Television and Media - Daytime Talk TV is Immoral Essay -- Argumentati

Daytime Talk TV is Immoral Today’s society has become a visually based culture and, as a result, people learn and act from what they see. With the advent of television, many programs have been aired ranging from news programs to sitcoms and from game shows to talk shows, but talk shows, today, have the most effect on the public. Daily, viewers turn on their televisions and many are bombarded with images of sex, drugs, and violence on the talk shows. Unfortunately, many people are either disturbed or affected by what they see. As Vicki Abt and Leonardo Mustazza point out in their article, â€Å"Coming After Oprah: Cultural Fallout in the Age of the TV Talk Show,† â€Å"Surely long-term exposure to this genre has consequences for the way we judge ideas, behaviors, and ‘values’† . . .† (Abt and Mustazza 26). Despite many people’s beliefs that daytime talk TV today is purely entertainment, it is certain that it presents many immoral values and distorts th e reality of how our society should behave. One negative effect that talk shows have on their viewers is the false sense of reality portrayed to children. Many viewers of daytime talk TV are young children because many are not in school when these programs are being aired since they are not old enough to attend yet, or they have come back from school. Sadly, these children are exposed to the distortion of reality portrayed from these talk shows. Shows, such as Jenny Jones, Ricki Lake, and Jerry Springer, are constantly having guests who speak about topics like sex and drugs, and there is always violence as well. In most episodes, the guests are either cursing at each other or attempting to attack one another. Children viewing these episodes may begin to grasp a f... ... America needs to step back and take a look at what these talk shows are doing to society as a whole and rethink exactly what should be on talk shows and what should not. People are being corrupted with these images of sex, drugs, and violence, and it needs to come to an end. Though talk shows are not solely responsible for the way people behave or think, they are a big part of it. As they are teaching corrupted morals and values, it is obvious that talk shows are not purely entertainment, but are very immoral. Works Cited Abt, Vicki and Leonard Mustazza. â€Å"Coming After Oprah: Cultural Fallout in the Age of the TV Talk Show.† Reading Culture. 4th ed. Ed. Diana George and John Trimbur. New York: Longman, 2001. 25-27. Willis, Ellen. â€Å"Bring in the Noise.† Reading Culture. 4th ed. Ed. Diana George and John Trimbur. New York: Longman, 2001. 34-37.