Abstract
Television channels for children contain many cartoons and programs. These productions reach the viewers via both the television and the channel's official website. TRT Çocuk, broadcasting for children as a government television channel, presents many locally produced animated cartoons to the viewers. A product of the modern and digital technology, these locally produced cartoons carry importance in terms of transfer of social values. This study focuses on locally produced animation cartoons that have an important potential especially in the transfer of national and moral values. Determination of values conveyed via cartoons that bear importance in the transformation of television into an educational tool allows the media and child relationships to become visible. This work aims to examine the relationship between media and values by defining the concept of “value.” After creating a corporate frame, the study brings to light the social values conveyed in locally produced cartoons aired on TRT Çocuk television channel via qualitative analysis method.
Top Introduction
The concept of social value has been the subject of philosophers’, thinkers’ and societies’ debates and the source of ideas on human existence. The questions on the meaning of life and what the values of a moral human being and society should be in line with this, is still open to debate in our day as well.
As a result of related literature surveillance, it can be said there is not a fixed definition of a single value. The reason for this is that the concept itself and the research conducted have an interdisciplinary characteristic. However, if we are to define the concept of value in a broad sense, it can be said that values are basic principles governing how a society’s economical, practical, political, moral, and communication problems can be solved and govern the behaviors of individuals. Values taught through beliefs, culture, social environment, and especially media during childhood and early adolescence are a guide for people in their life practices.
According to Inglehart, who has made important contributions to value research, values are “deeply rooted, unchanging and generalized thoughts on life goals”; according to Rokeach they are “specific behavior rules or traditions about what is desired” and according to Schwartz they are “a structure providing motivation and represent fixed ideal goals that are resistant to change outside of time-context (Inglehart, 1977; Rokeach, 1970; Schwartz, 1980).
Modern social structure, presents people with different lifestyles, and in line with the different ideals they hold provides values that can differentiate in terms of what is right or wrong in value and norm regulation. In such a social structure there are more freedoms, however the world is more complicated and incomprehensible, and people’s desire to live in safety brings about the need to live for values to sustain their social system. To find their direction in life people need values and guidance.
On the basis of these thoughts Helmut Klages (1984), suggesting that the modern human needs to enter a value synthesis in terms of adapting to the social life, proposes that traditional and modern values do not need to clash with each other, and can be harmonized to provide social life orientation.
The first of the five value types observed by Klages in humans is where one is busy with only goals and fulfilling missions in life and denies the process of self development, is addicted to authority, is in love with order and extremely traditional. Another type of value is a submissive one that has no life purpose, avoids taking responsibility and has no perspective on life. Conversely, the realist value type that can synthesize both traditional and modern values is in the position of a person who can adjust to the social structure and can answer the expectations of the modern era’s wants and expectations. The hedonist materialist value type that is focused on entertainment, defines the profile of people who run after materialist pleasures, adopt the principle of living today and not tomorrow, denying idealist ideas and duties that need to be done in their name, and are busy with material life and satisfaction of pleasures. The last value type expressed by Klages defines an idealist person who develops himself, concerns himself with the sustainability of the environment and the progress of humanity in terms of universal values such as rights, justice and freedom. Through the mentioned categorization it is possible to easily present the characteristic value construct of a society. This is an important factor in the analysis of social problems and providing continuity of social peace.
“No place in the world is unreachable anymore” (Beck, 2000: 20-21) and media is playing the principal role in the emergence of this situation. Our day can be defined as a media era with advanced technological equipment and besides family and their close social circle people are enveloped by a value world provided by media tools. In the face of this envelopment it is possible for a person to transform into an inefficient value analyst from passivity through the analysis of values transferred through media.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Animation: The technique of making films, videos and computer games with drawings that appear to move.
Children: A human who is not yet fully grown.
Media: A common name that covers the whole range of media outlets, such as radio, television, newspapers and magazines.
Social Value: Social value is the quantification of the relative importance that people place on the changes they experience in their lives.
TRT Çocuk: Turkish television channel for children.
TV Broadcasting: Programs that is sent out by television.
Digital Media: Digitally compressed audio, video, and photo content.
Cartoons: A film that tells a story by using moving drawings instead of real people and places.