The American family and mass communications.

Abstract

Initial attention is directed to how television -- the most typical as well as the most "mass" of the media -- appears to the broadcaster to fit into the fabric of society. This is followed by consideration of how this medium can be used more effectively in family life education. The basic social contribution derives from television's role as a mass medium that uses limited facilities (the air waves) for dissemination of its content, and inherent in television is the inherent need to serve the needs of a total society. If the sights of a society are to be raised by means of a mass medium, the society must 1st be brought to the medium. As long as there are free and alternative channels of communication, the actual influence on ideas which can be exerted by any 1 medium is very slight. The United States has chosen not to take the route of elite control of the products of communications media, preferring pluralism and diversity to orthodoxy. The 1st job of individuals who are concerned about better programming is to be selective as individuals and as families. The support of development and growth of educational television at local levels is urged. The primary objective of the family relations field in the context of the television phenomenon is the enrichment of relationships within the family unit through encouragement of healthy interpersonal attitudes and behavior. Television can be used as a medium for presenting materials which educate, inform, and encourage and to demonstrate what social agencies are doing to help people help themselves.