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