Television and Technology

The Rise of Television

• Mass media—means of communication that reach large audiences

• TV first widely available 1948

• By 1960 a T.V. is in almost 90% of homes

• Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates communications

• By 1956, FCC allows 500 stations to broadcast

• Lifestyle changes: TV Guide becomes a popular magazine

• TV dinners also become popular

Television affects the Civil Rights Movement• Television promotes

awareness of what is “Truly” going on in the world

• In Selma Alabama, King leads 600 protest marchers; TV shows police violently stop them

• TV news show police attacking child marchers—fire hoses, dogs, clubs

• Continued protests, economic boycott, bad press help end segregation

The Televised Debate Affects Votes• First televised

presidential debate between Kennedy, Richard Nixon

• Many Americans were worried about JFK because of inexperience and Catholicism

• Kennedy coached by TV producers, comes across better than Nixon

Stereotypes and Gunslingers

• Women and minorities on TV are stereotypes

• Few blacks and Latinos on T.V.

• Television producers left out references to poverty, racism, and conflict

• Westerns glorify historical frontier conflicts

• Raise concerns about effect of violence on children

Rock ‘n’ roll

• Black musicians add electric instruments to blues—rhythm and blues

• Rock ‘n’ roll—mix of rhythm and blues, country, pop

• Has heavy rhythm, simple melodies, lyrics about teenage concerns

• Music appeals to newly affluent teens who can buy records

• Many adults concerned music will lead to delinquency, immorality

Technology and Competition• The Space Race:• October 1957, Soviets

launch Sputnik, the first artificial satellite

• April 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin is first man in space

• Shocked Americans pour money into own space program in order to catch up

• Race to the Moon: • Soon after the Soviets

put man in space, U.S. puts man in space, also uses satellite communications

• July 1969 U.S astronaut Neil Armstrong is first man to walk on moon

• University science programs grow

• New industries, technologies arise

Race for the H-Bomb

• H-bomb—hydrogen bomb—nuclear weapon more than 67 times more powerful than atom bomb

• 1952, U.S. explodes first H-bomb, soon after in 1953, Soviets explode one

Personal Computers/Internet/Cell Phones• Internet—

international computer network, sends text, images, sound

New Technology

Pros Pros Pros