CONTEST - Choices! What will it be? TELEVISION

TV as an educational medium

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My mother always remembers the Italian lessons she learned on TV when she was a child in the 50s. In many countries of the world, including Italy, the official language is different from the language spoken in different regions, especially the provinces.

There are so many dialects and what's more, if a person hasn't studied, he finds it very difficult to read and write. So, my mother and many of her age who went to school until they were 13 and then couldn't continue, learned a lot by watching the lessons on TV. A teacher, a blackboard and chalk, from black and white TV, that's all. Simple and effective.

Even today, TV can be a great educational medium. There are some TV programs dedicated to children in which the Italian language, English and numbers are taught. But there are no lessons in the traditional sense because everything is done in a fun way, with songs, skits and drawings.

Yet TV doesn't just educate children. Many quizzes challenge even the most educated, with difficult questions on history, geography and grammar. We also find many beautiful documentaries on animals, travel, archeology, cuisine, music and world cultures. TV can connect us with the rest of the world and let us know what we don't know yet.

TV as an information medium

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The TV informs us with the chronicle and the news. From the news we learn what is happening around us and we continue to learn the language, the institutions, the economy. Perhaps this is the most important role of TV, because interesting phenomena are created around TV as an information medium.

TV as a medium of control

In some countries, TV is a great medium of political control, especially when there are few channels and controlled by governments, and Internet access is also banned or restricted. It can be a powerful means of political propaganda that convinces us of many things when we have no other terms of comparison. The films we see are always artfully packaged and so the interviews are made with carefully chosen people who can confirm the current ideology.

TV as a medium of freedom

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And what about democratic countries, where there are many TV channels and we have much more freedom? In these cases, we have the possibility to inform ourselves better, but TV still plays a very important role in telling us what is right and what is wrong...

There are people who have great access to TV broadcasts and therefore have the privilege of being able to give voice to their opinions, while others are censored or mocked... there are TV presenters who have great power so they can invite their friends to their programs and support their theses without any confrontation.

Therefore, even in democratic countries, television is not always within everyone's reach and it is very important to listen wisely and without being convinced too quickly...

TV as a mirror of society

It is said that TV is also the mirror of our society. There are many programs on TV, for example reality shows, which claim to show things as they are.

Advertising also adapts to the times and reflects the changes. For example, if many years ago in my country's advertisements you could see the mother cooking and looking after the children, now we see women busy at work, men taking care of the children and changing diapers, same-sex couples... and so on...

So it is true that TV is the mirror of society, but I think this is only half true, because advertising takes advantage of changes in society to be able to sell better to consumers, and for this reason it is a half freedom in the sense that it is a way to touch us to the core and convince us that we need those products or services. There are so many advertisements that leverage love, freedom and the family to sell.

Television vs Internet

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A few years ago, when the internet took over, it was thought that television would be outclassed. But she resisted! TV has adapted, it has learned the language of the internet, it has included it in its programs, it slipped into social networks and then became Smart TV, so now the internet and programs on demand can be watched on the TV, which is always there in the kitchen or in our living room and after the streaming program is ended we can go back to the safety of traditional television.

TV as a fireplace

Television has the advantage of gathering around a family or a group of friends, to watch a film, a football match or the Olympics. So we can scream, cry, laugh in company.
They say television is like a fireplace, and I think it is true!

Streaming TV hasn't surpassed traditional TV. When they still show that black and white film or that cartoon from our childhood that we didn't intentionally choose, but which is being shown anyway, it has already begun and it intrigues us and brings us old memories and we sit back and watch it relaxed with the TV keeps us company!