Television in Canada.

Television in Canada

Television is a device used by millions of people each day, affecting many people's lives. This is why there is a lot of information out there about television, in books, in magazines, and even on video tapes which are viewed on a T.V. For this historiographical review, I chose three books that had to do with television. They were: Building an Industry: A History of Cable Television and its Development in Canada, by Ken Easton, Television Violence: A Review of the Effects on Children of Different Ages, by Wendy Josephson, and Violence in the Media, by Bruce Leone. These three books were invaluable sources from which I found excellent information about television. I found three topics which were discussed in each book, and the different opinions and thoughts from each source will be compared and reviewed in this historiographical essay. Violence on television, American influence on Canadian television, and television as a form of entertainment are the three topics that will be discussed throughout the following pages.

Family watching television, c. 1958

Leones

LEONES

Each topic will be reviewed, and then an opinion from each source will be explained, showing that there can be similar and different opinions from various sources.

The first topic that will be discussed is violence on television. Turn on the T.V. and you are bound to see some form of violence occur sooner or later. Ken Easton believes that violence on television can have negative effects, especially on children. However, he believes that children are more influenced by their parents than a television set, and therefore children can be taught that violence on television is fake and

exaggerated, making it not have any effect on children at all (Easton, p.242-246). Wendy Josephson believes that any person who watches violence on television will be negatively affected by it, in...