Essay On The Influence Of Radio On American Culture

Improved Essays
The invention of the radio has profoundly changed the American culture with its creation by allowing more and more people being exposed to new ideas, music, news, and entertainment. This idea of expression of individual tastes in music is central to American culture, which correlates to the Americans’ unique belief that each citizen has freedom to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; people have the freedom to listen , read, or watch whatever media they wish to. The first place that radio created cultural expansion was with the music industry. Now that radio could be heard by millions instead of a street musician being able to reach 10-20 people, new music genres like Folk, Country, Blues appeared and exploded in popularity. These …show more content…
During these “Fireside Chats”, Roosevelt worded his speeches and conversations carefully and precisely, using semi-informal language as a device to bring himself to that of a “neighbor talking to another neighbor” instead of President to people (Latson 1). His ease of connection with the American people who now understood his New Deal policies allowed him to enjoy a dramatically higher approval rate and lead to his success at winning 3 more elections because of his radio skills. In the end, “after twenty years of broadcasting, American voters had come to see radio as an information medium that . . . assisted their political thinking and choices”, (Craig 187), thus proving that Roosevelt’s radio broadcasts did indeed have an effect on the political culture of the American People. As seen with the explosion of music choices leading to widespread changes in musical tastes and a political power to sway the masses through communication over radio waves, the use of the radio had and still has a profound affect on the American …show more content…
America’s intense interest in popular television shows like those has potential to create negative health and lifestyle changes in the American culture. The first example of how television has negatively affected the American culture is the significant downturn in physical activity. Recreation as of 2016 largely consists of binge-watching and regular watching of television shows on TV, cellphone, and computer screens, which is growing in comparison to the American culture of physical activity being central to life. The dangers of too much television time are best highlighted in a study completed by two members of the Harvard School of Medicine, Drs. Anders Grøntved, MPH, MSc; Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD. They discovered that the risk of diabetes increased by 20%, the risk of cardiovascular disease increased by 15%, and the risk of over all mortality increased by 13%. Before the invention and widespread watching of television, the American people were healthier, with the majority of the population exploring outside their homes rather than be stuck in their houses staring at flashing multicolored screens. Here lies the true change to American culture; it comes with the proof of how American culture has changed from an active and lively culture to one of stillness, slowness, and illness comes being the 50 million people (American Psychological Association)

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Roosevelt: The New Deal

    • 1630 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Take yourself back to a time where the country was in shambles, the big banks have been failing for years now and there seems to be no end in sight. Welcome to the times of the Great Depression and early to mid 1930’s. The country is still trying to scratch and claw itself back to becoming a world superpower but lacked the communication and leadership necessary for survival. Until in 1933 after Roosevelt had won his Democratic nomination for Presidency, did the nation elect a leader who wanted to connect with the American people in ways never done before? In an era when the Internet and TV were still non-existent the best medium at the time was radio.…

    • 1630 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Television not only impacted communication in America, but it drastically impacted…

    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The fifth episode of The Roosevelts: An Intimate History is about the period in Franklin Roosevelt’s life between 1933-1939. This episode, “The Rising Road," relates to the material that is learned in class as it gives additional details and information about FDR life that gives us more of an insight into why FDR made certain political, economic, and personal decisions that affected America as a whole and it explains the affect some of FDR acts had on his political career and on the American public. Several unique acts that FDR did that differed from his predecessors but had a significant impact includes his “fireside chats” with the American public, the relationship between Roosevelt and his wife and its affect on his political career, and Roosevelt’s progressive New Deal plan and the fights he had with Congress and the Supreme Court. Roosevelt was elected to president during the Great Depression. At the…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Logos tends to go hand in hand with the sense of ethics, each building on one another to assist the argument of the author. Jeffrey Sachs talks in this writing about the research done by neuroscientists on the effects the TV consumption has on the viewer’s brain. Sachs states, “many neuroscientists believe that the mental-health effects of TV viewing might even deeper than addiction, consumerism, loss of social trust, and political propaganda” (442). Not only does Sachs state the research done by neuroscientists, but as well talks about the physical effects of TV viewing. Two-thirds of Americans are overweight (442), and according to the author consumption of televised material has a large influence on this issue.…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ronald Reagan and Franklin Delano Roosevelt can both be seen as two of the greatest American presidents of the 20th Century. With great presidencies also come great similarities and differences. Both began their presidency when the United States was undergoing severe economic distress. Roosevelt implemented his New Deal while Mr. Reagan enforced his combination of tax cuts and policy of less government intervention that has otherwise been known as “Reaganomics”. Both presidents instilled such a lasting optimism into within the United States.…

    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Radio broadcasting offered nearly 600 stations and roughly 600,000 Americans had radios. People listened to phonograph records, variety show programs, news, popular music, and of course commercials. The new tabloid newspaper became extremely popular because of its easy read. One of its most well-known new feature was the gossip column. Hollywood and movies emerged as one of the greatest sources of entertainment.…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For example, with the creation of commercial radio, jazz music “became popular among middle-class white Americans” (“The Jazz Age” 1). The creation of the commercial radio was important to the birth of the Harlem Renaissance because the radio broadcasted all kinds of music, announcements, and series for citizens to hear. Here, middle-class got their first taste of jazz music. Most teenagers had a radio in their home by the 1920s, so the upbeat tune reached all those who wanted to break the status quo. In addition, jazz became a type of “music that was an early vehicle for the integration of some aspects of African-American culture into white society” (“The Jazz Age” 1).…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 1920, the first radio broadcast went out from KDKA in Pittsburgh. A man named Frank Conrad, an engineer, broadcasted music from his home radio, having the “original” radio station (Benson 1). By 1922, around 600 radio stations had started all over America and the radio craze had begun. Within a 7-year time span, 60% of families in America bought home radios for nighttime entertainment (Eckstein 1). Music, such as Jazz and opera were played on the radio.…

    • 2225 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The 1930s on the other hand was a decade plagued by the Great Depression. Many Americans were forced to give up the many luxuries that were making life so much easier. America returned to a more traditional society as women were forced out of their jobs so that men could take their place. Unemployment reached an all-time high so many women found themselves back at home. Society became much more conservative with the less leisure time.…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In “TV’s Negative Influence on Kids Reaffirmed” by Jeffrey M. McCall, he warns parents that too much television is bad for your kids. McCall says that recent studies confirm that kids who are saturated with television are damaged in many ways. McCall also states that kids who absorb a lot of media whether it be television, video games, or the internet are less likely to do well in school, less well-adjusted socially, and more likely to be overweight than kids who are low users of media. A separate study at the University of North Carolina found 12- to 14-year olds who watched television with high sexual content were twice as likely to have intercourse by age sixteen. McCall argues that television is a cultural legitimizer for kids and teen…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    FDR Synthesis Essay

    • 1568 Words
    • 7 Pages

    People thought, “well if FDR was able to dig us out of that hole, maybe the federal government is not really all that bad.” From the 1930’s in FDR’s presidency to the 1960’s during Johnson’s presidency, we saw a massive growth in the central government, and the individualistic America was very much okay with it because it was getting the job done. The citizens were happy to see the government able to step in and begin to help solve their problems, but that wasn’t the only reason why FDR’s presidency was so successful. FDR had a knack for public speaking. Historical accounts claim that when he would come over the radio in households across America discussing an important topic, everyone would take a ‘sigh’ of relief because of the way he talked and the…

    • 1568 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Music has always had an important role in society throughout the ages. Through the decades music has changed in regards to style and its culture. As with anything that stimulates change music brought about conflicts between racial and gender classes. The book I selected to read, All Shook Up: How Rock ‘N’ Roll Changed America, was written by award winning author Glenn C. Altschuler. In his book Altschuler discusses specifically how rock and roll aided or discouraged the changes that were brought about.…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    All Shook Up Analysis

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “All Shook Up” by Glenn Altschuler exhibits how Rock ‘n Roll irritated, inspired, and sparked change in American culture. Music has played a critical role in civilization since its creation. As humans have progressed and evolved so has music. There has been a constant transformation in melodic styles, sounds, and the ways people perform. Rock ‘n Roll gets its origins from the early days of jazz, rhythm and blues, folk, country, and pop.…

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt was favorably elected into office as the nation's thirty second president. In the midst of the Great Depression with the second world war brewing, the expectations of the American people put a great deal of pressure on President Roosevelt's term. When President Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address came around, many Americans were very eager to hear what sort of plan he had created to solve the country's many hardships. With tens of millions of people listening to President Roosevelt on several different radio networks, he was able to successfully ignite the Americans’ hope for a new thriving nation. Using rhetorical appeals such as pathos, ethos and logos, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was able to persuade Americans…

    • 556 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are so many different cultures in the world from Japanese cultures, to Chinese cultures, to even our very own American cultures. I will talk about American culture, even though there are many sub-cultures in the American culture I will try to narrow it down. American cultures for us is the normal things we do; we tend to think that everyone does the same things that we do in our everyday life. For example, from driving on the right side of the road to even eating with forks and knives. Everyone’s culture is so different, and we usually sit and judge others cultures without knowing about them.…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays