Television is a very powerful communication tool. Why do we use it to spread such unimportant information?

Question

This question was asked at the Dropping Knowledge event on 9th September by Michael Graham Richard, 24, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. To find out more about Dropping Knowledge check out our blog:

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Answer 1

First of all, we the public must understand that television and all media for that matter, are in existance because of money. Someone owns these tv, radio stations and newspapers. TV and radio sell ads(commercials) for revenue. Newspapers on the other hand sell print ads and also charge a subscription fee. Their only agenda is to make money.



In order to acquire businesses to advertise on their stations, TV and radio must out perform its competition. They do this by giving the public what it wants to see and hear. If J.Q. Public wants sensationalism then BAMM! then XYZ station brings you stories like the Ramsey case in Colorado, or the girl who disappeared in Aruba. These occurances have no bearing on the overall lives of the viewing public, but make great news. So called "journalists" will scrape the bottom of the barrel to find anything they can use or invent to startle and shock people.



Media is BIG POWERFUL BUSINESS. If you don't like what's on TV, the only person you can blame is yourself. Turn it off and watch what happens.

Answer 2

You see, the people that run television networks make a lot of money. Their greed deepens until they no longer care for communicating important things-the stations that make the most money have the most pointless shows, such as the Disney channel, which I'm not sure where all that is run, but anyway...however, through the news, television carries out its real potential. We are able to see what is going on in all parts of the world with the push of a button. It is a pretty fascinating invention, but taken so much for granted. Of course, entertainment is a great thing when taken in small quantities, but feeding the drones that have become the youth of the world stupid and meaningless information has made them-or us-somewhat useless. Gameshows are a good way to keep your mind in check; they don't teach lessons such as "the best way to get a girlfriend" but rather usefull knowledge, if you watch the right ones. reality tv is another thing that I cannot stand, simply because it is taking advantage of the clay minds of youth so that it can show you the stupid things other mindless youthful drones are doing and make wads of cash through it.



the point of my answer is this: its all for the money.

Answer 3

I find television an annoying intruder in my home, much like the telephone. Naturally I find the latter useful, but for my purposes, not for others to abuse. I was raised without Television. It was taken out of our house when I was five years old. We read the paper, news magazines, and listened to the radio. We were well informed and had plenty of spare time to go outside and play and share in family events. As a result, I'm by far, a more creative person and well read. Even as a fourth grader my father would chose an appropriate news article for us to read and then tell us to circle every word we didn't understand, look it up in the dictionary and then come discuss the article with him. My vocabulary grew, I knew what was going on in the world and I was capable of discussing it. TV came back into our home when I was sixteen and my grandmother passed away. We inherited hers. It held no interest for us and still doesn't today. I'm in my early 40's now. My family has television but I don't turn it on once in 6 months. I chose the information that I'm interested in via other means.

Answer 4

TV is used to spread unimportant information because basically they won't to make money out of it.... also some people that have not been in schools i.e. uneducated think that TV is always right or that the TV does spread important information. like how to cook and the news, not that there always right. but some could argue that the TV does spread important information and unimportant information and which ever one they won't to see they can. also you cant expected every one that has a TV to just watch important information all the time as people with jobs need a brake.

Answer 5

It happens that there is a limit to how many radio and television signals can be squeezed into the available spectrum. It was decided in the 1920s and 30s that regulation was going to be necessary, and national governments chose to initiate said regulation.

It soon became clear that far more entities wanted access to television for their own purposes, so governments began to sell exclusive licenses to certain frequencies. Those who could afford the licenses also encountered ever-increasing costs associated with their broadcasting, and discovered that selling advertising time during their on-air day was the way to meet those costs. Every user of the electromagnetic spectrum pays. Those who can pay the most get the most air time - it's simple economics.

One might question whether more important messages deserve air time - and they certainly do. The consumer has to know how to access such messages - and the need for those messages varies wildly. Do I really need to know there's a typhoon about t o strike Sumatra when I and all my family and all my business dealings are restricted to the Northeastern United States? No, I do not - even though Sumatrans would be delighted to have early warning of that storm.

You can search online for resources for information you deem important: you may want accurage and up-to-date weather information right from the NWS - the "horses mouth" so to speak. So you buy a scanner radio from your friendly Radio Shack and program it to NWS frequencies. Many such solutions are out there - you just have to find them. Good luck.

Answer 6

Because the content is delivered mostly 'free' to consumers, it is the advertisers who pay for it. (Cable and satellite customers basically pay for the transmission systems.) Advertisers try to reach various demographics, and spend their dollars on shows that consumers watch, and hopefully will buy their products and services. To advertisers, that is 'important.'



If we had some committee sit down and what was "useful" and what was not, that would be censorship, and in most western countries, that much control is strongly rejected. Despite a modest amount of content control, nearly everything is permitted on television - what you might call both important & unimportant.



Like most things in life, there are many sides to an issue. On the one hand, TV can be used to communicate news, political debates, and documentaries about critical issues. On another hand, TV has cartoons, WWE and reruns of Married With Children.

Answer 7

You have answered your own question. Because television is such a very powerful communication tool, it is in the best interest of the powers that be, to use it as a distraction from many, real, important issues. If television were only used to spread, true, useful, important information, enough people would become educated, concerned, and infuriated about the issues facing the world around them, politicians and big business manipulating, lying to, and ripping them off, that they may get off of their lazy, complacent butts and work towards meaningful changes to the world around them. But as long as we have Laguna Beach, Monday Night Football, and Dog the Bounty Hunter, the people at the top will remain at the top and sadly, society will continue to deteriorate.

Answer 8

Too many cheap shot journalists. They need little or no education and in some cases do very little work to find bits of unimportant info. Some are wanna be's. Don't get me wrong. There are many highly trained journalists and they have the high paying jobs but lets face it. How can they keep news entertaining 24 hours a day 7 days a week without reporting BS. We keep them in business by hugging the TV and not finding something constructive to do. To top it off we are very gullible and take it in like a sponge. We got to take some of the blame.

Answer 9

To start, it depends on what you mean by "unimportant information." If you mean silly things, the answer is one thing. If you mean news, the answer has to be something else.

I seem to like something that I thought up one day, people work too hard for things that they do in life, to meet someone and date, to work and keep their jobs, to even stay in shape, to have to work even more when they get home. The television is an entertainment vessel, it is a way to relax, in the way that the individual wants to do so. Some silly things are shown, and will always be shown, but then you have other channels that you can turn to. True, things are made harder than they should ever have to be, but the relaxing period would be required at any rate.

Answer 10

Now TV as a communication tool is brilliant. I would love to have a video cell phone to share gossip with all my friends!! Oh, sorry. I mean to share important information with all my friends. So uh, let's discuss Wittgenstein's philosophy of language and the nature of meaning, shall we?



Well, if you want information and knowledge you can watch the history channel, Nova, PBS all sorts of information. There is a lot of educational programming. If it is not shown at the time that you want, just record it and watch it later. Better yet, turn the TV off and spend time at the library reading and researching. I think libraries in Canada are free, aren't they? They are in the US.



People mostly watch TV to be entertained. All the inane programs are successful because people like inane programming. Further proof of this is that sponsors pay a LOT of money to advertise during inane programs.

Answer 11

Perhaps it has something to do with the psychophysiological aspects of what happens to people when they stare into this machine...(namely, "alpha wave")

I heard something the other week...something like, the first time a person ever watches t.v., it will take them about ten minutes for their brainwave patterns to reach the alpha state (much like being in a trance or being hypnotized) But when they watch it a second time it only take a few minutes. And when they watch a third time, it takes only seconds! [something like that] People don't think so well when in such a state; but are highly susceptible to "teaching". Perhaps this is why.

The people who run these infernal contraptions have little interest in teaching valuable traits - but they have alot of money to make if they can get people to believe that what they really need can and should be bought.

Answer 12

Because corporations will always use technology to earn profit at whatever cost. They will go to great lengths to produce entertainment for the masses. We as consumers have a partial responsibility to shape the uses of technology, but it's hard when Trump is about to fire somebody for our amusement.



What's sad is that important information on TV -- the little that's left -- is becoming more and more entertainment-ized to compete for viewership, ratings, and ultimately, funding to stay alive. The "news" is a good example of this.



The same could be asked of the internet, mobile devices and radio.



I find it ironic that this question was asked on Yahoo Answers -- an unimportant, entertainment site that lies within a powerful medium like the web.

Answer 13

I think people should take things from TV that are not usually associated with the more mainstream programmes.

Apart from educational programmes it is my opinion that TV has had a lot to offer.

I would rather people would look for things in the less obvious places.

It could be said that TV has added something towards Art and I would cite some of the beautiful advertising seen in England as an example of this.

Answer 14

Because you can. Don't forget that TV replaced radio and radio was primarily for news as well as comedy and entertainment. TV was entertaining at first. It brought us local news, discovered the talents that soon became Hollywood, and eventually broadened worldwide to become international and we are just bombarded with information overload these days that it's impossible to know fact from fiction. We are now a generation full of so much garbage being fed to us that we don't know what to do with it all. We are governed by what we see on TV and we believe all that we are fed, and we do what we are told to do, and buy what we are told to buy that it's just so crazy. I wish the whole world could just shut off the tv, the radio and spend a week without it all, just to see what life would be like without it all.



Remember the big black out a few years ago--how surreal it all felt to be "out of touch" for whole 24 hours...it was frightening and yet exilharating at the same time...we actually came out of our homes and checked on our neighbours and talked to one another...wow.



So why does all this trivia on tv matter? I guess it's because we let it matter. We come home from our jobs and whenever we crash we do it in front of the tv and want to be fed mindless garbage. That is really a shame. This is reality to our kids and they buy it hook, line and sinker.

Answer 15

I'd say for imagination...



We use t.v. and books as an supplimentary entertainment tool to work and flex our imagination. That is why sitcoms, dramas, detective shows, and comedies are so popular. We like to laugh, cry, and work things out in our head. We like suspense. They enable us to go someplace else and not leave our homes. They give us something to think about and share with others.



I think where we have the problem is is the media, honestly. It seems like the media has figured out what we like and does the same thing with the news, esentially making it a joke. They know we like drama...so they give us drama. They know we like suspense...so they give us suspense. They know we like horror...so they give us horror. And just as human beings can't help but stare as they drive by a car accident or widen our eyes in curiousitiy when some says words like "murdered" we can't help but sit on the edge of our seats when we watch the news.



The only downfall that I don't think the media has forseen is that in some parts of our minds we know that even though it is on t.v. that it IS real...Not just a fantasy. When I watch a t.v. show or a movie I know it's not real...Just acting (now matter how good). I know that the people will get up and walk away to make more movies. On the news that's not the case. The guy in the body bag isn't getting up and going out for a latte or a late night meal at Taco Bell, he's not going anywhere but the morgue. That knowledge makes people nervous and jumpy. That knowledge and hype makes Americans sweat at night and that fear spreads from us around the world.



Like my Grandma says, "Jumpy like a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs." Makes sense to me anyways...Just food for thought.

Answer 16

The Internet is a very powerful communication tool. Why do we use it to ask such unimportant questions.



Just another left wing liberal "think tank"

Answer 17

Congrats for asking this valuable question. If the TV people can find some useful message and 'direction' from the feedback received then hopefully we can say that we corrected the course of TV entertainment etc., about 50 years after its commercial use.



Here in Bangladesh we had transmission of Black & White TV from 1966 and Colour TV from 1980 and in those days only one Government channel (BTV) was airing news, drama etc. The whole country was tuned to the same show for a limited time (may be 6pm to 11pm) and the discussion on the next day was on similar issues as seen on TV.



With the introduction of limited satellite TV since 1991 (and now cable TV) we get to see most of the worlds TV programmes. The Indian numerous daily soap operas (dramas) are now the staple of the girls and women in Bangladesh, not to mention some men too. At home, I have difficulty weaning away my wife and 3 daughters from these entertainment shows which are aired non-stop for almost 24-hours. I do watch TV for BBC, CNN, Indian and Bangladeshi News etc., and I am greatly benefited by way of getting fairly good grasp of things happening elsewhere.



Now I do wonder whether the entertainment and 'education' materials those I seek are also similar to those espoused by the series of non-stop drama shows in the mind of my family members (as mentioned above) which are not only killing everyday valuable hours of Indian audience but I am sure the same is happening to the audiences of whole of South Asia as well as so many countries of the world where these so-called entertainment channels are telecasted. What a waste of resources (time and money and morality of the new generation)! By the way, my family members hardly get time to read newspaper or books/novels etc., and in my perception they are suffering from TV mania or some new name for such addiction! Or, am I wrong in my assessment?



I would like to request Y!A Team to pose this vital question to the policy & decision makers of the world, if needed at UNGA level, and get the course of our next generation corrected before it is too late by way of remodeling TV programmes.

Answer 18

I notice that a few people have translated the phrase 'unimportant information' in the question as meaning 'entertainment', as opposed to, perhaps, 'news' but, as I pointed out in another Yahoo question, what TV says is the news is actually primarily 'Bad News'.



TV, at its best, is far better than what the vast majority of playwrights have come up with and how many 'classical composers' have come up with anything as memorable as the Steptoe and Son theme tune?



TV is only as good as the people who make it are capable of or want to make it be. The actors, directors, writers and presenters on TV aren't necessarily all Dennis Potters in the making- generally, the quality of the best American shows is far better than the majority of British ones.

Answer 19

It this country, television is a commercial enterprise, so is going to be driven by comercial influences.



At least, in the US, the llicenses to use the frequencies are tied to a minimum of required educational and public service programming. We don't do a great JOB of such programming, but the requirement is there, and the public is periodically encouraged to speak up about whether a broadcaster is living up to his obligations.



In the meantime, the programers will air what people wish to watch and what others are willing to pay for. The alterantives are, strictly government productions, (think of the bland BBC programming of the 50's) or government propoganda, with absolutely no opposing viewpoints.



24 hours, 365 days per year is a LOT of time to fill. One gets some chaff with the wheat.

Answer 20

Who is paying for it? The ONLY reason TV even exists is for the money. It's like this. I want money. I get money from people to advertise on my TV show. The advertiser gives me crap for money unless I can show lots of people will watch. So, I put on programs that people want to watch. TV is NOT for the dissemination of information. In fact, though I watch less than two hours of the tube a week, I get really pissed off when they have to show an amber alert at the most critical part of my show. If I wanted that information, I would get in my car and drive on the express way under one of those signs that are always saying "DRIVE HAMMERED GET NAILED!"



If you haven't noticed, there is an overabundance of good information on the TV. You must change the channel to find it, tons of it. You just have not looked. But, at the same time, check out the ratings. Who watches PBS unless Python's, "Quest for the Holy Grail" is on.

Answer 21

Television reflects two driving forces, economics and human nature.



Economic considerations lead programmers to program what the largest number of people - especially people shown to have high levels of disposable income - are thought to want, based on what programs draw the highest numbers of those viewers. In short, t.v. becomes more sensationalized because that is what the largest numbers of people turn in to.



Unfortunately, this leads to an "arms race" where programming must become more and more sensationalized to stand out, and to satisfy the palates of viewers grown more jaded.



Here we get to human nature. Television, like every human creation, reflects its creators. Most of human interaction is trivial - listen to conversations for an hour in any restaurant. We bond over chat, and lots of it - most of it not very challenging. It reassures us, distracts us, entertains us. T.V. is essentially The Guest Who Won't Stop Chattering - and when we want to be reassured, distracted, or amused, we go to that guest.



Once in a great while, though, that Guest says something profound. Not very often. The same is true of human beings, creators of the t.v.

Answer 22

Its the age old excuse but also very true. TV content is controlled by the demand of the audience. Any given show's continued success is measured by the number of viewers.



To rephrase the question slightly at this point, why do we (the masses) have a greater propensity to watch some random realtiy show about three brane morons living together than CSPAN? To me its inherently obvious but hard to quantify.



To stop talking... I think we spread entertainment over knowledge on television sets because its what we wish to do in front of a TV.

Answer 23

What is the use in spreading important information if no one is going to tune in to listen to it? I think that a good mix of important and frivolous material is enough to keep people interested and not make them depressed or bored. Personally, I think Oprah has mastered this balance. Some shows are about very serious and important issues... which she could easily put on her show every day, but other days she does some show about makeovers, or celebrities, or products that she likes (useless information, but it is entertaining and fun to watch).

Answer 24

TV to modern man is as what fire was to the cave man. TV was invented in 1935 and used exclusively by the military. 10 years later it was released to the general public. What to do with it. hmmm Let's make money. SOOO entertainment was first, then news as a bi product.



Being there at it's birth, i think it's come a long way.

I really enjoy the history and science channel's.



Sometimes you don't want to think that hard.



Even though someone coined the phrase that TV was a vast waist land. I feel it's come a long way.

Answer 25

I agree with you there but think that TV is no longer the prefered medium for information exchange. The Internet is here.



If you want to exchange opinions with a Television show then you will be charged for the sake of sending in a text message. Here on the Internet, commercialisation is limited to a few annoying pop ups here and there.



Television will struggle in the years ahead as Advertisers realise that their customers are actually surfing the web, not the remote control. Perhaps the sanity will then return.

Answer 26

television is indeed a very powerful communication tool and the essence of its power is its universal appeal....if communication does not include 'such unimportant information' then it will cease to be a mass medium but an esoteric sounding board for a clique....the value of information is best judged on how you use it not before it is communicated.....sometimes the most trivial or unassuming piece of information can be that which has the greatest impact

Answer 27

The answer is simply that people request and would like to know unimportant information; TV networks dont want to give people important information, they want to give people what they want so they can make as much money as possible from those people.



I could say why the hell do they continue to make and sell those unpleasant looking and tasting angel cakes at Sainsbury's, but the truth is, they don't care that I don't like it or that I won't buy it; they care that many people do buy it.



The answer to 'Why do we use (TV) to spread such unimportant information'? People want unimportant information.



TV Networks are market-driven businesses, not product-driven.

Answer 28

I don't think that is really fair. While I don't disagree that most of TV is unimportant information, the value of entertainment and the ability to escape the problems of your life, even if only for a moment, has value.



Compared to 30 years, there is alot more "important" information on TV now, with all of the cable and satalite channels. But who defines what is important?



Also, how we convey "important information" is often so biased, that it becomes less valuable.

Answer 29

Its lights and sparklie and has sound too! how could anyone have ever known that the Ginsu Knife was such a vital tool to survival and world peace without television.

Answer 30

Television has a way of putting people in a mindless trance-there is no 2 way communication with a TV. Commercials, points of view, and ideologies are being thrown at the audience. Continually watching TV just reinforces propaganda and an unreal portrayal of society-after so many doses of TV people start believing everything they see and hear and take it is scripture. Advertisers spend in-measurable amounts of money to blast the trance induced people into thinking they need a certain product or service to be part of society. TV reports typically are biased towards a political party affiliation. TV will continue to delude real life as people buy into it. I stopped watching television a few months ago and I don't miss it at all.

Answer 31

TV programmers are fully aware of what they are doing. Keep the masses down and abide by the leaders rules.

Ratings, marketing products, misinformation, confusion, and any other way to keep people from thinking for themselves.



Once something becomes a huge cash cow all aspects of ethics are thrown out the window. The hidden message is that money is more important than human beings.



Sad but true.

Answer 32

Because it is not a medium to be taken seriously, in other words, its not a respectable medium. I expect nothing out of television, just an occasional laugh, a little news, a little sports.

Commercial TV is meant for a mass audience and that does not promote quality programming or media.

Answer 33

Escapism and the need to misinform, a very powerful tool controlled by a few? plus we get what we deserve, if we didn't all watch crap, TV companies would stop producing it.

Anyway most people love soap operas and other biennial stuff as its a visual opium for the masses, better that a frontal lobotomy :-)

Answer 34

If people read as much as they watch tv, don't you think they'd find a way to put the communication they needed spread in books. People watch a lot of tv. It's the best way to spead unimportant information such as commercials and ads.

Answer 35

Its because it would be boring if everything was important on TV. People wouldn't want to sit down at the end of the day to watch it if all there was going to be on was news and important information.



But i do agree that things like gossip and what so and so is doing shouldn't be on TV.

Answer 36

Unfortunately most of it is done for money. Writers, producers and actors all benefit from those who insist on sitting on their arses in front what started out as a wood box. Although there are still so many programs that are truly educational and offers the great communication opportunities there are many more that are in it simply for the money.

Just my opinion.

Answer 37

VERY GOOD QUESTION! I've been asking that same question for over a decade (my idea when bad TV was born), and really could'nt find a good answer. My guess is to keep the masses distracted and amused from other real important world issues. Another opinion, they also use it as a device for mind control tactics to keep people running like a finely oiled machine. Most people will believe anything they see on TV, and these dumb and stupid shows they keep putting on is a perfect way for them to broadcast their subliminal thoughts into our heads.

Answer 38

I feel that the word "Important" itself is subjective to a particular person's persective. even though TV is a powerful medium of mass communcation we cannot certainly say that something is very important and something else is not. for eg. the new of some new technology may be very important to technical people but for others it may be irrelevant.This is something like people around the world like music but of different genre's.



So, information of all types is spread by using TV and people ( who are supposed to be wise enough) should decide as to what is important for them

Answer 39

Television is currently used as a tool by the corporations that own the majority of stations to promote their products and to drown out public discourse and education with mindless entertainment, unimportant controversy, and propaganda promoting fashionable consumption. By wooing the public with these seductive topics, and while also dumbing down the content to appeal to the "lowest common denominator", they create the perfect receptacles for their advertisements.



One interesting point to support this is that television companies refer to the commercials as the "content" and the shows as the "filler."

Answer 40

The very act of communication has become the effect that people crave. Like sugar and other fixes, the instant high overwhelms viewers who only later become vexed by a lack of satisfaction. It's corruption dulls the awareness needed to recognise and evaluate the communication void of it's soul possessing message.



Try an alternative, get some content over the air waves! Check out the following link:

Answer 41

Like every other medium , Television too has both good & bad items , & it is upto the User to choose that which he finds useful . The channels merely try to gauge viewers' tastes & provide programs they think will appeal to them . ( Though how someone could think we'd all be madly interested in the daily lives of a bunch of fictitious people , beats me ! )

Answer 42

Are you kidding? This is a very ill posed question. Aside from the small percentage of PBS stations, TV is commercial. Entertainment geared to the population mean sells advertising space and no one wants to lose their advertisers. Connect your self to reality and step outside of the moralistic fallacy.

Answer 43

If tv makes all of us mindless it means that we're spreading lots of shows from all over the world and we are getting so much money from the people that watch 'em. If we do commercails we can make people that like our products want to buy them if they really like the product we're trying to sell because we want to make so much money and if it works we can have all of the money from thr people that buy them. If it goes everywhere and we make so much money we can be rich for real and if the whole globe is rich there will be no more poor people and we might change the world!

Answer 44

Who's to say that commerce and Economy are unimportant? The commercials and such are a very big money market, therefore, they have to display programming that the people WANT to watch. Otherwise you'll see money drives popping up everywhere like on PBS.

Answer 45

b/c the people aren't in charge of what gets REALLY place up on TV channels... the corperations do!

LOL

Duh

That's why

;-)



Plus if they had too many TV shows that made people "better" or "smarter" or what have you, then we might find a way to take back the air waves... plus they do what's "in" as in what's "in" with the snobs LOL not what's really what's "in" on the streets

;-)



After all there is only like ONE community TV station and the rest are corprate owned and runned...

Not to mention the community stations usually don't get much funding and they can't show important shows unless they made them due to COPYRIGHT laws ...

yep..



oh well...



Let's have a pirat TV station!!!

Yeah!

;-)



Muhahahahahaha!

Answer 46

Because it is also a very important means of satisfying viewing needs, and as we all know the world is made up of a variety of minds, cultures, sub-cultures and faiths.

TV would probably not be as popular as it is had it been used as a means of communicating only important, or relevant information.

We are complex characters and need entertaining as well as stimulating.

Answer 47

It started during the depression, got stronger during the second world war and the cold war, and is still strong today. It's called "escapism." People in troubled times don't want to be reminded of the "important information." They want to forget about how bad off they/the world is, for at least a short time.

Answer 48

I have PBS; it says a lot of 'important' things. I rarely watch PBS. I do however, enjoy the new CW. Why? because it's entertaining if not important. Entertaining sells. It's about the money and the ratings, like it or not.

Answer 49

s these tv, radio stations and newspapers. TV and radio sell ads(commercials) for revenue. Newspapers on the other hand sell print ads and also charge a subscription fee. Their only agenda is to make money.



In order to acquire businesses to advertise on their stations, TV and radio must out perform its competition. They do this by giving the public what it want

Answer 50

Spreading important information isn't the only thing TV can do. I believe we have to use TV to spread other things... less important things. People also need to laugh and relax, because that's also important to keep the balance.

Answer 51

What is seemingly not important to you may be important to someone else. Seemingly mindless or unimportant information may be what someone needs to wind down or connect thoughts to lead to a more creative approach of being a more "effective" person. Life's too short. Make it fun!

Answer 52

Television is one of the mediums used to get information and communication across to the public as part of the so called Media.



Its main advantages compaired to other mediums such as Newspapers, magazines, internet and telecommunications is mainly the visual aspect.



Television can entertain, it has sound, can send out subliminal information as well as having a variety of choice, that mainly being important information and unimportant information.

Answer 53

To make money, and ruin society. Television is like hypnotism. Your sitting there in a trance and they are feeding you junk. For example, when you see that nice burger on TV, you are being hypnotized, thats why it is played in slow motion and they know America is the fattest country.

Answer 54

Coz in this day and age the companies know we will nearly always have a TV on somewhere in the house and the average 'joe bloggs' will sit there and watch any crap! Even when we are not watching TV we are listening to the bloody thing!!Then again the best things on TV are the adverts !...//(*_*)\\ Switch off.....do something different...introduce yourself to your family!

Answer 55

I agree that Television is a powerful communication tool; in fact it is a mind control machine! By T.V. you can deceive mass population for the benefit of your pocket or your political agenda; it is the best political propaganda medium. You can create false image of your enemy on T.V., by making your population think that your imaginary enemy is true and dangerous. Wars initiated by T.V. against ghost enemies. So, T.V. is the master tool of deception.

Answer 56

Because television is sponsored by paying advertisers, and thus the content is aimed at the lowest common denominator.



The shows are simply "bait" for the commercials.

Answer 57

Is it all to do with ratings? So the level drops to the lowest common denominator. Or could it be more sinister, a sort of brain washing device? Those who control the media also controls the hearts and minds of the people.

Answer 58

Unimportant to viewers, but getting their attention means more business to people who directly or indirectly fund the Television medium.

Answer 59

because TV is just like the people that run it they will do anything for a price they can all be bought at any price and they could care less if the information is good or not as long as they get the money

Answer 60

Who is to say what is important.



What i consider to be unimportant information is any thing that can be seen as escapism and i think we can all benefit from that.

Answer 61

Because unimportant sells and stations and networks are in the business of making a profit. If it didn't sell, TV would ressemble PBS.

Answer 62

Given what is a generally unsatisfying life for the vast majority of people - dull and undemanding work; lower pay than would be liked; less stimulation and challenge than is good for us - it becomes all to easy for the mass of society to resign themselves to living vicariously through the media images they are fed.

Answer 63

Who says it is unimportant information. Surely it is this point that is more debatable.

Most television revenue comes from advertising and programmes with the highest viewer numbers attract the most advertising so programme makers make television programmes for viewers to appeal to their baser instincts and the lowest common denominators like sex, infidelity, violence and death

Answer 64

Because unimportant information is great! We all need that as a break in our lives - an outlet as it were. Isn't that what entertainment, i.e. television, is for?

Answer 65

Because some people, unlike you or I, are willing to watch a lot of the garbage broadcast to many TV stations.

Answer 66

well i guess if you subscribe to the conspiracy theory, they get you hooked on trivia because you then already have a primed audience when the television is used as a weapon of propaganda.. which of course it is in other countries and more subtly here.. its entertainment, a form of controlling or giving information and raising large revenues too.. advertising.

Answer 67

the simple fact that we has humans will listen to anything thrown at us whether we believe it or not. TV isn't the only place for unimportant information, try the internet









writers research service

http://internethound.8m.com

Answer 68

One mans meet is another mans poison. So what you think meaningless may be what the others do like. As for me what is meaningless are the advertisements. Yet they are required for the existence of the Television. So we do have to tolerate.

Answer 69

To financially help John Logie-Beard's children live life in the fast lane and want for nothin'.

Answer 70

Whats unimportant to you may not be to others. Tv also serves as escapism for many people helping them to relax therefore "mind numbing" shows may be stopping someone from embarking on a murdering spree.

Answer 71

And who determines what is "unimportant"?



Arrogance.



Television is an outlet, and quite often it simply reflects the conflicting nature of society. Everything that is beautiful, ugly, vapid, brilliant.

Answer 72

Stupidity sells better than intelligence. There are more ignorant people in the world, so that's the segment they have to cater to. Sad but true.

Answer 73

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Answer 74

We don't do it, the owners of the television station do. They are more concerned in getting more money than educating the public.

Answer 75

There is a very diminished sense of civic obligation, and the enviornment is much more competitive.

The Bush admin will hold no businesses feet to the fire, they all know it, and take advantage.

Answer 76

No piece of information is ever unimportant! TV is as powerful as it is versatile and hence caters to a variety of viewers and has to include programmes where there is something for everyone:-)

Answer 77

Coz nobody talks any more



Internet is taking over the world

Answer 78

Instead we should regulate what people can say or do, then make tv viewing madatory.



Or, we could just let it be. Let people do, say, think what they want, on the forum of their choice.



I kinda like the latter idea.

Answer 79

opium for the masses. Keep us stuffed full of banal mediocre rubbish and we will never notice that every day our human rights are erroded just a little bit more to keep the top five percent in champagne and weapons.

Answer 80

Because it is the only way to get people to listen to it. If you hand out leaflets, they get thrown away, if you use radio, the will not listen to it, but if you put it on half way through someones fave programme, then they will not want to change the channel, will they?

Answer 81

good question yaar ! ofcourrse ur rite but nothing is unimportant if we see properly everything is important & more over we need entertainment besides the importance like movies, sports , programs etc...

Answer 82

Queen produced a song called Radio Ga-Ga. The story is in that.

However, if people did not want rubbish and false info, they would turn off.

We do.

Answer 83

fully aware of what they are doing. Keep the masses down and abide by the leaders rules.

Ratings, marketing products, misinformation, confusion, and any other way to keep people from thinking for themselves.

Answer 84

Because the world is ruled by money therefore mainly used for advertisement. Everyone's freaking commercial.

Answer 85

That's why I stopped watching it

Answer 86

same as the internet i guess. Give it a few years and we won't even need a television as we'll be able to watch online!

Answer 87

Because first of all, news gets plain boring sometimes and we sometimes want to forget our problems and relax. Unfortunately, to do so, we get invovled in others people's problems.

Answer 88

A C Clarke once said 'when you think of the awsome power of television to educate and inform, arn't you glad it doesn't?'

Answer 89

To hide the truth.



The truth being: there are 6.2 billion people living pointless and boring lives, and many of us need this trivia to fill our empty festering existence.

Answer 90

Well we use it for important stuff too. Like information, but the rest is for entertainment.

Answer 91

we all have to remember that not everyone has someone to talk to ,we don't always want to know the important stuff some times its enough to know that we like the silly things it makes us all feel connected they make us smile, laugh plus human nature is naturally curious that we just have to know whats going on

Answer 92

Television was invented for entertainment. It is a commercial product. I was designed to make money for television studios.

Answer 93

Because its a tool for making money. That's its true, underlying primary function.

Answer 94

They ran out of important stuff to say....



I have a gazillion channels from my satelite Dish, everything from 24 hour news broadcast to cartoons, from hunting and fishing to cooking....



You can buy real estate, jewelry and cleaning supplies...99% of this stuff I find useless.....



To someone else it is their lifeline to the outside world.....

Answer 95

Well, what is useless information to some may be important information to others.

Answer 96

because we are a country very involved with the unimportant and i believe that politics and media are strange bedfellows.....we have to be hoodwinked so they can follow their agenda

Answer 97

Yes, it ought to be used more to preach the gospel of Jesus to all nations....

Something as important as the eternal destiny of millions ought not be taken lightly....

Thank God for the wonders of mass media....

Jesus commanded us to preach the Good News to all the world....

Answer 98

spreading unimportant information is a power tool, an approach and a goal at the same time.. i guess you got my point :)

Answer 99

we give out too much information on t.v.



we tell crooks how to steal ,



how to make bombs



how to break into places



how to poisin the water supply

how to blow uo our bridges

and blow up our underground system



because we give out too much information



especially our t.v. journalists.

Answer 100

entertainment and lazy fat americans whotake welfare checks to have a job to get off the couch and get the remote

Answer 101

most communication is unimportant to everyone else

but the person saying it

Answer 102

my opinion is money hungry bigwigs who want a quick mil or two

mindless shows with no sustantial content

Answer 103

Its called advertising

Answer 104

for entertainment, people don't want to hear about politics all day long, and even if they did, just switch to sky news !

Answer 105

This one is easy . For the money and the opportunity .

Answer 106

Its a matter of freedom of speech

Answer 107

Only history can say what is important or not.

Answer 108

The same way that we use other telecomunnications tools ie: telephone, radio, internet.

Answer 109

I personally think its because we have so much USEFUL information thrown at us, that is is nice to take a break from all of it. Isnt that why we watch SOAPS... so mad sadness goes on in them, it makes my life seem fantastic.

Answer 110

Because there are so many blonde people around

Answer 111

To turn us all into dumb pigs.



They dont call it the 'idiot box' for nothing!

Answer 112

I suppose if we tried to give out the information any other

way no one would listen.

Answer 113

TV promotes idiots, a good proportion of society.

Answer 114

to keep the watchers in fear so they will go spend $$$$. best thing to do with the television: turn it into a planter box

Answer 115

It's different strokes for different folks.

Answer 116

Unfortunately, people prefer entertainment to education. (Also , sadly, entertainment sells better)

Answer 117

cause we have no other better job

cause our thought process is blocked

cause we prefer dissemination of bad things more than good things

cause we cannot set example of doing better things, which enlightens us

Answer 118

Well thanks for that i never would of guessed,well i suppose you learn something new everyday.Unimportant information?all information is important to the one who is giving it.

Answer 119

Money.

Answer 120

Money.

Answer 121

Because there is more to life than just the news, theres entertainment, sports , gossip etc etc,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Answer 122

we are all individuals and what may be rubbish to you could open up a whole new world to someone else.

Answer 123

we mainly use it for enjoyment because most people today are lazy

Answer 124

Those who control the means of communication wield great power.



Television is used as a tool for control and manipulation.



In all societies where TV has become a dominant communication media those who control the content of programming have a potentially massive influence on the people of their society.



The human being has a terrible weakness when it comes to the 'visual valium' that TV represents - and like the drug - it is addictive.



Whilst some may argue that there is educational content on the TV - this is often put-over in a biased, partial and/or dumbed-down manner. No surprisingly perhaps because we have been encouraged to look for thrills and titillation as part of our regular TV fodder – not education.



Given what is a generally unsatisfying life for the vast majority of people - dull and undemanding work; lower pay than would be liked; less stimulation and challenge than is good for us - it becomes all to easy for the mass of society to resign themselves to living vicariously through the media images they are fed.



Where the state governs TV output it is used to reinforce the messages that political leaders require - in order for them to know that their subjects have only one understanding of what is 'true' in the world about them.



In so-called 'free society' - like most of the Western world - the same game is played in an arguably more 'subtle' form. We all know what we should aspire to because we are beset by images of so-called 'celebrities' that we have been shepherded into seeing as 'role-models'.



Our lives are virtually 'remote controlled' by the constant reaffirmation of what we should be trying to aspire to. Yet noone seems to question (at last very loudly) the moral state of society where people who can kick a ball hard, or hit one with a stick or a bat - are paid grossly exorbitant amounts of money for their 'skill'. All this whilst half of the world subsides into ever more despairing poverty.



We as a species are prone not to want to face cold hard facts - especially when nice cosy images can make us stay at home slumped in a warm armchair with a fresh can of lager and a bowl of crisp - being berated for the unhealthfulness of our existence, or told how we ought to clean our homes more efficiently, or parent our kids more responsibly, or decorate or walls more adventurously. Or else we are regaled with tales of those who 'made the big escape' and made a run for both money and sun by moving abroad...some small part of the 'dumbed down viewer' transposes themselves into the 'dreamlike images' - perhaps satisfied with the thought of 'one day that will be me' ..then sleeps for 7 hours and rises again to spend another pointless ay shuffling papers, selling shoes, flipping pizzas, ...whatever.



Today TV truly is the opium of the masses - where half the population is 'scared' into staying indoors by images of what the other half of the population are doing - drinking, fighting, stealing, fornicating...noone now need remain 'inured' to the supposed realities of 'life' in the cities and suburbs...TV exposes it all and the ‘seamier’ the better…for the ratings! (and hence the advertising revenues)



And for those who have long tired of the distasteful images of the dire state of the 'real world' as painted by 'the (so called) news' ...there is a soft-core diet of soap-drama-pap that is meant to sort-of reflect life 'as it really is'...



The pointless drivel that fills our screens in ever more endless varieties and with ever more frequent repetition...has eaten away at the typical family's ability to communicate with each other.



Colleagues, friends and family...when conversation occurs between them...talk endlessly about fictitious characters OR equally 'fictitious' sporting personae...noone talks about anything challenging or important...because that would require having to think about things that are too painful and depressing.



Meanwhile those that seek to rule, to exploit and to take financial advantage for their own ends are free to do so at will - as the hypnotised masses like helpless rodents mesmerized by the rhythmic swaying of the cobra of corporate greed - allow themselves to be swallowed whole...



TV sells us the dream - that one day we, or our offspring at least, might aspire to great things...we need that ridiculously stylised, and stupendously overpriced sports footwear to 'be someone'; we need the latest swivelling-bodied, wafer thin, pebble shaped mobile telephone; we need to coat ourselves with toxic cocktails of body care products, cosmetics, eyeliner and conditioner...because that is what we are apparently 'worth'!...



And whilst the ‘television’ (as object) grows ever wider and ever thinner - it tends to becomes merely a simple dimensional divide between our real lives and what our lives could be …One day we will step through - like Alice through the looking glass and our lives will transform magically into that which is ON TV...SORRY…what do I mean one day!...This is now, this is what is happening, this is 'reality TV'!...We have become Uroboros...swallowing our own tail in a never-ending parody of perpetual self-canabalism...



And so…TV is full of pap and futile, puerile, titillation so that we are distracted from the true horrors of the world we are creating –

-A world of such insidious disparity that millions of children die in one country whilst we bemoan the death of one child in our own.

-A world where daily the 'lungs' of the Earth are ripped out to make way for more genetically modified soya to be sown, or more growth-hormone-sodden beef to be reared.

-A world where those countries who are the 'have nots' snap ever more avidly at the heels of those that are the 'haves' - with no acknowledgement that those ‘that have’ already consume VASTLY more than their own fair share...thus making the desires of ‘those without’ not only a folly...but an impossibility!

-A world were one nation is home to ever increasing numbers of human-beings so grotesquely obese - that for a person to be 20, 30. 40, 50, or more stones of almost immovable blubber is becoming almost another acceptable form of normal...

…and no-one really questions what is going on...As long as it occasionally makes…GOOD TV!

Answer 125

to fill up space

Answer 126

we r a style over substance society ...

Answer 127

WE USE IT TO SPREAD UNIMPORTANT INFO TO UNIMPORTANT PEOPLE

Answer 128

Is the answer not in the question?

Answer 129

Because it makes people money...it's a greedy world....

Answer 130

Most all networks will do ANYTHING for money!!!!

Answer 131

because life wasn't meant to be boring.

Answer 132

My guess is, if we/they didn't, many of us/them would be out of jobs.

Answer 133

who cares!!

Answer 134

I agree. And I don't.

Answer 135

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