
And I believe that during that period of time its quality has declined because there is too much “Trash TV”, and a very small amount of cultural programs. The television has been the most used mass media as stated on a poll made last year by the CEP: “at least a 88,6% of Chileans have a television”. The results make me think that we are getting more and more addicted to this kind of media, because it is becoming easier to come into possession of a television. And due to this, we are facing a list of positive and negative effects. Furthermore, TV programming has been divided into two main groups.
According to the webpage “eHow”(Carl Macek), this two are: entertainment and cultural programs, and this gives way to different points of view for different kinds of people. Moreover, even though I am not against the Television society, because I like how some people work in it, I strongly believe that showbiz and youth programs should be less shown, meanwhile cultural programs should be more frequently displayed. I think this way because now most children have the liberty to watch whatever they want at the time they wan, taccording to a news article from “naturalnews. com”(Dr.
Neustaedter, Randall/February 2011), which says that “children watch about 5,5 hours of tv daily”. At the same time, as stated on the webpage “buzzle. com”, “children are not mature enough to interpret what they are being shown”, so they tend to copy some bad actions they should not. In addition, as maintained in a survey done by the CNTV in Chile during the last year, “65,6% of people said to increase cultural programs and a 56% believed that celebrity spaces before 10 o’clock should be removed of display”, and I am sincerely convinced, that this is a good way to stop children’s bad habits.
According to the opposing viewpoint of my personal opinion, the webpage “cntv” said that “cultural programs are not concerned to be oriented with the function of entertainment, so they are not interesting”. I think that this is unconvincing and it is not true, because I strongly believe that Chileans “look down” on cultural programs just because they show educative content, such as history, arts and music. There are programs as “Los 80”, which are considered cultural by the CNTV, because it is related to Chile’s history.
And as stated by a news article from “La Segunda Online”(September 24, 2012), it marked a peak on tune, with 34,8 points of rating. And by that I mean that, not because cultural programs are known for showing this kind of content, they are not going to be entertaining. Furthermore, the main problems this known mass media provokes in society are two. Firstly, according to the webpage “buzzle. com”(Manali Oak/May3, 2012) many young girls and boys tend to copy their favorite celebrities blindly. I have always thought that the bad things are the most talked, and children tend to copy them thinking they are doing the right thing.
I personally do not feel affected, because I know that what is being talked is not always true. But children who are not mature enough, copy things without much thought. And secondly, usually women/men with thin and fit bodies are shown as an attractive stereotype, meanwhile the “fatty” is sometimes seen as the bullied. This provokes Insecure people, and some cases of anorexia and bulimia. It is there were we can notice that most problems are related to the “entertainment” programs, mostly showbiz… reason why I think this kind of programming should be shortened.
To conclude, I am inclined to believe that the television society has gone too far. Because in my opinion in Chile, there are too much “TV trash” programs and a few cultural programs. According to the webpage “ukessays. org”: “television was born to emphasize the factors of education and information”. But now, the Chilean TV has lost its essence, because its main finality has changed through years by including “youth programs”, such as “Calle 7” or “Yingo”, which for example show that being sexy is an important factor in life.
Finally I believe that, this programs should not be completely removed and erased from display, but just shortened, because by that we could increase our knowledge, not just with culture, but with entertaining culture.