Television has a malign influence on society

However d'Artagnan, I underlined that R1 is without arguments on what you obviously did not pay attention. I am going to tolerate this in order to keep focus on topic subject. Since my opponent wishes to use the freedom of choice and artistic expression as his method of persuading , I will use the same to defend a pro-choice stance. __________________________ My opponent said that “modern television programming is a product of individual choice. ”. The freedom of choice is one of the most fundamental rights which has been given to society by law and religion. But, there is no freedom of choice in TV industry, what you have confirmed with your sentence “Media companies provide products (programming) that is expected and demanded by their customers. ”. Real choice should function by this algorithm: Reality -> Reality objective capture and broadcasted -> Audience receiving objective picture of reality Instead of this, idealistic order, it is like this: Reality -> Reality adjusted by public opinion and demand of customers-> Audience receiving what they want to believe in There is a variety of TV programs and it’s undeniable, but what is common to all of them is their approach to audience with subjectivity which is determined by influence of politics and government on broadcasting network. I won’t analyze what is true, but don’t you think Iraq is tired of process of transition into democratic country which is supervised by American forces? That transition is democratically wrapped into idyllic picture and framed with a death of dozens of American soldiers which fell for their country, but what is left behind that picture are thousands of Iraq causalities over the months. Have the number of 92,003 civilian deaths ever been mentioned on some of American national televisions? [source: . http://www.iraqbodycount.org...] You still think you have freedom of choice and what to believe in? I’m going to bring more evidences regarding the propaganda, although first part of your retort was contradictory by itself. __________________________ My opponent continues with statement :” television programming is a form of artistic expression”. Very little percent of nowadays media is actually art by it’s definition as it’s the product or process of deliberately arranging items of in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect. Understanding of art is different than it used to be half a century before. Is porn considered as art? However, porn industry is worth 1.8 billion dollars only in USA [source: . http://www.forbes.com...]. This is obvious example how television has contributed to decrease of moral guidelines. Speaking of moral, I mustn’t forget to mention violence and it’s affection on children. Because television violence is accompanied by vivid production features, preschoolers are predisposed to seek out and pay attention to violence—particularly cartoon violence. It is not the violence itself that makes the cartoons attractive to preschoolers, but the accompanying vivid production features. With this preference for cartoons, preschoolers are being exposed to a large number of violent acts in their viewing day. Moreover, they are unlikely to be able to put the violence in context, since they are likely to miss any subtlety conveyed mitigating information concerning motivation and consequences. Preschoolers behave more aggressively than usual in their play after watching any high-action exciting television content, but especially after watching violent television. [source: . http://www.media-awareness.ca...] As my opponents arguments were negated, I’ll continue with one more evidence: Propaganda Television, including video tape recording, is one of the most effective media for persuasion. It offers many advantages for propaganda operations, and its wide application in other fields contributes to its acceptance and use. It is appropriate for use in limited, general, and cold war and is particularly effective in FID (Foreign Internal Defense) and consolidation operations. If you look at the new Hollywood blockbuster '300' which is about a Persian invasion fended off by 300 Spartan warriors you see the 'right-wing' US bias in it. There are 300 perfectly sculpted, steroid filled bodies in their under ware defending somewhere against a hoard of dirty looking Persians in some very dodgy looking clothes. This is a depiction of the West's superiority over Iran (basically Persia). I started with an example, and I could continue endlessly with it. Russians were the villains in two big summer films - "Iron Man 2" and "Salt" - and Jack Bauer battled Russians during the last season of "24. " Years ago, when Russians popped up as bad guys in the Rocky and James Bond films, before the Soviet Union went down, it was a cultural reflection of a geopolitical reality. So what does this latest trend represent? "It's what the Russian foreign minister termed in a speech 'a cold peace,' " said Robert Kaiser, chair of the department of geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "We're not at cold war with each other any more. But we're certainly not warming up. " [source: . http://www.jsonline.com...] One of the closest terms related to propaganda is crowd manipulation. Crowd manipulation is the intentional use of techniques based on the principles of crowd psychology to engage, control, or influence the desires of a crowd in order to direct its behavior toward a specific action. This practice is common to politics and business and can facilitate the approval or disapproval or indifference to a person, policy, or product. The ethical use of crowd manipulation is debatable and depends on such factors as the intention of and the means used by the manipulator, as well as the ends achieved. [source: . http://en.wikipedia.org...] Is It necessary to mention brainwashing? For these reasons, I urge a Pro vote.