television is rightly called an idiot box essay

• Skip to main content
• Skip to secondary menu
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

Study Today

Largest Compilation of Structured Essays and Exams

Essay on Television (Idiot Box) | Advantages and Disadvantages

December 22, 2017 by Study Mentor Leave a Comment

Television is also called as “Idiot Box”. Don’t be surprise by looking alternative name for TV as Idiot Box. As we know this idiot box provides all lot of information. As we consider as a source of information.

The information might be relevant and useful. Because advertisements are majorly broadcast by this medium and it might be good or bad.

TV has become part of our day to day life as we are stuck to it. Children’s are engage with it by watching cartoon series. TV is quite essential by providing means of information such as current affairs, sports news, traditional news, international news, etc. which is useful for the students to improve their general knowledge.

What not we get from this Idiot box, we get everything just by watching it. Suppose a person is blind he/she can’t see the TV but can hear it. So in this manner it is too helpful for blind person.

Does watching lot of TV affect us? Yes it is right watching a lot affect our eye sight. But nowadays the industries have started to develop such as TV that it care about our eye sight by giving indication that it’s too bright just reduce the brightness.

Table of Contents

Importance of Television

Television is good source of information and entertainment. Its influence is felt by everyone, whether they be poor, middle-class or affluent. Such is its value that no one can afford to do without it.

Indeed it is no wonder that the number of TV channels keep soaring day by day, and every channel does its best to entice the viewer to watch programmes on that channel.

Without television we would hardly have any audio visual source of information about happenings in the country and abroad.

For each and every one, whether they are young or old there are varied programmes catering to their particular tastes. Indeed, watching television has practically become a routine activity for the evening.

Nowadays even if you go to stores and supermarket a television set is kept switched on all the time. Doctor keeps television sets in the waiting rooms of their clinics to keep their patient engaged.

Hair and beauty salons too have television sets to keep their clients entertained.

Without television our lives would be very dull indeed. Our day to day activities would be just become boring routine. Television makes life colorful and interesting.

We get to watch many cricket match that has a nail-biting finish. We can view spectacular song and dance reality shows.

Just because of television there are number of employment. The television industry has provided employment to hundreds of artist and technicians. Thus TV has contributed to the economy of the country too. The advertisement sector has also seen a boom thanks to TV.

Thus, in many ways we cannot do without television. It has become part and parcel of our lives.

Television plays an important role especially in student life, just because of television we get hell lot of information that includes

Current affairs of State and Country happening

Information on Wild life, Sanctuaries, etc.

Television provides huge sources of information. That is necessary for student as it increases student general knowledge, which is helpful to crack their entrance exam

It is helpful to engage a small kid so that he/she will not cry.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Television

One of the favorite pastimes of children today is watching TV. They prefer to spend their evenings watching cartoons or serials on TV rather than playing outdoors. This is certainly not good factor. It can lead to health issues.

If viewed for long hours every day it affects their health – particularly the eyesight.

But does all this mean that one should not watch TV? No, for TV has its good side too. Science and news-based programmes and quizzes give a lot of information, and one’s general knowledge.

Cartoons, good serials, and children’s programmes can provide a lot of healthy entertainment. One can even see exciting matches and international events while sitting right in one’s home!

TV is useful for farmer to. There are daily weather forecasts to help them. There are also programme that gives them tips about modern methods of farming.

Thus, TV has its advantages as well as its disadvantages. It is up to us to make the best use of this invention and see to it that it turns out to be a very useful for us, not a trouble

• Source of Information like sports, education, trending news
• Engage us with entertainment
• Very useful for advertisement (Business purpose)
• Provide weather forecast that is too helpful for farmer
• One who is illiterate can also take advantage of Television and increase its own General knowledge

Disadvantages

• If children’s are only engage with TV then there will be health issues, watching TV continuously affect eye sight.
• Wrong advertisement leads to problem, suppose if wrong information is broadcast of a product then it might affect that product business.

Reader Interactions

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top Trending Essays in March 2021

• Essay on Pollution
• Essay on my School
• Summer Season
• My favourite teacher
• World heritage day quotes
• my family speech
• importance of trees essay
• autobiography of a pen
• honesty is the best policy essay
• essay on building a great india
• my favourite book essay
• essay on caa
• my favourite player
• autobiography of a river
• farewell speech for class 10 by class 9
• essay my favourite teacher 200 words
• internet influence on kids essay
• my favourite cartoon character

Brilliantly

Content & links.

Verified by Sur.ly

Essay for Students

• Essay for Class 1 to 5 Students

Scholarships for Students

• Class 1 Students Scholarship
• Class 2 Students Scholarship
• Class 3 Students Scholarship
• Class 4 Students Scholarship
• Class 5 students Scholarship
• Class 6 Students Scholarship
• Class 7 students Scholarship
• Class 8 Students Scholarship
• Class 9 Students Scholarship
• Class 10 Students Scholarship
• Class 11 Students Scholarship
• Class 12 Students Scholarship

STAY CONNECTED

• About Study Today
• Privacy Policy
• Terms & Conditions

Scholarships

• Apj Abdul Kalam Scholarship
• Ashirwad Scholarship
• Bihar Scholarship
• Canara Bank Scholarship
• Colgate Scholarship
• Dr Ambedkar Scholarship
• E District Scholarship
• Epass Karnataka Scholarship
• Fair And Lovely Scholarship
• Floridas John Mckay Scholarship
• Inspire Scholarship
• Jio Scholarship
• Karnataka Minority Scholarship
• Lic Scholarship
• Maulana Azad Scholarship
• Medhavi Scholarship
• Minority Scholarship
• Moma Scholarship
• Mp Scholarship
• Muslim Minority Scholarship
• Nsp Scholarship
• Oasis Scholarship
• Obc Scholarship
• Odisha Scholarship
• Pfms Scholarship
• Post Matric Scholarship
• Pre Matric Scholarship
• Prerana Scholarship
• Prime Minister Scholarship
• Rajasthan Scholarship
• Santoor Scholarship
• Sitaram Jindal Scholarship
• Ssp Scholarship
• Swami Vivekananda Scholarship
• Ts Epass Scholarship
• Up Scholarship
• Vidhyasaarathi Scholarship
• Wbmdfc Scholarship
• West Bengal Minority Scholarship
• Click Here Now!!

Mobile Number

Have you Burn Crackers this Diwali ? Yes No

Throughout History

A blog about antiques and history, the “idiot box” and the history of television.

The television, the T.V., the idiot-box, the electronic babysitter. That magical screen in our living-rooms which has brought us news, sports, weather, education, entertainment, excitement, bemusement and rage, has come a long way since its inception nearly 100 years ago.

This posting will have a look at the history of television, from its beginnings to the commencement of regular programming.

The Television and Us

For most of us in the 21st century, life without television is inconceivable. There are those of course, who were born without it, but with it or without it, chances are, if you watch it regularly today, you would be hard-pressed to imagine your current and future existence without this magical device in your living-room. How many incredible events have been brought to us through the television? How many amazing films have we seen? Famous and memorable TV serials, and even advertisements. Everything from “Happy Days” to “Brylcreem” (just remember, only use a LITTLE dab), to “Are You Being Served?”

Mankind’s love-affair with the TV is inseparable, unstoppable and unthinkable that it should ever go away. But where does TV come from?

A World Before Television

In a dark and soul-less time, before computers and fax-machines and mobile telephones, when eggs were 5c a dozen and penny-candy was really a penny, mankind tuned into the radio.

From the early 1920s, until the late 1950s, we enjoyed a roughly 30-year period where radio was king. When we literally had to tune in and warm up, to enjoy a program over the air. This was the Golden Age of Radio. It brought us such memorable events as the Hindenburg Crash of 1937, the Attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Declaration of War in 1939 and countless famous old-time radio programs, from “Gang Busters” to “Dragnet”, to “Richard Diamond” and “Abbott & Costello”.

If you want to read more about that, have a look here.

Back then, the family radio-set was an important piece of household equipment. But even by the 1930s, its dominance in our living-rooms was being threatened by a new kid on the block called television.

The Invention of Television

The word ‘television’ comes from the Greek ‘tele’ meaning ‘from afar’. Just like how telephone, and telegraph mean sounds, and writing, or messages, from afar, television means pictures from afar.

So, who invented television?

As with many great inventions, from airplanes to motor-cars, telephones, the fountain pen and the typewriter, television cannot be wholly attributed to one man.

Experiments in transmitting images over a distance have dated back as far as the late 1800s, however, television as we would recognise it today, that is, moving images transmitted to a screen, did not emerge until the mid-1920s. The man responsible for its creation was Mr. John Logie Baird, a Scotsman (1888-1946). To this day, the Australian TV industry still holds the “ Logie Awards ” every year in his honour.

Mr. Baird was experimenting with transmitting images over the air for a long time, starting in the early 1920s. However, it was not until the early 1930s that the first TV sets that we might know today, ever appeared in shop windows.

Early Television

Named after its inventor, this is the Baird Televisor, ca. 1933, one of the first ever residential TV sets! It’s hardly widescreen, but it is a television.

Back in the 20s and 30s, radio was the dominant force for entertainment, education and news, and T.V. programming was often limited to a few hours, or even a few minutes a day, and nothing more than black and white film with no sound, or sound, with no pictures! T.V. during the interwar period was little more than a fairground attraction, or a toy for the rich.

By the second half of the 1930s, TV started becoming more accessible, and more advanced, although it still had a limited market. Picture-quality was not what it might be, but now, TV sets had sound! Sets were still expensive, but those who could afford them, bought them from famous department-stores like Selfridges in London. In the United States, T.V. broadcasting started in the 1930s and Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first American president to appear on television, at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

Nazi-Vision

That’s right! Nazi-Vision!

Believe it or not, but it was the Nazis who created one of the world’s first national television networks. German factories started producing early TV sets in 1934, and the Nazis were among the very first people on earth to realise the potential for television to reach several audiences at once, and spread the glorious Nazi ideologies of Strength through Joy, racial purity and an abundance of bratwurst for all!

Based in the German capital of Berlin, the Nazi-controlled broadcasting station and studio produced everything from propaganda movies, to Nazi rallies, speeches and other material, which was transmitted to the screens of loyal Germans fortunate enough to own the first generation of home television-sets. While most of the programming was broadcast live, and was not recorded, some 250-odd reels of ancient film remains, which gives us a tantalizing look at television under the Nazis, from 1935-1944.

Although the Nazis could see that TV could be a great technology for spreading their ideologies and propaganda, they also realised that the technology would have to be greatly improved before it would work properly. The limitations of early cameras meant that picture-quality was mediocre at best. Their solution was to record their broadcasts onto film, and play it back later, like they did with any other movie. This not only improved quality, but it also had the unintended side-effect of giving us a record of Nazi television that has survived to this day.

Despite the Nazis grand vision, the relative expensiveness of television sets meant that the audience for their programming was always rather small. Few people owned sets. Those who did were usually party-members with the money to spend, people in positions of power, money or authority, and a chosen lucky few private citizens. The rest of the sets were set up in public “Television Parlors”, scattered around Berlin. They were little more than simple movie-theaters, where the big screen had been replaced by the small one.

Another opportunity for the Nazis came in 1936. That’s right, the Berlin Olympics of 1936, where Jesse Owens beat the Aryans and humiliated Hitler, were the first Olympics to be publicly televised!

However, the fact remained that, despite the Nazis best efforts, early television remained impractical on a large scale. They had improved some things, such as picture-quality and sound, but a limited audience meant that until the medium was more widely adopted and accepted, and better recording, broadcasting, and receiving means had been devised, TV would be little more than a toy. Indeed, even by the outbreak of the Second World War, the entire nation of Germany had only about 500 television sets, scattered around the country.

Television and the War

By the early 1940s, some semblance of regular TV broadcasts had begun. In 1941, CBS in the United States was broadcasting televised news in 15-minute bulletins, twice a day. Regular programming began to introduce the TV shows that we would recognise today, although the limitations of the studio-cameras and lights of the period left much to be desired when it came to picture-quality. The war itself played a big role in holding back the development of TV. Rationing and shortages of almost everything needed to make TV sets, from wood to metal to glass, made them expensive luxury-items. And at any rate, the companies that made TV. sets were more interested in making radios and other electronics for the war effort.

These shortcomings and interruptions severely affected the widespread use of televisions, and it wasn’t until after the war, in 1947, that regular T.V. broadcasting really took off in the United States.

In Germany, where television was being exploited for propaganda purposes, advances in technology had been made, but even then, programming was brief. Usually only a few hours a day, if at all. By autumn of 1944, with constant, heavy bombing-raids on German cities, and the war going badly for the Nazis, the national broadcasting company in Germany ceased transmissions.

Please Check your Local Paper for the Times

The war is over! Yay!

In the late 1940s, TV programming really started taking off. With the war over, more technology and research could be profitably spent developing and improving the emerging medium of television. For the growing number of television-owners, there were now more frequent telecasts and a greater variety of options, everything from news programs, sitcoms, and early kids’ shows like the famous “Howdy Doody” program, starting in 1947!

There was stiff competition from radio during this time, but one by one, popular radio programs of the 1930s and 40s slowly shifted from the old, to the new, setting up regular TV spots for themselves on the weekly schedule. For a while, some actors and performers ran concurrent TV and radio programs; “ Dragnet ” used to do it for nearly a whole decade!

By the early 1950s, TV was becoming more and more accepted, and popular shows such as “Amos & Andy” (1951) and the Jack Benny Program (1950), were big hits on TV. Radio-writers and musicians who found themselves suddenly unemployed, began scriptwriting for these newfangled television-series, and writing and recording music for TV shows.

The Shape of the Box

Early televisions of the 1930s and 40s closely followed the styles of furniture and radios of the period. A typical 1930s radio-set was large, with a handsome wood case, cloth-covered speakers and handsome bakelite knobs. Television sets were made in the same style. Here’s an RCA 360, from 1947, one of the first postwar televisions to be mass-produced and available to the public:

By the 1950s, as with many other things, from typewriters to radios to kitchen gadgets, sleeker lines, newer materials and different colour-palettes were the rage. Boxy old wood-case televisions were out. More simplistic and uncluttered looks were in…

In the 50s, televisions were the latest and greatest thing around. Some people who couldn’t actually afford a set, would just buy an aerial and stick it on their rooves, just to pretend that they did, so that they could keep up with the Joneses.

Remote Television

Almost as soon as TV started taking off, people started looking for ways to make the technology more appealing to the everyday user. Why should you have to get up and flip a dial and knob whenever you wanted to change the channel? That arduous, six, seven, or nine-foot trek to the set, and back again, is such an inconvenience! Surely there’s a better way?

I See the Light!

As early as 1950, the first TV remote-controls had been invented. Originally connected to the set itself by long cables, the first wireless TV-remotes, of the kind we recognise today, came out in the mid 1950s. One of the first wireless remotes was the  Flashmatic , from 1955. It worked quite simply: You pressed the buttons on the controller and aimed it at the television. A beam of light from the remote hit a photoelectric panel on the TV set, which changed the channel.

Brilliant, but problematic. See, the light-sensitive electric cell on the television-set did not differentiate between the beam shot from the remote, and any other source of light. If you turned on an electric lamp near to the television, or even if you opened the curtains and let in the sunlight, the channel would change automatically, even without the remote!

A Click and a Switch!

Early TV remotes worked on light-beams affecting light-sensitive electric panels on the television set. They worked well enough, so long as you had a decent aim and there weren’t any interfering light-sources, but the drawbacks of their over-sensitivity and fiddly operation made them somewhat impractical. A better type of TV remote was invented shortly after, which relied not on light, but on sound. Pressing the remote-buttons let off clicks of different frequencies, which could be picked up by the TV-set. Each frequency related to a specific command – changing the channel, or the volume, as the case may have been. But even this could be problematic, when people with sensitive hearing could hear the pulses of sound (which were designed to be outside the human hearing-range).

Slice and Dice!

Don’tcha just hate it that, just when the show gets to the interesting bit, it suddenly breaks for a commercial?

You can thank TV remotes for that.

After the invention of the remote, it was discovered by studio bigwigs that airing commercials between shows was ineffective. Once a show was over, you could just turn the set off, or flip to another channel. And you didn’t have to watch the stupid commercial for Remington typewriters, or Brylcreem, or Pepsodent, or whatever other boring junk those commercial schmucks were trying to peddle in your own living room! How dare they invade your privacy like this!?

To remedy this, the modern format of television was created, where shows were split into segments or acts, just like a play at the theater. This allowed for advertising, but it also meant that people were less likely to flip away from the channel, in case they missed the return of their favourite TV episode, thereby increasing the viewer-numbers of TV commercials.

Crafty bastards…

The Golden Age of Television

The Golden Age of Television is defined as the period from the early 1950s up to the 1970s. It was during this period that many of the classic and famous TV shows that we know and love and remember, were broadcast. But more importantly, it was during this time (especially in the 50s and 60s), that TV gained dominance over radio for the first time in history. Also, it was during the 50s and 60s that TV developed its own style, format and language.

Previously, TV shows were modeled after radio-programs, but not everything used in radio was possible on television, which necessitated various changes, which led to the evolution of modern television. Shows produced on TV during and after this changeover, are considered classics of television.

What shows, you might ask? Well, how about Dragnet ? The Jack Benny Show ? Amos & Andy ? Leave It To Beaver ? Life with Luigi , and numerous other programs.

Good Night, and Good Luck

Along with regular programming, the television revolutionized the broadcasting of news. Previously, you had the radio and the newspaper. But now, the nightly, six o’clock bulletin was the mainstay of news, sports and weather. The news anchor and reporters became staples of nightly broadcasts. Programs like the 1950s “ See it Now “, began to replace radio broadcasts as the method for spreading news to the public. The line “Good night, and good luck”, was the sign-off line used by famous reporter Edward R. Murrow, notable for reporting on the Blitz in London, and MacCarthyism during the 1950s.

We Return You to Your Regularly Scheduled Program…

By the 60s and 70s, TV had become the mainstay of most well-to-do households in the developed world, and had finally replaced radio as the main medium for electronic entertainment, music and news. It had by now, reached the format which we’re most familiar with.

The 60s and 70s saw many of the most famous TV shows in history take to the air, like Gilligan’s Island , the Addams Family , Are You Being Served?, Dad’s Army , Dragnet (which transferred from radio in the 1950s), and the Dick Van Dyke Show.

It was in the early 1970s that the first TV-recording equipment arrived on the scene. These days, we have DVD recorders and other technology that will allow us to pause, rewind, record and watch multiple shows at once. But we wouldn’t have gotten anywhere if the VCR and the video-cassette didn’t get there first. Entering the market in 1971, the VHS tape and the VCR remained the standard method for recording TV-programs for thirty years, until the end of the 20th century. Tricks like putting sticky-tape over the slots in the tape-cassette to disable the anti-recording feature on some cassettes, would enable people to use almost any cassette to record movies, TV shows and almost anything else that they wanted, right off their TV sets. VCDs, and eventually, DVDs, and their accompanying recorders, would of course replace them starting in the late 1990s, but VHS tapes paved the way.

That brings us more or less to the modern day, so far as TVs are concerned. Some things have changed, such as digital TVs from old cathode-ray tube (CRT) TVs, and the lack of a need for a pair of rabbit-ear antennae, but in the past few years, not much else has changed about the basics of television as we know it today.

Want to Know More?

“Television under the Swastika – The History of Nazi Television”

A History of Television from the Grolier Encyclopedia

Share this:

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

2 thoughts on “ The “Idiot Box” and the History of Television ”

Sherelle Holmesette from HN here.

This was a fascinating and well-written article! I wasn’t aware of how much the Nazis used TV. And it was fun seeing your pictures of old TVs and mentally contrasting them with our huge, modern, flat screen TVs.

I have a question for you. I’ve been absent from Holmesian.net for many months due to my life having gone haywire. Now, when I try to access the forums, they seem to have disappeared! I’ve tried everything. Do you know what is going on?

Long story short, they no-longer exist. They’ve been out of action for months now, and by the looks of it, will be forever. If you want to build a new forum or something, let me know. I might be able to help.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

Brains behind idiot box: a quick look at the history of television.

The first public demonstration of colour TV broadcast happened this week 90 years ago, setting the foundation for a major change in the way audio-visual media is consumed.

Lok Sabha Elections: Track all the political movements Live

The fine print of Das & Co's first post poll policy

Shah, Nadda hash out deals with allies as Jun 9 looms

This live image of Paddy Naismith was used to demonstrate Baird’s first all-electronic colour TV system.

Read More News on

(Catch all the Business News , Breaking News , Exit Polls News , Election Results News Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times .)

Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.

Find this comment offensive?

Choose your reason below and click on the Report button. This will alert our moderators to take action

Reason for reporting:

Your Reason has been Reported to the admin.

To post this comment you must

Log In/Connect with:

Fill in your details:

Will be displayed

Will not be displayed

Share this Comment:

Uh-oh this is an exclusive story available for selected readers only..

Worry not. You’re just a step away.

Prime Account Detected!

It seems like you're already an ETPrime member with

Login using your ET Prime credentials to enjoy all member benefits

Log out of your current logged-in account and log in again using your ET Prime credentials to enjoy all member benefits.

To read full story, subscribe to ET Prime

₹34 per week

Billed annually at ₹2499 ₹1749

Super Saver Sale - Flat 30% Off

On ET Prime Membership

Unlock this story and enjoy all members-only benefits.

Offer Exclusively For You

Save up to Rs. 700/-

ON ET PRIME MEMBERSHIP

Get 1 Year Free

With 1 and 2-Year ET prime membership

Get Flat 40% Off

Then ₹ 1749 for 1 year

ET Prime at ₹ 49 for 1 month

Verdict Day Offer

Get flat 20% off on ETPrime

90 Days Prime access worth Rs999 unlocked for you

Exclusive Economic Times Stories, Editorials & Expert opinion across 20+ sectors

Stock analysis. Market Research. Industry Trends on 4000+ Stocks

​Get 1 Year Complimentary Subscription of TOI+ worth Rs.799/-​

Stories you might be interested in

Why is TV known as the idiot box?

TOP TRENDING

Trending stories.

• Rohit Sharma fulfills a fan's special request despite standing at airport security check - WATCH
• Massive fire at gaming zone in Gujarat's Rajkot, 22 killed; 'extremely distressed', says PM Modi
• 'Won't tolerate interference by sponsors of terrorism': Kejriwal
• Lured with jobs promise, 20 Indians enslaved in Myanmar: Kin
• Prajwal passport: K'taka minister blames it on PMO for delay
• Haryana LS polls: 46.26% voter turnout recorded till 3pm
• LS polls: MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Kapil Dev cast votes
• Dramatic video shows clash of rival gangs on K'taka street
• LS polls: High-stake contest in Delhi, who said what after voting
• More than halh a crore price cut on Range Rover! Here's why
• 'Conspirator may have escaped to US': Bangladesh to seek Interpol help in MP murder probe
• If voted to office, will fill up 30 lakh vacancies: Rahul Gandhi
• Why did Haryana’s singles stay away from the ballot box
• NDA-3 will implement UCC in next 5 yrs: Amit Shah
• Internet lauds Gambhir: 'Called him a mad man but...'
• INDIA bloc to form next government: Mallikarjun Kharge
• Why this brainpower flex is India’s best-kept secret
• China’s secret police is everywhere and is watching everything
• 'Prayers being held in Pak ...': PM's latest attack against INDIA bloc
• Post office schemes calculator: Be a crorepati with this tax-free option

How the idiot box changed the silver screen

A ugust 1 this year saw journalist Ravish Kumar being awarded the 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award—the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize—for “harnessing journalism to give voice to the voiceless.” That is the ideal with which I had joined journalism, this very month of 1978.

More than 40 monsoons have gone by since I had crossed the threshold of the Indian Express group as a Trainee Sub Editor. The compositors who would arrange the letters of the alphabet to read the matter we had churned out—and send out galleys that were to be subjected to minimum editing so as to avoid much alteration—are now an extinct species. Though I started as a sub—a backroom job that mostly involved ‘crossing the ‘T’s and dotting the ‘I’s—I was soon in the field reporting, thanks to BK Karanjia who joined Screen  at that juncture. The result? I got to interact with giants of moving images like Peter Ustinov, Nutan, Krzystof Zanussi, Shyam Benegal, Girish Karnad, Basu Bhattacharya and Naseeruddin Shah. At the same time I also wrote a column ‘They Also Serve ‘ on the invisible backbones of the celluloid world: Men who lit up the floor from the catwalk, or wielded the scissor in the edit room; those who styled hair, or designed costumes; some served tea or provided furniture; some arranged music, some were stuntmen, some simply ushered viewers into auditoria…

Many of these rose to be stars in their own right, while so many disappeared from the scene with the digitization of Celluloid. That is not all: Much like cinema, journalism itself has changed since 1978. We who started with newsprint have lived through television, fought the advent of colour on the small screen, coped with the proliferation of commercials on the idiot box, been awed by the satellite revolution, tolerated the mushrooming of private channels, appreciated the growth of regional languages, overcome by the emergence of the Internet, wondered at the dawn of online platforms—and succumbed to the reign of the Social Media….

Bhushan’s history of the industry scans the profession. More specifically, it takes a resolute look at what caused the marginalization of the reporter.  “How did technology impact the newsroom?” he poses. “How did India evolve the star system? What is access journalism, and what is wrong with it? Is the reporter-editor relationship necessarily adversarial? How does the owner-editor system—perhaps unique to India—work in practice? And corporate ownership—is it a boon or a bane?” Finally, he asks, “How does India compare with UK or USA—countries that have a longer history of television news and more mature markets?

My years in journalism witnessed the Indian newsroom change irreversibly with the advent of the colour television. More so, with the growth of the Private Channels. Though owned primarily by those who were already big in Print Journalism— The Times of India group, the India Today group, the Ananda Bazar Patrika group, Eenadu TV overshadowed the earlier modes of mass communication.  Radio in particular suffered until FM came to India—again piggy-riding the news moguls. However the print media changed its stripes and managed not only to survive but also to emerge bigger in certain ways. Its outreach increased as more and more regional players entered the arena. This was the obvious fallout of TV’s impact. Equally big was the way it altered the complexion of Mainstream cinema.

Satellite television can claim credit for changing everything. Prior to its appearance, when Doordarshan alone ruled, we had Video Magazines such as Newstrack —a sister publication of India Today —which recorded the poll mayhem at Meham in Haryana of 1990, something that would never be seen on DD . However the advent of Satellinte TV took to every home earth-shaking events like the armed Kargil conflict along the LOC between India and Pakistan in the summer of 1999, the Kandahar hijack involving the Indian Airlines flight 814 that led to the release of three marked terrorists including Masood Azhar—the architect of the Mumbai attacks—in December 1999, and the World Trade Centre attack in New York of September 2001.

Given the immediacy of these events, and their unpredictable denouement, these developing stories were more gripping than any thriller on the silver screen. I for myself couldn’t take my eyes off the large screen on the second floor of the Times House in Delhi as the second tower of the WTC came crumbling down in New York. The story of the man stabbed inside the plane grounded in the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan city on a New Year’s Eve was heart breaking. We debated in high pitched voices whether the government should hand over the three men they—the terrorists supported by ISI of Pakistan—want to free? Kargil was the War Movie we could participate in from the safety of our own homes. Did these live reports sensitise us or do the opposite—desensitize us to War and Terrorism? And increasingly pertinent, perhaps, is the question: Should TV desist from showing things that are ‘against our national interest’?

Closer home, colour television took films into our bedrooms, and that adversely affected not only the economy of cinema but also its content. By all accounts it had to become BIGGER and GLOSSIER. And, while we had channels serving content in Marathi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Oriya, Assamese—every language worth its salt—Doordarshan did away with the Sunday afternoon screening of Regional films that had given cross-country eminence to directors in the languages and made stars of Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Balu Mahendra, John Abraham, Jahnu Barua, Nirad Mahapatra, Buddhadev Dasgupta, Goutam Ghose… Soon Romedy and Thrillers came to be the staple of Prime Time tele-viewing.

Fallout? An unthinkable spurt to the Celebrity Culture. Even in Print journalism, where it was not customary to see the mug of the writer, the editorials, the debates and opinions, the views and counter views— the Think pieces—on Budget days or otherwise, started giving preference to cricketers, actors, politicians. Inevitably the Glamour Quotient became more important than the Academic specialization or Depth of Opinion.

Then, Headlines started to become the Content of the entertainment industry, taking it away from literature and its classics. Cinema gained Immediacy, but was it at the cost of processed observation? May or may not be so. This year’s National best, Uri: The Surgical Strike , unfolds around Major Vihaan Singh Shergill of the Indian Army who led a covert operation against a group of militants who attacked a base in Uri, Kashmir just three years ago, and killed many soldiers. Black Friday , made in 2004, is stuff of tele journalism. For it tracks the massive drive the police forces launched after the 1993 bomb blasts ripped Mumbai apart, yielding the names of the perpetrators of that terror act. Mumbai Meri Jaan , the 2009 film that won multiple Filmfare awards, was built on the aftermath of the multiple train bombings that rocked the Financial Capital of India in July 2006.

In fact, the burgeoning of the Sports channels and the larger than life reporting of sporting events has given a spurt to films on cricket and hockey and even wrestling and boxing. Indirectly or otherwise, it has spawned Biopics on sportspeople—Flying Sikh Milkha Singh, ‘Soorma’ Sandeep Singh, athlete Paan Singh Tomar, wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat and his daughters Geeta Kumari and Babita Kumari… They are the role models from the Sports pages, while Neerja about the courageous air hostess and Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran on IAS officer Aswath gave new heroes to the entire nation.

This makes me wonder why television no longer has any intrepid reporters going after corrupt lots in power, nor any channel dedicated to Investigative journalism. During the recent Doctors Strike, no camera went behind the beds in the government hospitals to check what is lacking in the OTs, the testing labs, the pharmacies… Yet, we haven’t forgotten that channels gave Bollywood the role model of an Intrepid Lady Journalist in the mold of Barkha Dutt. Was that due to the rise in the numbers of women anchors? Can women take a stronger stance with a soft smile playing on their face?  Or do women—traditionally seen as more vulnerable—make more interesting protagonists?

This brings us to the critical concern of commercials. Granted, they have been the grooming ground of celluloid masters from Satyajit Ray to Shyam Benegal, Mukul Anand to Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Rajkumar Hirani to Balki, Pradeep Sarkar to Shoojit Sircar, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury to Nitesh Tewari. Yes, the Jackie Shroffs, Arjun Rampals, John Abrahams and Rajkumar Raos have also shed their jeans and suitings to rise-n-shine. But since the commerce of the channels depends on these commercials, Indian Television does not scan the pros and cons of the Business World the way business channels abroad do. How many has telescoped the malpractices within a Kingfisher, or of Only Vimal?

Nor for that matter do we boast a Science channel although we have a number of them for Astha (confidence) in Faith. That is why we have drab statements reading out that India launched yet another Satellite without a hint of the excitement that prompts Hollywood to invest millions and zillions in Space Adventure flicks. They have taken a leaf out of the engrossment we felt full 50 years ago, when The Times of India spread out the image of Neil Armstrong and Edward Aldrin walk on the Moon.

Is that why, despite the Magsaysays under our belt, we have yet to offer a desi Steven Spielberg?

https://filmcriticscircle.com/journal/patriotism-in-the-cinema-of-hindi/

Ratnottama Sengupta

Ratnottama Sengupta, daughter of legendary scriptwriter Nabendu Ghosh, is the former arts editor of the Times of India. She’s also a film festival -curator/-panelist /-organiser; documentary filmmaker; and the author and editor of several books on cinema and film personalities. She has served on CBBF; the NFDC Script Committee; and the National Film Awards, IFFI, and various other notable international film juries. And is a recipient of the National Film Award for Best Writing on Cinema.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Related post

Society, Cinema & the Critic

Society Man is a political animal. So reflected Aristotle. He went a step further to see politics and culture as by-products of nature. Man is given speech and moral reason as natural, inborn,[...]

A legend called Renu Saluja

What’s common between Parinda and Ardh Satya? Or Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro and Hyderabad Blues, Pardes and 1942: A Love Story? Her name was Renu Saluja. Renu was the creative force behind at least a[...]

Polyphony in Time: Narrational Strategy in Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s ‘Anantaram’ (1987) and the Film’s Multiple Interpretations

Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Anantaram (1987), his fifth film and its three preceding films have a common approach of a biography of an individual. They get deeper and deeper as we move from his second[...]

Irony of the Idiot Box: How Television made Education Smarter?

India-specific shows further exemplified television’s prowess as an educational tool. The iconic ‘ Mahabharata’ and ‘ Ramayan ‘ adaptations by BR Chopra and Ramanand Sagar, respectively, not only popularized ancient Indian scriptures but also conveyed enduring values to a vast audience. These epics became cultural touchstones, imparting lessons of duty, loyalty, courage, and morality.

The Indian National Education Policy: Embracing Multidisciplinarity in Higher Education

Educational Renaissance: Narayana Murthy’s Visionary Call for a $1 Billion Investment in Teacher Training

You may like

Understanding Food Labels: A Guide for Students and Parents

CBSE Issues Advisory After Detecting Variations in Student Marks Across 500 Schools

MoE Launched Tobacco-Free Educational Institutions Manual on World No Tobacco Day 2024

An Alarming Future: India’s Extreme Heatwaves and the Urgency for Environmental Education

Government of India Signs MoU for Digital Library Rashtriya e-Pustakalaya

OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Edu to Revolutionise University Education

University of Manchester To Offer Scholarships for Indian Students

Building Global Schools: Global Outreach, Local Values

NCW Chief Emphasises Importance of Discussing Menstrual Health with Children

Creating an Inclusive Curriculum: A Leader’s Perspective

Why Food Safety Should Be Taught in Schools

The hidden dangers of attractive ads, reading food labels: a lifelong skill.

• Identifying Ingredients : Knowing how to identify and understand ingredients can help children avoid harmful additives and allergens.
• Nutritional Information : Learning to interpret nutritional information enables students to make choices that support their overall health and well-being.
• Expiration Dates : Recognising the importance of expiration dates helps in preventing foodborne illnesses.

How to Read Food Labels

• Ingredients List : Teach children to look for whole, unprocessed foods and to be cautious of ingredients they can’t pronounce.
• Serving Size and Calories : Understanding serving sizes and calorie counts helps in managing portions and energy intake.
• Nutritional Content : Focus on the amounts of fats, sugars, and sodium. Encourage a diet rich in fibre, vitamins, and minerals.

Implementing Food Safety Education

• Interactive Lessons : Use engaging activities and real-life scenarios to teach students about food labels and safety.
• Workshops and Seminars : Invite nutritionists and food safety experts to conduct workshops for students and parents.
• Practical Applications : Incorporate cooking classes where students can practice reading labels and preparing healthy meals.

A Message from the Future

More than just theory, films and books for environmental curriculum.

• Al Gore’s documentary highlights the science of climate change and the urgent need for action.
• This groundbreaking work raised public awareness about the dangers of pesticides and sparked the modern environmental movement.
• Leonardo DiCaprio’s documentary showcases the impact of climate change across the globe and explores potential solutions.
• A classic children’s book that tells the story of the environment through the character of the Lorax, who speaks for the trees.
• This Netflix series, narrated by David Attenborough, showcases the beauty of our natural world and the urgent need to protect it.

Transforming Education with AI

Diverse applications across university campuses.

• Columbia University : Professor Nabila El-Bassel’s team uses a customised GPT to analyse large datasets quickly, aiding research on strategies to reduce overdose fatalities.
• Wharton School : Professor Ethan Mollick’s students benefit from in-depth, reflective conversations with a GPT trained on course materials, enriching their learning experiences.
• Arizona State University : Assistant Professor Christiane Reves has developed a Language Buddies GPT to facilitate German language learning tailored to students’ proficiency levels, thereby saving faculty time and enhancing student outcomes.

Enhancing Capabilities and Ensuring Security

Join our newsletter!

Enter your email to receive our newsletter.

What It Takes to Be Well-Educated; Not Just Well-Read

Education Through a ‘Humane’ Lens

10 Summer Safety Tips for Kids During Summer Breaks

Heatwaves Disrupt School Education Across India

Why Sex Education in Schools is a Battlefield: A Look into Recent Debates and the Path Forward

Climate Change Erodes Education Outcomes: World Bank Report

Teaching Sensitivity to Kids in School: A Necessity for Today’s World

Tripura Launches E-Attendance in Government Schools to Boost Accountability

CBSE Class 12 and Class 10 Results 2024: Girls Lead as Pass Rates Climb

Shri Sanjay Kumar Chairs a Meeting on Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE)

UNESCO’s Happy Schools Initiative: Placing Happiness at the Heart of Education

Vidyashilp University Hosts Discussion on Disruptive Careers at their Future of Higher Education Event

Rajasthan Education Minister Bans Mobile Phone Use by Teachers During School Hours

Ideology Over Individuality: Encouraging Open Dialogues

One Size Doesn’t Fit All: The Need for Personalised Learning

Life of My Father: Dr. Jagdish Gandhi, a Pioneer in Education

Post-pandemic: Embracing Well-being in India’s Schools with My Guide Inside

FPSB India and IIM Bangalore Forge Strategic Partnership to Advance Financial Education

India’s Eupheus Learning Recognised in TIME’s World’s Top EdTech Rising Stars of 2024

International Women’s Day 2024: Are We Not Special?

Mayo College Girls’ School, Ajmer Welcomes New Principal, Mrs Neeti Bhalla Saini

Teach for India Invites Applications for its 2024 Fellowship Program

Ministry of Women and Child Development Unveils National Curriculum Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education

Jharkhand Introduces Innovative Schemes to Support Higher Education Aspirants

World Theatre Day: Let Theatre Arts Make Classroom’s Showtime Spectacular!

National Safety Day: The Importance of Teaching Good Touch and Bad Touch in Schools

Young Birders’ Workshop Opens Registration for Children Aged 10-13 Years

Overcoming Board Exam Stress: A Guide for Students and Parents

CBSE Updates Exam Structure for 11th & 12th Class; Concept-based Questions Now 50% of Weightage

Questioning the Trend of Lavish Farewells- #FarewellFiasco

Empowering Minds: The Journey of My Guide Inside with Christa Campsall

NCERT Introduces Holistic Report Cards: A New Era in Student Assessment

Lessons Beyond a Cricket Pitch: An IPL-Inspired School Curriculum

Frontier Technology Labs to Revolutionise School Learning in India, Thanks to AIM, NITI Aayog, and Meta Collaboration

Addressing the Transition From Classrooms to Coaching: The Shifted Focus

Palette of Possibilities: Nurturing Creativity in Schools through Modern Art

Sgef2023 | special address by rama datt, trustee, maharaja sawai man singh ii trust, jaipur.

ScooNews | After Movie | ScooNews Global Educators Fest 2023

Aftermovie | NIES2 UP Chapter | 21 Jan 2023

WEBINAR | Gamification in Education: How Digital Badges Can Boost Student Motivation and Engagement

ScooNews | WEBINAR| Importance of Physical Activity for Children at School | Plaeto

SCOONEWS | WEBINAR | WHY DIGITIZING YOUR SCHOOL IS A MUST | TEACHMINT

Keynote Address | Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar

Anurag Tripathi, Secretary, CBSE at SGEF2022

How schools can nurture every student’s genius

Aftermovie | SGEF2022 | Jaipur

Li Andersson | Minister of Education | Finland

Anurag Tripathi, Secretary, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) discusses NEP2020

ScooNews | Early Ed Asia 2019 | Aftermovie

#PodarECEconf : Pursuing quality ECE

#CBSE Class XII #Results #Highlights

The interesting story of India’s educational system | Adhitya Iyer

A young scientist’s quest for clean water

The Danger of Silence: Clint Smith

National Digital Library of India is an initiative by HRD Ministry

Remembering Kalpana Chawla on her birthday!

Message from Sadhguru for Students!

The Untapped Genius That Could Change Science for the Better

Eddy Zhong: How school makes kids less intelligent TEDxYouth@Beacon

#TEDxCanberra : What if every child had access to music education…

• Economy & Markets
• Digital Life

World Television Day: Quotes About The Impact Of 'Idiot Box'

Television was invented over 90 years ago and since then, the "idiot box" has come a long way. The device has played an integral role in molding human behavior, thoughts, and interests.

Scottish inventor John Logie Baird and American inventor Philo Farnsworth have been credited for the development of electronic television, which has given birth to countless memorable shows that have set our imagination free and also helped us gain more knowledge.

In the 21 st century, though smartphones have taken away a big chunk of its audience, television has not lost its original viewers.

On the occasion of World Television Day, which is observed annually on Nov. 21, here are a few quotes about television, courtesy Good Reads and Wise Old Sayings –

• "Television is a triumph of equipment over people, and the minds that control it are so small that you could put them in a gnat's navel with room left over for two caraway seeds and an agent's heart." ― Fred Allen
• "Television was not intended to make human beings vacuous, but it is an emanation of their vacuity." ― Malcolm Muggeridge
• "Television is the menace that everyone loves to hate but can't seem to live without." ― Paddy Chayefsky
• "I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book." ― Groucho Marx
• "We're all watching each other, so there's no chance for censorship. The main problem is the idiot TV. If you watch local news, your head will turn to mush." ― Ray Bradbury
• "Chilling out on the bed in your hotel room watching television, while wearing your own pajamas, is sometimes the best part of a vacation." – Laura Marano
• "We must not fail to recognise that television can be a hugely positive influence in children's lives, one of the greatest educators in contemporary society and an increasing influence on all the children followed in 'Child of Our Time." - Robert Winston
• "Television and comic books are, and continue to be, probably the biggest influence in my life. It's the biggest influence on everybody's life" - Gene Simmons

© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.

Deadly Landmines Pose Hidden Threat In Libyan Capital

'You Saved The World': WWII Veterans Shine On D-Day

US Opens Doors For Antitrust Investigations Into Tech Giants Nvidia, Microsoft, OpenAI

'Europe In Miniature': Welcome To Baarle, World's Strangest Border

Japan To Build Anti-tourist Fence At Mount Fuji Viewpoint

World's Richest Have Never Been So Wealthy: Study

Armed Syrian Kurdish Women Stand Guard Over Precious Wheatfields

Colombian Underwater 'Art Gallery' Serves As Coral Home

World's Most Powerful Rocket Starship Set For Next Launch

Global Warming Accelerating At 'Unprecedented' Pace: Study

• Television aur Crime Reporting
• Television aur Apradh Patrakarita
• Media Aur Bazar
• Khabar Yahan Bhi
• Media Laws and Ethics
• Raniyan Sab Janti Hain
• Thee. Hoon.. Rahungi…
• Seminars & Talks
• Print Media
• Television Anchoring
• The Classroom
• Class Interviews
• Press Coverage
• Podcasts & Comments
• Tinka Prison Radio

Why is Television an ‘Idiot Box’?

Television, often affectionately referred to as the “idiot box”, has undergone a remarkable transformation over the course of the twentieth century. It has established itself as a powerful medium for disseminating information and providing entertainment to the masses, even to those who may lack the ability to read. Its appeal extends to the illiterate or semi-literate population, as well as the impressionable minds of children who are often seen as uncritical recipients of its content.

In recent years, research has delved into the profound influence of television, particularly educational programming, on the attitudes and beliefs of young minds. Scholars have examined how the portrayals of societal roles and values in educational television could impact children’s cognitive development. Surprisingly, the evidence regarding the correlation between the hours of television watched and cognitive test scores is not as straightforward as one might assume.

Initially, there seemed to be a negative correlation between the hours of television watched and cognitive test scores. However, this association disappears when accounting for factors such as parental characteristics and unobserved child characteristics. It suggests that the mere act of watching television does not inherently hinder children’s test scores.

Nonetheless, the impact of television on individuals goes beyond cognitive development. Research spanning a 17-year interval revealed a significant link between excessive television viewing during adolescence and early adulthood and the likelihood of engaging in aggressive behavior later in life. This connection remained significant even after controlling for various factors such as previous aggressive behavior, childhood neglect, family income, neighborhood violence, parental education, and psychiatric disorders.

Television has evolved from its origins as a tool primarily employed by advertisers to sell products into a potent instrument for rapidly disseminating news and various forms of entertainment. It became an essential part of our lives, evident in the widespread panic that ensued in 2009 when the switch from analog to digital television broadcasting loomed. Over 2 million Americans were caught unprepared for this transition, prompting swift action by President Obama to ensure that everyone remained connected.

While television undoubtedly plays a vital role in our lives, it is essential to acknowledge the changes it has undergone since its inception in the 1920s up to the year 2015. It has brought the world’s best information to our fingertips, but it has not been without its share of controversies. Television shows and movies, at times, have had a negative impact on how this generation perceives the world, raising concerns about its influence on societal values and perceptions.

In conclusion, television’s journey from being disparaged as the “idiot box” to becoming an indispensable part of our lives is a testament to its enduring relevance. It serves as a double-edged sword, offering both valuable information and entertainment while also raising questions about its potential negative effects. As we continue to adapt to the ever-evolving landscape of television, it remains crucial to strike a balance between its benefits and potential pitfalls, all while recognizing its significant impact on our society.

References: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231643801_Idiot_box_vs_Intelligent_box

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227414355_Is_the_’Idiot’s_Box’_Raising_Idiocy_Early_and_Middle_Childhood_Television_Watching_and_Child_Cognitive_Outcome

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11440839_Television_Viewing_and_Aggressive_Behavior_During_Adolescence_and_Adulthood

https://www.cram.com/essay/The-Idiot-Box-The-Information-Box-Or/P3YWNYAYHBWW

Categories:

No responses yet

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• Books on Journalism
• Corona Diary- Lockdown 2
• Delhi Police Podcasts
• innovative pedagogy
• Lady Shri Ram College
• Media Columns
• Media Glossary
• My Publications
• studentcontribution
• Tinka Awards 2016
• Tinka awards 2019
• Tinka Columns
• Tinka in Media
• Tinka Tinka Agra
• tinka tinka bandini awards
• Tinka Tinka Dasna
• Tinka Tinka in News
• Tinka Tinka Madhya Pradesh
• tinka tinka tihar
• tinkatinkaawards2017
• tinkatinkaawards2018
• Uncategorized
• Vartika Nanda on TV
• VN ki Paathshala
• पुस्तक समीक्षा
• वर्तिका नन्दा की कविताएं

• To save this word, you'll need to log in. Log In

Definition of idiot box

• telly [ chiefly British ]

Examples of idiot box in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'idiot box.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

circa 1955, in the meaning defined above

Articles Related to idiot box

Checking Boxes: 8 Box Words

From 'chatterbox' to 'shadowbox'

Dictionary Entries Near idiot box

idiot board

Cite this Entry

“Idiot box.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/idiot%20box. Accessed 8 Jun. 2024.

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the day.

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism', more commonly misspelled words, commonly misspelled words, how to use em dashes (—), en dashes (–) , and hyphens (-), absent letters that are heard anyway, popular in wordplay, the words of the week - june 7, 8 words for lesser-known musical instruments, 9 superb owl words, 10 words for lesser-known games and sports, etymologies for every day of the week, games & quizzes.

Being social animal...

My life is my message

March 11, 2013

Tv is not an idiot box, it makes you an idiot, 9 comments:.

So true.... Loved it...

Really Great Work. True Things which is going on. Someone intelligent said literature is the mirror of society same as TV is mirror of society.

Very true.nice work.

An excellent read ! TV is paralysing humans in many ways. Let's explore some more dimensions of it. As a human being we all are sensitive to what we see through eyes,what we hear through ears. Whatever surrounding we are placed in, our senses respond to them and store the experiences in subconscious and later in unconscious Our behaviour is based on by those experiences and datas stored deep down in unconscious and subconscious that have been accumulating since our childhood. So,changing in human behaviour can be attributed to TV for sure. Meet few people lesser or least exposed to such data and information intrusion;their being are much lighter than one whose subconscious mind is over burdened with informations and data load. Our senses do not like much data load actually. Look at a color photograph for few seconds then, edit it to black and white and look at it again. You will feel your eyes feel much comfort with black and white than color one. It's multi color informative data that makes your eyes and mind uncomfortable. A calmer mind won't like to that. Now, play a video accelerating its speed by X3. Even 5 minutes watch in this speed will irritate any person. Actually, our mind that is bound and conditioned to analyse the visual dada, has no space width in it to tolerate it. If you have experienced meditation, you would know the difference of load free unconscious and loaded one. *** yes, TV watching making our mind and being shallow, our behaviour, response,thinking pattern, even look,touch, feel - everything become shallow if we keep filling our deeper section of mind with irrelevant informations. Better, listen radio / audio. You can cook while listening but you can't while TV is on. It affect our calmness,focus, centre of being, even skills and soft skills as well.

Good points

Very good information' all india world 'internet per aisi post bahut hi housefull hoti hain' internet in india 'ऐसी पोस्ट पढ़कर कुछ इनकम jobs कर सकते हैं' top job gyan '

nice article..really liked while reading. Good job..keep it up.. you may also visit my blog by clicking below.. Barack Obama

Yes definitely...

Indeed a nice article

• Decision Making... We all are living a very fast life. Every second knowingly or unknowingly we are making a decision, that can be right or wrong which we ...
• TV is not an Idiot Box, It makes you an Idiot Television is believed to be one of the greatest inventions for human being. It let you see and hear far off videos and audios at your o...
• School - Our First Home Away From Home I must have cried for going to school My eyes still get wet remembering the school. It was such a big family where we had so many Mothers to...

Original Drafts

• Article Sample
• Terms & Conditions
• Privacy Policy

Finished Papers

Free essays categories

Perfect Essay

PenMyPaper: a student-friendly essay writing website

We, at PenMyPaper, are resolute in delivering you professional assistance to write any kind of academic work. Be it marketing, business, or healthcare sector, we can prepare every kind of draft efficiently, meeting all the points of the question brief. Also, we believe in 'research before drafting'. Any work without ample research and evidence will be a flawed one and thus we aim to make your drafts flawless with exclusive data and statistics. With us, you can simply relax while we do the hard work for you.

Compare Properties

Finished Papers

Online Essay Writing Service to Reach Academic Success.

Are you looking for the best essay writing service to help you with meeting your academic goals? You are lucky because your search has ended. is a place where all students get exactly what they need: customized academic papers written by experts with vast knowledge in all fields of study. All of our writers are dedicated to their job and do their best to produce all types of academic papers of superior quality. We have experts even in very specific fields of study, so you will definitely find a writer who can manage your order.

Finished Papers

"The impact of cultural..."

Susan Devlin

Finished Papers

Is essay writing service legal?

Essay writing services are legal if the company has passed a number of necessary checks and is licensed. This area is well developed and regularly monitored by serious services. If a private person offers you his help for a monetary reward, then we would recommend you to refuse his offer. A reliable essay writing service will always include terms of service on their website. The terms of use describe the clauses that customers must agree to before using a product or service. The best online essay services have large groups of authors with diverse backgrounds. They can complete any type of homework or coursework, regardless of field of study, complexity, and urgency.

When you contact the company Essayswriting, the support service immediately explains the terms of cooperation to you. You can control the work of writers at all levels, so you don't have to worry about the result. To be sure of the correctness of the choice, the site contains reviews from those people who have already used the services.

Finished Papers

Customer Reviews

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

DealBook Newsletter

Why Megadonors Are Unfazed by Donald Trump’s Guilty Verdict

Money flowed into the former president’s re-election campaign from Wall Street and Silicon Valley following Thursday’s historic conviction.

By Andrew Ross Sorkin ,  Ravi Mattu ,  Bernhard Warner ,  Sarah Kessler ,  Michael J. de la Merced ,  Lauren Hirsch and Ephrat Livni

Guilty on all counts. Donald Trump is the first sitting or former president to be convicted of a felony in U.S. history, after a jury ruled that he falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal with a porn star that could have sunk his 2016 campaign.

In normal times, that might mean the end of his political ambitions. Instead, Wall Street and Silicon Valley money is flowing into his re-election campaign following the ruling.

Republican mega donors are energized. “This verdict will have less than zero impact on my support,” Omeed Malik , the president of 1789 Capital and a co-host of a Trump fund-raiser last night at the Pierre hotel, told Bloomberg. Andy Sabin , the metals magnate, was more direct. “I haven’t heard anybody who gives a …,” he told CNBC of the conviction, using an expletive.

The hedge fund billionaire (and Biden critic) Bill Ackman is set to back Trump, too.

Some big Silicon Valley names are doubling down. David Sacks, the venture capitalist who will co-host a San Francisco fund-raiser for Trump next week, called it a “sham trial” and said that the former president had lots of supporters in the tech world who were afraid to admit it. One who did is Shaun Maguire, a partner at Sequoia Capital, who gave $300,000 to the Trump campaign after the ruling, even though he acknowledged the decision could cost him friends and hurt business.

With the election likely to be decided by a handful of counties in swing states, the question is how much that big money heading to Trump will even matter.

Unhappiness with President Biden is one reason business moguls are backing Trump despite the multiple controversies. Trump’s tough-on-immigration, low-tax, regulation-shredding stance has been a big draw for billionaires who may be calculating that an endorsement or donation now will reap a bigger return if he wins in November. Another possible calculation: backing Trump at a low point could amplify that return even more.

Trump has also mustered support among voters. The Republican still leads in many polls even though yesterday’s ruling is his third straight court defeat (following the E. Jean Caroll defamation cases). Some supporters, like Steve Schwarzman , the Blackstone C.E.O., who distanced themselves from Trump over attempts to overturn the 2020 election and the Republicans’ poor showing in the 2022 midterms, and have U-turned to back him again.

Trump allies, such as Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida , and die-hard critics of Biden like Elon Musk slammed the trial, with the tech entrepreneur saying the ruling damaged the “public’s faith in the American legal system.”

Trump’s campaign is also seeking to capitalize on the conviction. A “ breaking news ” banner was plastered on his campaign website with an urgent petition for cash, including “$100 if you think President Trump did nothing wrong!”

The Biden campaign hopes to exploit it. The White House sees an opportunity to cast the choice for voters in stark terms even if the ruling may do little to change the result of the election. “There’s only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box,” Biden posted on X after the verdict in a call for donations.

What’s next? X, Musk’s social media platform, will host live video town halls with Trump ahead of the election (It’s a sign of how their warming relationship could be good for Musk’s business empire.) Trump will hold a press conference today and is due to be sentenced on July 11, four days before the start of the Republican National Convention. Will he face prison? Could he pardon himself? That’s unclear. More certain is that he will probably appeal, dragging the case deeper into the campaign season.

HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING

Bill Ackman is said to be weighing an I.P.O. for Pershing Square. The billionaire investor is planning to take his firm public as soon as next year, The Wall Street Journal reports. He will sell a stake in Pershing Square before the I.P.O. that could value the firm at about $10.5 billion, as Ackman looks to capitalize on his growing public profile through his prolific use of social media.

Skydance has sweetened its offer for Paramount. The studio run by David Ellison has submitted an improved bid for the entertainment giant, DealBook has confirmed following a report in The Wall Street Journal . Skydance is now viewed as the front-runner in the race to merge with Paramount, which owns MTV, CBS and the movie studio behind “Top Gun,” after Sony and Apollo backed away from a rival $26 billion bid.

Eurozone inflation ticks up. Consumer prices rose by 2.6 percent on an annualized basis in May, higher than economists’ expectations. Still, the markets are pricing in that the European Central Bank will cut interest rates at next week’s meeting. Investors will now shift focus to U.S. inflation data, due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

TikTok is reportedly working on a clone of its algorithm. The company is hopeful that making a duplicate of TikTok’s source code would lay the groundwork for separating out its U.S. assets, according to Reuters . The clock is ticking for the popular video app to divest from its Chinese parent, ByteDance, or be outlawed in the U.S.

Crypto bulls target D.C.

The crypto industry has had a good few months, and it is using that momentum to widen its reach in Washington ahead of the election. Andreessen Horowitz, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm, is the latest to ramp up donations, saying it would give $25 million to promote pro-crypto candidates on both sides of the aisle.

Recent victories have inspired crypto donors to double down. Chris Dixon, who leads Andreesen’s crypto efforts, said yesterday that the firm’s donation to the Fairshake super PAC and others — bringing its total giving this election cycle to $47 million — followed “a big week in DC and a series of election wins for pro crypto candidates.” Last week alone, the House passed a crypto bill that could create more regulatory clarity for the sector and the S.E.C. said it would allow the creation of exchange-traded funds tied to Ether, the second-biggest crypto token approved.

Crypto money is flowing into super PACs. Fairshake told Axios that its war chest was at more than $110 million , and crypto-backed super PACs had raised more than $100 million before the latest donations flowed in. The money has already been used to help defeat candidates seen as unfriendly to the industry, like Representative Katie Porter , the California Democrat who was angling for a Senate seat.

Supporters say sentiment on crypto is shifting in their direction. Ripple donated $25 million to Fairshake this week — its second gift of this size this election cycle — and said more would come as it faces off with the S.E.C. over XRP, its cryptocurrency. Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s C.E.O., said the donation sent “a message to backward looking politicians that their failed policies will not be tolerated!”

Crypto is winning new fans. Donald Trump, once a crypto antagonist, is now taking digital asset donations. And this month, Democrats and Republicans in both houses voted to nullify S.E.C. guidance on crypto accounting rules that the industry opposed. President Biden has signaled that he would veto the congressional resolution but has also indicated he is willing to work with lawmakers on crypto legislation. For the industry, these are all signals that their strategy is working.

A new front opens in the chip wars

The Middle East could become a new battleground in the fight between Washington and Beijing over chips, and that’s spooking tech investors as Chinese leader Xi Jinping holds talks with Arab leaders to bolster trade ties.

Shares in chipmakers Nvidia and AMD fell in premarket trading following a Bloomberg report that the Biden administration was slowing the licensing of high-end chips to the region for fears they could fall into the hands of Chinese companies. The companies’ semiconductors are seen as a crucial component in the development of artificial intelligence. The White House argues that keeping such technology away from Chinese companies is a matter of national security.

The Biden administration is reviewing how A.I. is being developed in the Middle East , especially in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to Bloomberg. It’s uncertain how long the investigation will last, and what it may ultimately mean for chip shipments at a time when the Gulf region is tapping its oil riches to expand its A.I. capabilities.

The White House is in a tough spot with the Middle East. A string of U.S. tech giants, including Amazon, Google and IBM, have expanded their presence there and tap into the billions that oil-rich governments are spending to diversify their economies. Saudi Arabia has created a roughly $40 billion A.I. development fund , attracting the likes of heavyweight Silicon Valley investors like Andreessen Horowitz. And Washington has already flexed its muscles: Last month, it orchestrated a deal to force Microsoft to invest in G42 , an Emirati A.I. start-up, to box out China.

Trade barriers have slowed Chinese companies’ access to advanced tech, but haven’t cut them off entirely. The CHIPS and Science Act in 2022 was supposed to restrict U.S. exports of high-end semiconductors to China. But Chinese companies have found workarounds , often relying on a network of global business partners to secure the banned components. The new review by administration officials could be seen as a way to plug some of those holes.

China sees commercial and diplomatic opportunities in the Middle East. Xi is holding a summit with Arab leaders in Beijing this week in an effort to deepen ties. Earlier this week, Lenovo, the Chinese tech company, said it would sell $2 billion worth of bonds to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and build a research and development hub in Riyadh .

THE SPEED READ

Citadel Securities named Jim Esposito , a top former Goldman Sachs executive, as president as it goes head to head with Wall Street in the lucrative market-making business. (Bloomberg)

Brookfield, the infrastructure investment giant, is said to be teaming with Singapore’s investment fund Temasek to buy a French wind power developer, Neoen, for $6.6 billion . (FT)

Elon Musk agreed to testify in an S.E.C. investigation into his 2022 purchase of Twitter. (Reuters)

The U.S. Labor Department accused Hyundai and three other companies in a lawsuit of using child labor on an assembly line in Alabama. (NYT)

Best of the rest

Private equity has come for bowling . (The Lever)

“ Zero-down mortgages are making a comeback” (CNN)

OpenAI said China, Russia, Iran and Israel had used its A.I. in disinformation campaigns . (NYT)

We’d like your feedback! Please email thoughts and suggestions to [email protected] .

Andrew Ross Sorkin is a columnist and the founder and editor at large of DealBook. He is a co-anchor of CNBC’s "Squawk Box" and the author of “Too Big to Fail.” He is also a co-creator of the Showtime drama series "Billions." More about Andrew Ross Sorkin

Ravi Mattu is the managing editor of DealBook, based in London. He joined The New York Times in 2022 from the Financial Times, where he held a number of senior roles in Hong Kong and London. More about Ravi Mattu

Bernhard Warner is a senior editor for DealBook, a newsletter from The Times, covering business trends, the economy and the markets. More about Bernhard Warner

Sarah Kessler is an editor for the DealBook newsletter and writes features on business and how workplaces are changing. More about Sarah Kessler

Michael de la Merced joined The Times as a reporter in 2006, covering Wall Street and finance. Among his main coverage areas are mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcies and the private equity industry. More about Michael J. de la Merced

Lauren Hirsch joined The Times from CNBC in 2020, covering deals and the biggest stories on Wall Street. More about Lauren Hirsch

Ephrat Livni reports from Washington on the intersection of business and policy for DealBook. Previously, she was a senior reporter at Quartz, covering law and politics, and has practiced law in the public and private sectors.   More about Ephrat Livni