evolution of media violence essay

The first stage covers the debut of commercial radio in the 1920's.. Commercials were kept brief and always discreet In the second stage of programming, which was called The Golden Age o

Evolution of Media Violence

The evolution of broadcast programming can be identified into four stages The

first stage covers the debut of commercial radio in the 1920's

At that time

the tone was considered proper, and formal For several years radio

broadcasting emphasized classical or semi-classical music, and historical drama

Commercials were kept brief and always discreet In the second stage of

programming, which was called The Golden Age of Radio, shows were action

adventures Vaudeville-Comedy was also popular The hard ships

of the 1930's

and then World War II, made it important for citizens to be able

to relax as

radio brought popular entertainers and adventure stories into their homes

The third stage of programming lasted from 1945 until the early 1950's, when

television had a explosive growth Television was preserved as

"radio with

pictures." Many entertainers and entire programs were

transferred successfully

from radio to television At the beginning of the fourth stage, known as The

Golden Age of Television, variety shows were the most popular program format

Another television staple of this era was the western In the late 1950's

action-adventure became popular

Since the 1960's there has been a increase in violence in the media (television)

In 1968 censorship laws were relaxed in favor of a rating system that allowed

any type of subject matter to be filmed This permitted

Hollywood to specialize

in films featuring excessive violence Many individuals and citizen groups have

expressed concern about the level of violence in television

programs,

particularly in action-adventure series and cartoons They feel that viewers,

especially children, may learn to see violence as the way to resolve conflicts

Television can influence peoples mental picture of the world This is

especially true for younger viewers who rely heavily on

television and other

media for their understanding of the world beyond their

neighborhoods

Television today is failing to provide a complete, unbiased

picture of reality

United Stated has a long standing tradition of freedom of speech, and freedom of

press These freedoms have hampered the government in attempting

to directly

limit censor the depiction of violence on television In reason times the

networks and producers have felt pressure from concern citizens who are critical

of the violence displayed on television