Each One Teach One: History of the Television

   I did my Each One Teach One assignment on the history of television. As someone who finds film and media in general interesting, I thought that this would be an exciting concept to explore. In my presentation, I stated that there was not just only one person who came up with the idea of television, but many great minds and thinkers of the world came up with ideas that surrounded the idea of television that we know today. Two of these great minds that thought of the idea of television were Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison. The two of them believed that it was possible to translate images for each other in that others could view them as well. It wasn’t until 1884 when Paul Nipkow was able to create an invention that allowed you to send images through wiring discs which he called the electronic telescope. Which is known as one of the first discoveries that led to the creation of television. 

It wasn’t until 1927 that a Scottish man by the name of John Baird gave the world’s first demonstration in front of a bunch of businessmen and investors on television. His demonstration was a success which led to him being able to create his own company known as The Baird Development Company in 1928. In that same year, the television was able to make its first successful transatlantic television transmission between New York and London.  

In the 1930s and 40s television started to take off and become a popular household item slowly. However, most people didn’t have one in their house and opted to still own a radio instead of a television. It wasn’t until a popular radio show by the name of Texaco Theater made its switch from radio to television in the 1940s that people started to buy a television set over the radio for their household. Texaco Theater making its switch from radio to television was a cultural phenomenon in itself because it boasted sales for televisions making it more of a necessary household item versus luxury for the wealthy. As television grew in popularity, so did the shows that they aired as well such as I Love Lucy, Bonanza, and Leave it to Beaver. Having television grow in popularity also allowed for the 1960 political debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon to air live.  

Although cable television was all the rage in the twentieth century, streaming services is what are most popular in the present day. This is due to the fact that cable is a dying business among all ages of people. Cable is dying because most people prefer to use streaming services because they are cheaper and more efficient. While cable companies are slowly losing customers and are raising their prices. Having access to a streaming service such as Netflix or Hulu is great because you can watch what shows you want at any time you want. As well as having apps for streaming services makes it more accessible to watch on your phone, iPad, or laptop. Which is something that cable could never fulfill.

Sources:

https://www.history.com/news/who-invented-television

https://www.britannica.com/technology/television-technology

Eight Values of Freedom of Expression

 I think that the Eight Values ​​of Freedom of Expression provide a great way of allowing ourselves to value our freedom and express it in different ways. I think the majority of these theories are important in their own way. However, I do believe that some are more important than others. One of the theories that really resonates with me and my beliefs is Protect Dissent. The theory states that "The First Amendment Protects minority views, no matter how unpopular." I think that hearing this is very important because in some situations people might think that the government is going against them, versus helping them. The theory also allows you to disagree with the government, which results in protests, although some can possibly be more violent than most. In Steven Shiffrin's book Dissent, Injustice, and the Meaning of America, he shows several examples of how the First Amendment is used to allow us to express ourselves. Even if our thoughts are going against our government. The second theory that I am in favor of is to Promotes Tolerance. I agree with this Value of Freedom because it allows us to still keep our first amendment right of freedom of speech, but it does allow hate speech as an act of this freedom. I don't agree with hate speech and spreading harm or negative impact to others, but since it would embed our freedom of speech to get rid of it, I think people should be allowed to say what they want and have to deal with the possible repercussions of it afterward. An example of this theory is gratefully explored in Jack Balkin's book Living Organisms. In his book by him, he explores different ways how to challenge our Constitution. It is important that we are able to challenge our Constitution through our first amendment right so that if important issues come up in the future we are able to take them to higher-ups and possibly get them changed or a new law installed. The third and final theory with which I agree is Individual Self-Fulfillment. I agree with this theory because it wants us to express ourselves and leads to us creating our own identities. This theory also leads us to positive ways of thinking versus negative ones, which can lead us to people to connect with similar beliefs. The perfect example of how this theory is used is in C. Edwin Baker's book Human Liberty and Freedom of Speech. In his book by him, he expresses and critiques multiple theories and their use of them. Explaining how these theories came through by persuasiveness and a philosophical view as well. All of these theories are important in their own different way. They differentiate from each other as well as connect and flow from one another. As well as they all tie to our first amendment rights as American Citizens and protect our words and thoughts. The most important idea I learned from reading the Eight Values ​​of Freedom of Expression is to allow challenging things, whether it be the Constitution or something else, can always make a difference. 

Sources Used: https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691070230/dissent-injustice-and-the-meanings-of-america

https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?content=reviews&isbn=9780674416925

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/human-liberty-and-freedom-of-speech-9780195079029?cc=us&lang=en

History of The Supreme Court

 Something that I learned about the Supreme Court that I didn't know before was that it was created in 1789 and also that it allowed Congress the ability to create inferior federal courts. I think the most important takeaway point about the Supreme Court is that when you look at the big picture, it only takes one person to disagree or agree out of nine to make a huge change to our rights. For example, if there is a bill trying to be passed and the agreement is split to 4-5, that fifth person just changed everything, from stating their opinion. The most surprising thing that I learned was that at the very beginning of the late 1700s when the Supreme Court was being established instead of having nine people, they had six. The video changed the way I think about the Supreme Court by seeing how they work as a group instead of just individually and how that can affect the U.S in a more positive or negative way. 

Links: https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/supreme-court-facts