we are cultivated since the day we are born. we learn from imitating what other people do and is influenced by what people say. mass media influence our decision making and even thought processes.
when we are all young, we love to watch cartoons. some of us imitate the characters, some of us play games in their language. cartoon is part of media influence. it might not be created by that company but they adopt the cartoon to increase their popularity.
my volunteer work organization (Tzu Chi), had a television station 33 years ago. when it started off as a television station, none of the Taiwanese tune to it. All because it was different. News in Taiwan are all very negative(if u notice), they actually report on anything and everything(politics, neighbor quarreling, other people's family problem). Their drama are all make-up stories or adapt from storybooks.
Tzu Chi television station (Da Ai TV), report global news and they are news that you rarely hear on normal news. Most of it is about the Tzu Chi Volunteers going for international relief, none of it is regarding political news. It is like one of the few news channels that report on good things happening around the world instead of mostly the bad things that is happening. of cos sometimes there will be bad news, bad in the sense that people in that country is suffering because of what the world has done. It's drama are all real life stories of people becoming their volunteers. some are gamblers, some are handicapped, some are people from bad family background. after every episode of the drama, they invite the actors and the real life character to a short talk show and actors will tell the host what they felt after acting the role or when they were acting in a particular scene. they will also ask the character of the real story why did that scene happen and when that happened what were they thinking.
like i said, when it started off in taiwan, few or perhaps none of the Taiwanese who are not a volunteer in the organization watched that channel. nobody adopt that idea. why would people choose such show of no entertainment value?
when i went to taiwan to play, i "channel-surf" on the television. they had a lot of channels, but all of these channels are made up of variety show that doesnt increase our knowledge of the world. u laugh over the show and that's it, that's all.
i stayed in taiwan for about one month during a holiday trip. at first, i watch other channels more than i watch Da Ai TV, but as time goes by, i just got sick of the shows. they all look the same cos all the actors are basically a host for a similar show on another channel. there was a point of time where i got mixed up between two shows. then, i stops watching other channels, i watch Da Ai TV. i watch their news, their drama and their cartoons on sunday and other show which tells me so much more about other countries. there was a series of documentary about a rural area in indonesia where people there earn by collecting bird's nest. it was enriching as it is a knowledge that u can only gain from channels like discovery channel or national geographic channel.
Da Ai TV's dramas was nominated in inspiration dramas. Da Ai TV station was also crowned the most inspiring and a channel that can change a person's life. it is also air on the radio like our tv mobile. directly what is on the TV is being audio-recorded. There are a lot of prisoners who listen to Da Ai Radio everyday in the prison and changed their view of life. many who are released from the prison are volunteers now in taiwan. they never ever will return back to wat they were before and are life examples for many youth in taiwan.
although it is still not a v popular channel in taiwan now, the fact that it can make someone's day better is still agreeable by viewers in taiwan. and these links to a theory we learnt in class, cultivation theory. slowly, the influence of this channel will grow because of the changing world. slowly people are adopting more to the channel because they want to know what good things can happen when every thing is going bad. like for example, currenlty the world is facing financial crisis, ever channel is talking about how everyone is going to suffer, which country is in debt, but Da Ai Tv looked at it in another point of view. it taught people to cut down their expenses and live a simple life with lesser expectations in life.
people who are out of job committed suicide, but da ai tv report on people who are out of job and facing the truth with courage. ( when someone who is thinking of commiting suicide, saw someone in the news courages enough to do what he is thinking, gains more courage to commit suicide) and (when someone who is thinking of commiting sucide, saw someone who step out of a bad situation and continue to lead a meaningful life, drop the idea of commiting suicide.) that's how media can influence us. it can be like a spark who light up at candle for the dark, or it can be that spark that trigger the bomb.
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very interesting read! XY!
ReplyDeletefrom what u said....
Cultivation theory in its most simplest form represent the influence of a certain medium, with prolong exposure.
In this case the tv.
it assumes that people would react and believe completely to what is shown on the tv programmes.
Hence, it lends a hand, to social engineering and propaganda.
In North Korea, the people are fed to a diet of Communist propaganda on TV everyday. Ironically, they mostly include the portrayal of the west as evil, poor and scheming.
In addition, they also include self-boasting ads on their 'dear leader', plentiful food supply and strong army.
If i were a north korean, with no other means of media, i would definitely believe what i see.
This effect could be seen, during the fall of the berlin wall, where people could see the income disparity between the two ideologies.
The democratic west germany were technologically advanced, while the poorer communist east germany were in a disrepair state.
Before the fall, it is widely thought that both state are equal, in terms of living standards!
have fun! YJ :)
first things first.
ReplyDeletethis is a pretty interesting insight but as always, jamie, your outline is horrible. freaking wordy.
but coming from a person who's blog is similar is like the pot calling the kettle black.
to be honest, i think this post has a great of biasness. considering that if the audience does not have background knowledge or idea of taiwan's mass media culture, this would be misleading in a certain extent because you have put forth a pretty strong opinion.
i guess in truth only the taiwanese can really decide for themselves whether it's to their advantage or disadvantage that their mass media is so broad.
personally i feel you have a choice. it's just the amount of influence it has on you to make a certain choice.
since you're touching on politics you should know that they ridicule their government officials. freedom of expression exists.
perhaps the only problem lies in that they are not well informed enough to make the right choice. but in this case, the right choice is dictated by the media.
but the same can be said for any country. there is really no form of individuality. but some form of cultivation in a collective manner rather.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThere is such a channel?
ReplyDeleteWhen i was in Taipei, the only channel that caught my attention was the "naughty" channel. But maybe thats just me..
Anyway, i think the Da Ai channel is a good idea because as we all know by now, TV is a major source of influence. If people can be convinced to do good things through the mass media, then whats wrong with that?
As for the "naughty" things, i leave it up to the other commenters to decide.
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