How deeply does television sway opinion?

[bradly1101]

In the mid sixties That Girl showed us that single people are just as nice, intelligent, and funny as everyone else. Later the same was true of Mary Tyler Moore.

Recently there has been a huge swing in acceptance of gays and their agenda. It seems to have tracked with the popularity of the show Modern Family with its nice, intelligent, and funny gay characters. It bothers me a little that it's rife with stereotypes (the gays I know aren't like that), but it's for comical effect and it's TV after all.

So what do you think? How much (if at all) does entertainment TV sway public opinion?

(Sometimes I hit PrtScr in WMC)

(c) ABC

(c) CBS

(c) PBS

 

[purbeast0]

what is worse is that now all of a sudden everyone and their mom gives a shit about gay rights. where were all these people 2 weeks ago? nobody cared or had rainbow profile pics on facebook because it wasn't the cool thing to do. now this week it's cool to care about gay rights so everyone now pretends to care.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I know plenty of gay people like those depicted on that show. Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason. It may not apply to all, or even most, but they exist.

However, to answer your question, TV used to have a large influence on opinions of other people, but these days, I would say Youtube and Liveleak and social media in general have a much larger influence and have given us a more precise look at people.

 

[BD231]

Posting in a gay thread ... because people are really that stupid.

 

[bradly1101]

what is worse is that now all of a sudden everyone and their mom gives a shit about gay rights. where were all these people 2 weeks ago? nobody cared or had rainbow profile pics on facebook because it wasn't the cool thing to do. now this week it's cool to care about gay rights so everyone now pretends to care.

I think all those people cared all along, but many were reticent about showing their support until enough others did.

 

[lxskllr]

For average America? Incalculably high. That's where people get told how to think. The decision makers set the agenda, and the masses follow along. The internet is more of a wild card, but it tends to be liberal/libertarian, so it's backed up tv in this case.

 

[Charmonium]

However, to answer your question, TV used to have a large influence on opinions of other people, but these days, I would say Youtube and Liveleak and social media in general have a much larger influence and have given us a more precise look at people.

And people tend to select who they associate with, they tend to pick people who have similar attitudes and beliefs. So while mass media is having less and less influence, you still get greater polarization.

 

[Charmonium]

For average America? Incalculably high. That's where people get told how to think. The decision makers set the agenda, and the masses follow along. The internet is more of a wild card, but it tends to be liberal/libertarian, so it's backed up tv in this case.

Don't most people pre-record what they watch? The number of people viewing commercials is so low that advertisers have to resort to product placement. So it's hard to understand to what extent PACs and lobbyists can really use ads to influence voters. But IDK, maybe there are still a lot of people out there that actually sit through commercials.

 

[darkswordsman17]

what is worse is that now all of a sudden everyone and their mom gives a shit about gay rights. where were all these people 2 weeks ago? nobody cared or had rainbow profile pics on facebook because it wasn't the cool thing to do. now this week it's cool to care about gay rights so everyone now pretends to care.

WTF, you're judging people's support of gay rights on Facebook profile pics? There's been several of these "rainbow-ize" your pic and other stuff like that the past few years as legal barriers to gay marriage have started to tumble.

People are showing support because the Federal government just had a Supreme Court ruling making Gay marriage legal everywhere in the US. This is a current event, hence people doing that.

I'm also not sure why you're surprised that people are doing bandwagon show of support stuff on Facebook. This has been par for the course for a while now.

 

[lxskllr]

Don't most people pre-record what they watch? The number of people viewing commercials is so low that advertisers have to resort to product placement. So it's hard to understand to what extent PACs and lobbyists can really use ads to influence voters. But IDK, maybe there are still a lot of people out there that actually sit through commercials.

I don't think dvr is as common as the internet would lead you to believe. Internet people are more technical, and more likely to do that, but there's still a substantial number of non internet people that just watch in real time.

Besides, the /content/ of shows still comes through. As bradley noted, there's been a growth of positive gay portrayals, and people respond to that. People previously didn't like queers because they weren't told any different. They thought what their parents thought. Not through any objective assessment.

 

[purbeast0]

WTF, you're judging people's support of gay rights on Facebook profile pics? There's been several of these "rainbow-ize" your pic and other stuff like that the past few years as legal barriers to gay marriage have started to tumble.

People are showing support because the Federal government just had a Supreme Court ruling making Gay marriage legal everywhere in the US. This is a current event, hence people doing that.

I'm also not sure why you're surprised that people are doing bandwagon show of support stuff on Facebook. This has been par for the course for a while now.

404 - surprised not found

 

[Grooveriding]

It's definitely a lot. The average intelligence is average, so... easily influenced and any old correctly biased garbage on TV sinks in.

edit: not sure if OP is bigoted or genuine question

 

[Markbnj]

I'm not sure there is any longer a single network or delivery medium that holds enough of an audience share to be that influential.

 

[Charmonium]

I don't think dvr is as common as the internet would lead you to believe. Internet people are more technical, and more likely to do that, but there's still a substantial number of non internet people that just watch in real time.

Besides, the /content/ of shows still comes through. As bradley noted, there's been a growth of positive gay portrayals, and people respond to that. People previously didn't like queers because they weren't told any different. They thought what their parents thought. Not through any objective assessment.

I definitely agree with the effect that mass media can have through the content they choose to show.

Out of curiosity I googled 'us households with dvr' and found this article - 76% OF US HOUSEHOLDS HAVE A DVR, NETFLIX, OR USE ON-DEMAND

I don't know how legit that survey is but it seems to jibe with the growing trend of cord cutting. Plus there was this quote.

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Durham, NH -- January 2, 2015 -- New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) found that 76% of US households have a DVR, subscribe to Netflix, or use on-Demand (VOD) from a cable or Telco provider -- with 26% of households using two of the services, and 11% using all three.



The survey also found that 62% of US households that subscribe to a pay-TV service have a DVR (up from 41% five years ago), while 1% of pay-TV non-subscribers have a DVR. In addition, 55% of households with a DVR now have DVR service on more than one TV set, up from 28% five years ago.
[/FONT]

 

[lxskllr]

Out of curiosity I googled 'us households with dvr' and found this article - 76% OF US HOUSEHOLDS HAVE A DVR, NETFLIX, OR USE ON-DEMAND

I don't know how legit that survey is but it seems to jibe with the growing trend of cord cutting. Plus there was this quote.

That's more than I would have thought. Might be the crowd I hang with. It's either geezers that watch tv the old way, or people that don't watch tv at all.

 

[mikeford]

Media works like a lens, it focus's on some things, by leaving out others. Think of it like a house between the ocean and a dump, which window you look out of makes all the difference. Television puts anything it wants in that window.

Media takes rare events, or the action of a very few people, and make it a headline.

 

[her209]

what is worse is that now all of a sudden everyone and their mom gives a shit about gay rights. where were all these people 2 weeks ago? nobody cared or had rainbow profile pics on facebook because it wasn't the cool thing to do. now this week it's cool to care about gay rights so everyone now pretends to care.

Maybe they were closet gay marriage supporters who were afraid of coming out for fear of being shunned by their friends and families.

 

[Slew Foot]

For average America? Incalculably high. That's where people get told how to think. The decision makers set the agenda, and the masses follow along. The internet is more of a wild card, but it tends to be liberal/libertarian, so it's backed up tv in this case.

This, the TV tells people what to think, thats why the country is full of lazy entitled assholes.

 

[bradly1101]

Media works like a lens, it focus's on some things, by leaving out others. Think of it like a house between the ocean and a dump, which window you look out of makes all the difference. Television puts anything it wants in that window.

Media takes rare events, or the action of a very few people, and make it a headline.

True, we rarely see the almost constant suffering of the poor or the daily violence we wreak on each other, as if looking away makes it go away.

 

[bradly1101]

edit: not sure if OP is bigoted or genuine question

Bigoted against people who don't watch TV? Nah, they're OK with me.

 

[88keys]

It's really hard to say but I often wonder the same think.

Recently I was thinking about how suddenly it seems that we are turning away from organized religion when it was such a powerful force in our country 30 years ago.

It's a pretty remarkable change in such a short period of time.

And then I got to thinking about Star Trek TNG and how they managed to get away with airing episodes with atheistic themes (The Picard) during the 80's and early 90's when religious right was in full force trying to ban everything they disagree with.

And then there was that episode about that androgynous species called The Outcast which tackled LGBT issues by essentially putting heterosexual people in the shoes of an LGBT individual.

I suppose that the influence could be going much deeper than any of us care to fathom.

 

[mikeford]

during the 80's and early 90's when religious right was in full force trying to ban everything they disagree with.

And you "know" this because TV told it to you. 95% of almost any group really don't give a hoot, not enough to march around and make real trouble unless confronted.

All media has gone in the direction of the Midnight Star, almost no real reporting is done, its cut and paste from AP or Reuters or whatever.

 

[ImpulsE69]

To add to what mikeford said, I've often wondered when people go about dissecting tv shows, movies, and music to find the 'hidden meaning' if they aren't just reaching for what they want. Sometimes a story is just a story. There is no hidden meaning or analogy or agenda disguised as entertainment. And sometimes, people are just fricking crazy and write crazy things. Parallels can be parallels w/o an ulterior motive.

 

[zinfamous]

This, the TV tells people what to think, thats why the country is full of lazy entitled assholes.

you must hate yourself a shitlot.


But it's true that TV is very influential. This has been true now for 7 decades. Before that, radio was highly influential. Before that, the newspaper.

shit, the newspaper and radio are still rather influential. ...I guess people aren't "suddenly lazy entitled assholes" because of TV.

I think this ^ dude is just being angry about shit he hates suddenly falling into line with civil rights, as it should have happened years ago. Guess he's going after the firehose next, to clean the streets of all that freedom that just swept over his haterade his last week.

Damn, this must be what it was like when FDR bitchslapped this country into freedom and efficiency over a very short time. Imagine the anger from the stone-age folks of that time...

 

[Captante]

I like to refer back to a 1981 move called Agency to describe the depth of influence TV has on the average American drone. Thirty-four years later and sci-fi as it very often does has become reality in disturbing if not very surprising fashion. Admit it or not the vast majority are far too lazy to think for themselves and would much rather be told what to believe. (and to buy, to vote for etc) Further they will become angry with you if you try to point it out to them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Agency_(film)


Movie link: *(be warned video quality is very poor)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyKcA1mGGPc



Interesting if very dated read on the subject:

http://www.amazon.com/Subliminal-Seduction-Wilson-Bryan-Key/dp/0451061489

When this was written the technology to make use of these techniques was in its infancy and quite crude. In 1981 it was the dawn of the digital age and Agency offers a frightening glimpse into its potential. These days we have the ability to bury influential messages so deeply in video as to be virtually undetectable. Is it being done on a wide scale? Good question.