PECULIARITIES OF WORK ON TELEVISION

The revolution in mass communications technology has opened up particularly large horizons for television. Computerization has put such unexpected and previously inaccessible possibilities as multimedia, computer animation, stereo-television into the hands of television people, and has already freed up the approaches to holographic television.

But this is not all possibilities. What usually eludes the viewer is no less impressive. So, now work is underway to restore old black and white films and enrich them with color. There have been changes in the video of television programs. Live broadcasting has become more widely used, which often makes viewers direct participants in programs. A special role in the development of mass communications was played by video recorders and video players. Digital image recording, video discs, laser image and sound reproduction have become widely used in industry and in everyday life. Cable TV has made the image better; satellite broadcasting has reduced the distance. In a number of countries (for example, in the USA, Great Britain, Sweden, etc.) digital television, both cable and terrestrial, is being introduced.

As you know, everything new is well forgotten old. In the 1960s, the Mir projection TV was produced in the USSR. He allowed to watch the transfer on the big screen, which was mounted on the wall. Japanese experts at the new technical level revived this idea. Since 1997, Toshiba has launched a Dramatic-Theater series projection TV. The main advantage of these outdoor TVs, the size of the screens (and not kinescopes) of which varies from 48 to 61 inches diagonally, are fundamentally new schemes for transmitting images and sound. Televisions in this series are distinguished by a flat housing, which allows them to easily fit into the interior of any apartment.

With the seeming uniformity of video equipment, new home video recorders and video players are seriously different in terms of quality and comfort. So, one of the main secrets of the new Toshiba V-856G model is the newest and most successful digital noise reduction system in the video image, which allows to get an immaculate picture on the screen. This technology significantly improves the quality of reproduction of old films. The Digital Noise Reduction system built into the luxury VCR automatically removes all defects from the film: “snow effect” - black and white dots on the screen, uneven brightness, blurriness of color tones, etc.

The introduction of technical advances made it possible to start implementing the idea of ​​programmable (interactive) television. This is done as follows. The subscriber of the TV channel communicates with the television center using a computer and orders this or that program for himself for a certain time: news, film or something else. In strict accordance with the request of the viewer, his television set or computer will demonstrate the program ordered, or even a program that is completely formed at the request of the subscriber. Interactive television allows the viewer to not only watch what they want, but also actively intervene in the plot transmitted to the screen. At the request of viewers who have contacted using a computer or a regular phone with the studio, individual episodes, outcome, or even the whole plot of the program can be changed. In short, the viewer is involved in the production of an information product. Of course, in some cases it is very good and interesting. But programming also has negative consequences: total control over the tastes, habits and lifestyle of TV viewers becomes possible.

If the rivalry between digital and analog television ended in favor of digital, then the old argument about what is better - a computer or a television set, flared up with a new force. Especially since a lot of money was involved in it.

Briefly about the essence of the problem. A modern multimedia computer allows you to receive radio and television broadcasts, play back recordings. Moreover, the quality of sound and images from him is much higher than that of television sets. But the TV is much cheaper than even a simple computer. And the mass consumer still prefers TV, especially since a variety of different set-top boxes have appeared, which allow an ordinary receiver to perform certain functions of a personal computer. Recent improvements in computers allow us to hope for a sharp increase in quality with a rapid decline in price. This speaks well for computers. In addition, the computer network industry, including the Internet, seeks to penetrate into a completely new area for itself - the world of voice communications [4].

There is a rapid convergence of television with computer networks. Bill Gates and the well-known company Microsoft led by him set a course for uniting TVs, telephones, players and other consumer electronic devices into a global network. The firm spent $ 2.4 billion on conquering American living rooms, just as it once won personal computers. In particular, for $ 425 million, WebTV Networks was acquired, which created the technology of surfing the Internet using a domestic television. $ 1 billion was invested in the acquisition of cable television company Comcast. In addition, some firms specializing in the transmission of audio and video information over the Internet were put under control [5].

Most analysts predict that in a dozen years, virtually all consumer electronic devices will become full members of the digital network community. “Just as electricity changed our lives by turning gramophones into stereo players, glaciers into refrigerators, and candles into light bulbs, the Internet revolutionizes all the devices we use, from computers to televisions, phones and cars,” says Wei Yen. , president of NCI, a firm that develops software standards for future home appliances [6]. According to experts, the number of televisions that provide access to the Internet by the year 2005 will be fifty million [7].

So, the technique provided the journalist with unlimited possibilities. But it also makes tough demands: it is necessary to keep up with the introduction of technical innovations and, in particular, to skillfully use them for working on the air. Of course, it is also necessary to have a keen sense of the generic, original specifics of television journalism.

The working material of the journalist includes the spoken and written word, image, noise, music. All this predetermines the features of television genres. Television allows the audience to personally observe the event, complement the image with sounds (music, noise, narration, etc.), read the text (specially displayed on the screen or shown as a document), hear the live voice of the hero and the actual sound of the event. This implies that the journalist has the abilities of the director and operator, skills and abilities to work with the equipment. Special requirements are imposed on the TV presenter who performs a complex set of functions.

Television has a much higher impact efficiency than print and radio. But the dangers carries a lot. Well-known futurist I.V. Bestuzhev-Lada believes that television, computer and other wonders of technology will destroy humanity. In his article “The Four Heads of the Monster,” he asserts that “year after year, the nightmarish four-headed dragon almost invisibly began to invade, threatening to change the lives of future generations much stronger than all machines, mechanisms, devices and devices from ancient times to the present day” [eight]. The author lists these four heads: the first “dragon's head” is an ordinary TV screen, which already replaces many theaters and concert halls, museums and exhibitions. The second “head” is the same TV screen, on which in all civilized countries of the world (Russia is not counted here) for a long time, dozens of programs are replaced by paragraphs “TV tapes” with fresh, momentary news and inaccessible “paper” press around the clock by speed. The third “head” is a videophone familiar to many people, combined with a television screen. The fourth one is nothing more than the most ordinary computer, only connected in an electronic processor with the TV options described above.

The meaning of the article of the scientist is to call for a moral ban on the use of the achievements of modern technology in some areas of human life. The fact is that “the equipment can really go away in the most literal sense of the devil (and only he) knows where. But the mentality and human psychology are unlikely to have time to undergo any significant changes. Monstrous scissors are formed between the achievements of scientific and technological progress and their social consequences. At the same time, positive consequences may not necessarily prevail among the consequences. Very negative ones are not excluded - up to the complete dehumanization of human society, the transformation of a person into a virtual appendage to a computer ”[9].

Thus, the social consequences of global television coverage of mankind will not only be rosy. But maybe we exaggerate the danger, and things are not so bad? Maybe we watch TV from time to time?

So here. In France, a study was published on the issue of addiction to television. It turned out that the most avid TV screen lovers are Japanese. They devote to this activity on average four hours a day, one minute more than Mexicans. Americans are two minutes behind the Japanese. The study showed that Russians are heading the list of European countries, but they are sixteen minutes behind the Japanese. The British love of the screen is somewhat less: they spend only three and a half hours a day watching TV. The French and the Germans - a little more than three hours [10]. An interesting pattern: low-income families are mainly focused on television and radio, and more affluent people also focus on printed products.

We are all the more convinced of one truth: who owns television, he owns everything. In an era when satellite communications made TV world-wide, the most informationally powerful country, the United States of America, dominates the market. On the European visual market, the predominance of the United States looks impressive: 65.5% of all the TV shows shown, 44.5% of TV feuilletones, 48.5% of television films are American [11]. The cost of producing programs in the United States is mainly covered in the domestic market. That is why rights to use abroad can be sold at non-competitively low prices. However, for all that, the profits of telecorporations are very significant: it is in this area of ​​communications that ad revenue can reach $ 200 thousand per minute [12].

No words, television is alive not only income. It was and is crucial for raising the educational level of the population. Depending on the conditions of a particular country, educational time is allotted for a certain period of time. So, in 1989 in the FRG 2262 hours were spent on them, in England - 1378, in the Netherlands - 686, in Portugal - 420, in Belgium - 307, in Greece - 203, and in France - only 43 hours.

However, any media, if it does not pursue other goals, should bring profit to its owners. In recent years, crises to one degree or another have affected virtually all the editorial offices of newspapers and magazines, radio, film and television studios, and the publishing houses of most developed countries. Some researchers believe that the golden age is over even for television news. The transition of leading television companies into the hands of monopolies, the fierce competition in the information market, the transfer of news, especially in business, to computer networks — all this and much more makes us think about the nature, means, forms and methods of news distribution. On the one hand, TV takes the living space from other media. So, documentary films everywhere surrendered their positions, pressed by television. In Jordan, for example, the only documentary film studio in the whole country was closed. On the other hand, such competitors of on-air TV, such as specialized magazines, round-the-clock cable television and radio news services, satellite stations and video recorders, are becoming more active. Of course, this list is far from complete. Here, of course, you should add computer networks, databases and data banks.

Telecorporations, as a rule, are looking for a way out in the commercialization of reporter programs. But this can lead and leads to negative consequences, among which is the “trivialization of news”. For example, during the Persian Gulf crisis, American television, along with the most important military information, spent three minutes on coverage of divorce from film actress Joan Collins, while even the most important messages in such programs get a minute and a half to the plot. When news is served in the spirit of entertainment, viewers begin to lose respect for public news.

There are several ways to keep the opportunity to deliver socially useful news to the masses. One of them is the further expansion of specialized cable television networks. The second method - in addition to reporting the news to their analysis. The third way is to cooperate with other media. The next direction is attracting a specialized audience. Almost all television companies began broadcasting to groups of people united by common interests. There were many programs devoted to religion, computer technology, cars, etc. In this case, it is easy to navigate in the interests of viewers and to attract advertisers to broadcast to a very specific audience.