Television perpetuates/reinforces existing societal power structures - Assignment Example

Speaker 1: The television is a tool for the perpetuation of societal power structures due to its ability to influence the minds of individuals in the sense that it exploits its primary potential of controlling the minds of their viewers. Through this ability, the television acts as a medium for reinforcing the power structures in society by controlling their viewers’ minds. Speaker 2: Even though the television is a powerful media that has the potential to control the minds of individuals, it does not have the ability to reinforce the power structures in the society.

Instead, the television is a mass media tool that perpetuates mass democracy, thereby watering down the reinforcement of societal power structures. Speaker 1: I affirm that this is possible, but it is not possible to reject the argument that the mass media, which is inclusive of the television as a source, has the ability to manipulate some of its content to the viewers. The manipulation might be inclusive of programming that is elitist in nature and with the consideration that the television has the power to manipulate or control the minds of the people; it is possible to determine that it can reinforce the power structures in the minds of the people.

Speaker 2: Despite the pervasiveness of the television media, it retains a symbolic power to the minimum. It is possible to establish that there are individuals that might not entirely agree to such persuasion, thereby resisting the ability of the media to control the minds of the people. Speaker 1: But with the ability to control the masses, it is possible to indicate that television viewership will ensure that a majority of the people in society will heavily rely on the provided information, which determines that it has the ability of manipulating the power structure in the society.

Speaker 2: That argument might be true, but considering that mind control can only be