Clash of News and Television dynamics

Many hail the technological advancements that Television has made since the days of its inception. From Public service Broadcasting to Terestrial Cable networks to Satellite TV, it has come a long way. 24 hour broadcasting is the bottomline, and this definately has had an impact on the Media. The Television News channels, aided by this technology, and the process of Live Visuals now keep citizens informed about events that matter to them. Or Do they?

I have always been in doubt about this. One aspect is the Structure of media organizations, and the second one deals with the very dynamics of its operation. Lots has been written about the vulnerable structure of the Media organization. The structure that allows Advertisers, Multi-National Corporations and indirectly government intervention has been written ad nauseam by theorists. However, i feel that it has more to do with the dynamics of its operating as well as the Public mind.

This primarily revolves around the factor of moving pictures. Man has been fascinated with the machinations that have produced moving pictures. From the Lumierre Camera to the Modern Handycam, he continues to be fascinated with moving pictures. With the advent of Special effects, the picture now is larger than life for man. When Television came up, Man's fascination was in the tip of his fingers anytime. Television's basic structure operates on both the visual and the audio, which keeps man interested.

With the advent of Technology, the moving picture assumes a more different method. The fact of reality is blurred, because technology suspends Individuals rationalist thinking, and makes him believe in some thing else. This is very detrimental to the News dynamics, which operates on Tangebility.

News takes into account the facts which can be seen, heard or percieved by the senses. Although Television has provided that platform, many people are not appealed by the News. I guess the reason for this is the conditioning that the Human mind recieves from Television itself. Because of the Moving picture syndrome, Entertainment and Sports dominate on TV. The factor of Drama is what TV captures more elucidly, and thus people follow that line.

Seriousness of the Public is something which is far too complex to handle. The bottomline here is that the nature of TV is such that drama and entertainment can be shown more effectively by this medium. Serious stuff like News and Documnetary will never make an impact on the public, because the seriousness factor goes against the dynamics of Television.

The factor of Serious minded Public is one which will puzzle experts of the Media. If TV news channels was hailed as a technological wonder, why then are the public becoming more apathic now then ever before? Is the Public discarding TV news because of the compeition and the information clutter? The second point may explain the mind of the public now, and the reason why News and Television dynamics are at the opposite end of the operating spectrum.