Television Violence The Article example essay topic

Television Violence The article "Television Violence: The Power and the Peril" is an article written by George Gerbner in 1994 that covers information about television violence over a period of twenty one years. Gerbner's purpose in this article is to address the audience about the problems that exist in television today. This article covers a very big controversy that has brewed up in our society. The controversy is that there is way too much violence on television, and therefore it could be affecting the way that we think and act on a regular basis. In this article Gerbner presents the audience with poll results and statistics about what we actually see on television. I thought Gerbner's article was a very affective piece about television violence.

Although I thought this article seemed to a little repetitive and confusing at times, I think Gerbner does a good job in presenting the audience with bunches of facts about what we are actually watching on our television. The most appealing thing about this article in my opinion is the fact that the study in this article was a study that took over twenty years. In twenty one years of research, someone can get a real feeling of what is actually happening. Gerbner is real effective in getting his point across about the abundance of violence on television. Cherry 2 First, I think Gerbner is most affective in this article with the facts and evidence from the Cultural Indicators project (CI), which began in 1967.

This shows that "by 1994 its computer archive contained observations on 2,816 programs and 34,882 characters coded according to many thematic, demographic and action categories" (Gerbner 15). From this study they were able to break down characters in shows from their behavior, their ethnic background, or even their social status. This study shows that "average viewer of prime time television drama sees in a typical week an average of 21 criminals arrayed against an army of 41 public and private law enforcers. There are 14 doctors, 6 nurses, 6 lawyers, and 2 judges to handle them" (Gerbner 16). To go with these characters, there is "an average of 150 acts of violence and about 15 murders" (Gerbner 16) that happen every week. Gerbner's article is also affective because he does not fail to leave anything out.

Every counter argument that could be derived from this article, I think is covered by Gerbner. He is very precise on the way that he organizes his information. There are many variables that Gerbner uses to make his information affective. I thought that a very good comparison was when Gerbner compared heavy viewers of television compared to light viewers of television.

This study proved to be effective because it showed that "heavier viewers in every subgroup express a greater sense of apprehension than do light viewers in the same groups" (Gerbner 17). Gerbner wraps up the last remaining paragraphs of this article by presenting us with results from numerous public opinion polls. "A Times-Mirror national poll in 1993 showed that Americans who said they were "personally bothered" by violence in Cherry 3 entertainment shows jumped to 59% from 44% in 1983" (Gerbner 22). From these public opinion polls we can assess that Gerbner is not alone on his belief that there is too much violence on television. All in all the article "Television Violence: The Power and the Peril" is a very effective piece. The facts, the polls, and all of the studies that were done over the twenty one years are the components that make this an effective article.

This article proves that things we watch on television are indeed affecting people. Right now there is no way to block what is shown on television. The only advance that has been made is the ratings system that comes up on the corner of your screen before the program comes on. Until something else happens it will be up to the parents to monitor what is seen on television.