What does television mean to you?

Television gets some tough press. It gets the blame for people wanting to become famous, dumbing down the nation and seen as a poor babysitter. But hopefully people will start to see the good that television can do as well, especially as the BBC's most recent success Call The Midwife has apparently got more interested in training to become midwives, as well as people wanting to become the next pop sensation.

Even without television people would have wanted to become pop stars or midwives, but it is a medium that will get people learning more about the world around them. So yes it is good to read to learn more about life and history but television can have a similar effect - and I am an avid fan of both.

This particularly struck me when watching the documentary Being Elmo which follows the life and career so far of Elmo's puppeteer, Kevin Clash. He learnt all about The Muppets and the work of Jim Henson through the TV and his appreciation extended to watching everything available to him to learn more. And this is where he was different to everyone else he created his own Muppets, puppets and characters all by himself of an amazing quality. This led to him working with his hero Henson and with The Muppets and responsible for Elmo. The remarkable thing though is he is not the only one to have done this as he gets calls from kids doing similar things. Now that wouldn't have been achievable without television and who doesn't love Elmo?

I have to say that my own educational and career choices are down to television too as Jon Snow and Jeremy Paxman led me into journalism. Now television may have started that, but other things helped to continue it.

Photo: Constance Marks/Being Elmo