TV show and Socialization



TV show and Socialization

Introduction

Television shows serve as a powerful tool for Socialization. There are several television shows, sitcom and news shows that are agent of socialization in the recent time. One of the TV show is Oprah Winfrey show. This paper discusses the concept of socialization with respect to Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah Winfrey Show is the number one talk show which is seen on a national level since 1985. The host of the show Oprah was chosen as the co- anchor in a news show that used to be on air in the evening when she was at the age of 19. However, the delivery style of Oprah combined with the emotional drive eventually lead her towards the transfer to the day time TV show (Berns & Berns, 2011). After that, she hosted a Chicago talk show that was a third rated show, however, with the inclusion of Oprah; the show attained the first place. In this way, the format of the show was also expanded and the show was renamed as Oprah Winfrey show in 1985. Since, then the show is considered to be number one talk show of the United States. The host of the show Oprah Winfrey was also included in the most influential personalities of the world and attained a position in the 100 influential people of the 20th century listed by the Time Magazine. She influenced the process of socialization through her TV show (Berns & Berns, 2011).

Socialization

The Oprah Winfrey show has significantly contributed to the socialization process and can be considered as the agent of socialization. The real life events discussed in the show and the focus provided to them in the show serves as the influential approach towards socialization process.

It has been observed from the study of Schaefer (2004) that the new technologies have provided new forms of mass media over the past decade to the households in the United States. Such technologies and mediums have modified the listening and viewing habits of the people and influenced their behaviours to a great extent. People tend to spend a lot of their time on the media sources such as TV and internet. The impact of mass media has been described as a tool to shape and influence the behaviour of the people having communication outlets with the people. According to a report released by Pew research centre in ...