Television and newspapers
With the technological progress and the rapid development of all sciences society demands new ways to inform and entertain which are the most important functions of mass media and television in particular. The modern world has invented a great variety of ways to keep in touch with the world's events and news. They are the press, television, radio and lately developed internet. All of them play an important role in the life of people and have a great influence on the person and society. They integrate our every-day life and are related with each other, giving the complete picture of the latest events. Of course all of them are spread and popular in their own way and have their own specialties.
Before the TV was invented, newspapers were the most spread way of getting information and education. In the 90s of the 20th century TV sets became available for the great number of people; newspapers had to find other ways to keep their audience and readership. And the way out was found in magazines and entertaining newspapers, that were read from that time not only to get information about stocks exchange but also just to waste the time away and to laugh and relax, while television was only in the way of it's development.
Television is easier to percept because it combines the audio and visual pictures and the person doesn't have to do something to get information, while reading the newspaper demands great efforts and a great amount of time.
Besides, people receive information from the newspapers through the text and several pictures, while television can make you believe you are one of the participants of the show. In such a way step by step television has become more popular than the press.
But we can't say that newspapers "die". They are still rather popular and read among people. After all the majority of people take press with them while travelling, because it doesn't occupy too much place, it is easy to carry and is allowed to be used in the planes which is the most spread means of transport for the long distances. But it can be easily damaged too.
Besides newspapers can't offer you such a great amount of information as television otherwise it would change into a big volume of a book very heavy and big. And it can be bought only in special places which are situated all over the towns and cities. To the contrary, television is available 24 hours a day and you have the possibility to change the channel whenever you like. The 21st century has invented different kinds of TV sets available in all parts of the world. You can even watch your favourite TV show through the internet, using your mobile phone. Thanks to video recorders you can watch the film you like for thousand times until you know it by hard.
According to statistics more than 50 per cent of people think that television is less biased than the press. Psychologists explain that fact in the following way. Person gets the information from press outlined by one of the journalists and considers the article to be the personal point of view of the author. To the contrary, the average citizen thinks that television gives the correct and true information because the presenter in majority of the cases doesn't use any appreciative words, has the special intonation and style that on psychological level make people believe that they hear the truth.
Besides, sometimes the quality of the newspapers are really pour, the paper is thin and grey or yellow which is very bad for the eyesight. Some mistakes in spelling or just too dark or too light-face are also the problems of the press. The cover of the magazine or a newspaper plays a very important role, because 70% of people choose the magazine to read only by its cover.
But the press and television have similar problems. The modern person needs new ways to entertain himself, that is why the press and television have invented new genres to keep the attention of the reader or viewer. There are reality shows on TV and yellow press, which are considered to have a very law cultural level and their main purpose is only to entertain and to provoke people using rude words, pornography and violence. It is very hard to impress modern society that is why such genres have appeared.
The press and television have one common problem. It is the advertisement. Sometimes almost all the pages of the newspapers are covered with advertisement and posters. And in most of the cases this fact annoys people, because you buy a magazine and have nothing to read except of the well-known slogans.