The Media’s Decreasing Morals As Seen Through Television

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The Media’s Decreasing Morals as Seen Through Television

In today’s world, it is not rare to walk into the living room and witness a man being violently shot in the head…in a television set. The general public seems to be constantly asking themselves where morality and values on television have gone. Taking a look back in time, it is easy to point out how violence in the media is much more evident than it was fifty years ago. Both in the past and now, the media has an ethical duty concerning the general public. Television’s content today has gotten incredibly dirty and contains content to detrimental for children. There have been advances in technology attempting to stop the violence from entering households with children. However it is still the responsibility of the media and the television industry to control the amount of immoral content shown on the air. While the media is only keeping up with the public’s distasteful demands, it has a responsibility to restrain the amount of offensive content because of the effect it is having on today’s audiences.

Consider the trajectory of sitcoms: strong and wholesome family values once promoted in past shows such as Leave it to Beaver and Andy Griffith have developed into the semi-dysfunctional and carefree family values of the present day. Currently, countless television shows, like Enterage and Weeds, both glamorize sexual promiscuity and frequently present illegal acts such as drug usage as acceptable (Bednarski). Movie characters, as well as the stars that portray them, disrespect authority and believe they can remain above the parameters of the law (Szaflik). On any given weeknight, a television viewer can tune into the immoral antics of reality television as well as the taste...

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...ng events in today’s world it may not be a stretch that it might benefit the world to have television return to the morals of the 1950s.

Works Cited

Bednarski, P.J. "The naked truth." Electronic Media 18.36 (1999): 9. Academic Search Premier. 8 April 2007. http://ezproxy.ithaca.edu:2054

Blakey, Rea. "Study links TV viewing among kids to later violence." CNN.com. 28 Mar 2002.

Hazlett, Thomas. "What's the V-Chip done for you lately." Requiem for the V-Chip. 13 Feb 2004. Slate. 9 Apr 2007. .

Halonen, Doug. "VALENTI HITS TV CENSORS' PAUSE BUTTON. (Cover story)." Television Week 25.16 (2006): 1-22. Academic Search Premier. 9 April 2007. http://ezproxy.ithaca.edu:2054

Szaflik, Kevin. "Violence on TV: The Desensitizing Of America." Questions and Effects. 24 Nov 2004. ridgenet. 9 Apr 2007. .

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