notes and quotes document

Reality television has become very popular over the past decade with shows such as "Survivor", "Big Brother" and "The Apprentice" attracting big audiences and making a lot of money for broadcasters worldwide. A definition of reality television is quite difficult but at its most basic it means programmes that show things really taking place, rather than drama or comedy that follows a script. Typically reality TV involves a group of people who are not trained actors being filmed in unusual situations over a period of time. Sport and news programmes are not considered reality TV. Documentaries that explore aspects of society are a grey area, with some closer to news reporting and others blurring into reality TV because they set up situations which did not already exist. Recently celebrity versions of reality shows have made definition even harder, because they show the private lives of professional singers, actors, sports people, etc. as they cope with new situations. Reality TV is often a hot topic as proponents believe it paints an unrealistic and inappropriate portrait and is therefore bad for our society and the children that make up the majority of the audience. They call for a cut in the number of hours given over to reality programmes, or even to ban them completely. Opponents meanwhile maintain that people should be allowed to watch what they like, and that reality programmes make good TV, as shown by consistently high viewer figures.

Reality TV throughout the years

• Reality television began in 1948 with Alan Funt's TV series Candid Camera. The genre exploded as a phenomenon around 1999–2000 with the success of such television series as Big Brother and Survivor
• The shows deemed responsible for the boom in reality TV and the rejuvenation in the genre IN 2000's are: Fear Factor, Big Brother and America's Next Top Model
• There have been at least three television channels devoted exclusively to reality television: Fox Reality in the United States, launched in 2005, Global Reality Channel in Canada in 2010, and Zone Reality in the United Kingdom, launched in 2002
• By 2012, many of the long-running reality television show franchises had begun to age, setting up declines in ratings across the format. This, along with increasing audience fracture from competing programs on broadcast and cable television, has raised questions about the long-term viability of reality television on the broadcast networks.
• Shows which have become structured reality tv like 'The Only Way Is Essex Geordie Shore, Made In Chelsea, The Valleys, Big Brother and many more.

Quote Book

• Reality TV is sleazy, it is manipulative. It is as momentary as anything in popular culture.  Morley Safer 
• I think that reality TV is so bad. It is a tool by the media to not make people think. Naveen Andrews 
• A key ingredient of reality TV is the casting of "ordinary people". No longer are audiences watching an actor pretend to be sad or happy. By and large, they are watching a real person be genuinely happy or sad. There is no performance to de-construct. It is real.
• Reality TV is bringing us back from that uncaring brink. Watching real people aspire to some goal, and then seeing all but one or two of them fail, sensitises us once again to the pains and pleasures of our fellow human beings.
• Instead of rising in anger at all reality TV, one should applaud these positive effects.
• Why watch reality TV when I can just open my blinds and look out my window to all the reality I can handle?
 Jarod Kintz
• When the likes of Victor from Big Brother's last series are rewarded with a radio station presenter's contract, I reckon that the violent confrontational ignorance that he demonstrated appears to be rewarded by the media which can only be harmful to society. The levels of hate/animosity and the death threats televised just are not light entertainment.
  
  
  
  

The Different types of reality TV

• Documentary Styled (Fly on the wall which are sometimes referred to as docudrama)
• Celebrities (Another subset of fly-on-the-wall-style shows involves celebrities. Often these show a celebrity going about their everyday life: notable examples include The Anna Nicole Show, The Osbournes, Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, and Hogan Knows Best. In other shows, celebrities are put on location and given a specific task or tasks; these include Celebrity Big Brother, The Simple Life, The Surreal Life, and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!)
• Professional Activities (Could be a form of informative show, the longest serving show of this kind is the show COPS)
• Self Improvement (Some reality television shows cover a person or group of people improving their lives. Sometimes the same group of people are covered over an entire season as in The Swan and Celebrity Fit Club, but usually there is a new target for improvement in each episode.)
• Social Experiment (Another type of reality program is the social experiment that produces drama, conflict, and sometimes transformation. Wife Swap which began in 2003 on Channel 4 and has aired for four seasons on ABC is a notable example. Big Brother is most probably the most notable show for social experimenting reality tv.

Pro's and con's of reality TV

ARGUMENTS FOR:

·                 We live in an age of mass culture. More people read tabloids than the broadsheets, and reality TV is a fair reflection of this.

·                 Elitism is out of date. People are no longer willing to accept only what broadcasters think is good for them. There is nothing wrong in giving people what they want.

·                 It is intrinsically fascinating to see how people speak and behave in unusual situations. This is why many intelligent people find themselves gripped by Big Brother and other reality shows. They teach us something about human nature and so broaden our experience.

·                 If we believe in freedom and free speech, then we have to accept reality TV as an expression of popular and democratic taste. Nobody is compelled to appear in reality TV programmes, or indeed to watch them.

·                 Reality TV is harmless fun. Only pompous people and snobs condemn it.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST:

·                 Reality TV is vulgar and shoddy. By creating pseudo-celebrities it contributes to the debasement of popular taste.

·                 It is often cruel, exposing the participants to gross humiliation for our amusement. This makes it the modern equivalent of going to laugh at the lunatics in Bedlam. The present row over racism on Big Brother shows how nasty it can be.

·                 It exploits the vulnerable, and has been condemned by the Mental Health Foundation for doing so.

·                 Popularity should not be the ultimate test of what is permissible. Public executions used to be popular and still are in some countries.

·                 It is nonsense to say that broadcasters shouldn't set standards or be obliged to adhere to codes of behaviour. We don't for instance allow them to promote racism or sectarianism or to incite violence. Reality TV is debasing and should be strictly controlled, if not banned altogether.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1470327/Reality-TV-is-damaging-society-says-Humphrys.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/3607482.stm

—http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15335555

will.i.am to launch iPhone accessories line

The first product to be released as part of the Black Eyed Peas star's i.am+ range will be a clip-on camera that significantly improves the quality of photos taken using Apple handsets.

"We have our own sensor and a better flash. You dock your phone into our device and it turns your smartphone into a genius-phone. We take over the camera," the singer told The Telegraph.
will.i.am will release a range of other add-ons bearing his name, compatible with iPhone 4, 4S and IPhone models.

The first i.am+ camera makes an appearance in the musician's music video for 'Scream and Shout', a collaborative effort with Britney Spears.

The i.am+ range will be formally unveiled at a London press conference next Wednesday (November 28) and go on sale at Selfridges next month.

Jimmy Savile & The BBC

In my opinion in the Jimmy Savile case i believe that it was wrong for newsnight to possible drop hints about who the alleged abuser in the welsh care home was without concrete evidence. Lord Mcalpine is well within his right to demand his £125,000. 

However newsnight should not be taken off the air being such a pivotal part of the BBC and they were also well within their right to run that show and speculate, however dropping hints was wrong. Let us not forget it was only hints aswell, the name was generated on the social networking site Twitter and Sally Bercow stirred the situation. I believe she should be sued more so than Newsnight.

The sacking of George Entwistle was also badly dealt with and i believe he was the scape goat of the BBC as they attempted to redeem themselves to the public and almost as if they are saying "look look we've done something and we are making changes." 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/nov/22/bbc-director-general-lord-patten-tony-hall?INTCMP=SRCH

Gender & Ethnicity

Women are generally represented in a narrow range of social roles by various types of media, whilst men are shown performing a full range of social and occupational roles. Tunstall (2000) argues that media representations emphasise women’s domestic, sexual, consumer and marital activities to the exclusion of all else. The media generally ignore the fact that a majority of British women go out to work. Men, on the other hand, are seldom presented nude or defined by their marital or family status.

 Working women are often portrayed as unfulfilled, unattractive, possibly unstable and unable to sustain relationships. It is often implied that working mothers, rather than working fathers, are guilty of the emotional neglect of their children.

However, Gauntlett argues that there are still plenty of magazines aimed at men which sexually objectify women and stress images of men as traditionally masculine. Rutherford suggests that these magazines are symbolic of what he calls retributive masculinity – an attempt to reassert traditional masculine authority by celebrating traditionally male concerns in their content, i.e. ‘birds, booze and football’

Ethnic minorities as criminals – Black crime is the most frequent issue found in media news coverage of ethnic minorities. Van Dijk found that Black people, particularly African-Caribbeans, tend to be portrayed as criminals, especially in the tabloid press and more recently as members of organised gangs that pushes drugs and violently defends urban territories.

Ethnic minorities and moral panics – Watson (2008) notes that moral panics often result from media stereotyping of Black people as potentially criminal. This effect was first brought to sociological attention by Hall’s classic study of a 1970s moral panic that was constructed around the folk devil of the ‘Black mugger’. Further moral panics have developed around rap music, e.g. in 2003, ‘gangsta rap’ lyrics came under attack for contributing to an increase in gun crime.

Books

Racism and the Press. London: Routledge, 1991.

Elite discourse and racism. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE, 1993.

Year 13 Critical Investigation Proposal

Working Title

Do structured reality TV shows like 'Geordie Shore' dumb down our culture and are the criticisms justified?

Angle

To understand the new craze which has been deemed 'Dramality' TV, why it is so popular, the other key players in this new genre and possibly why show's like Geordie Shore could have a negative effect on Britain or is it a good thing for us.

Hypotheses

The Dramality genre has dumbed down our culture and given Britain a negative perception  Example the main text is Geordie Shore; gives Newcastle stereotypes.

Linked Production Piece

Opening piece to a new Dramality show.

Contemporary media landscape

.My main focus will be Geordie Shore.

.Other texts include: The Only Way Is Essex, Made In Chelsea, Jersey Shore and where the reality TV was originated from Big Brother.

SHEP

Social  Geordie Shore is of course a spin off from the American show Jersey shore, again started as a special after receiving the average view of 631,000 the show got the go ahead for a second season. The show raised a lot of eyes brows and questions particularly in Newcastle as it was so different to it's original show 'Geordies' became offended by the show and were adamant this is not what their City is like. From a social look on things the show defiantly had a lot of its success from 'word of mouth' it is defiantly the kind of show that gets people talking.

Historical  The show is a spin off and it first aired on 24th of May 2011 bringing in a total of 635,000 viewers to the show. 

Economical  This show doesn't have the biggest budget so revenue is most probably high allowing it to continue and still be going strong to the present day.

Politics One politician who continuously has a lot to say about the show is Newcastle MP Chi Onwurah. She described the show as "Bordering on pornographic" She then went on to say the show is not representative of Newcastle or Geordies.

MIGRAIN

Media Language

• High key lighting to glorify the glitz and glamour of the show
• Star appeal knowing who is who, who dislikes who and understanding what the particular character stands for
• Setting, the heart of Newcastle. Glorifying the night life, happy people and glitz and glamorous lights.
• Costume for female, stereotypical dresses, heels, fake hair, tan and high make up. On the other hand more stereotypical in Newcastle males in V cut shirts high make up, high grooming products and styling. 

Institution

• MTV famous for these kind of show now such as Jersey Shore, The Valleys etc. Appealing to a very specific young audience
• Of course being a music channel first and foremost they still play a lot of music in the back of the show especially recognisable music to the niche audience MTV target.
• The production company 'Lime Pictures' most famous for their break through soap Brookside went onto produce hollyoaks and grange hill.
• They now have tapped into the recent boom of reality TV and structured television and now produce the award winning show The Only Way Is Essex as well as Geordie Shore.

Genre

• The official genre of this show is deemed as Reality TV
• however throughout the years we have come to notice a lot of this is structured and the situations are planned so it has been given the name of Structured television
• More recently and abbreviation and a new genre for these kind of shows has been named 'Dramality' TV. The mesh of Drama and Reality TV.
• Codes and conventions of Dramality TV (alcohol, sex, fake, accents, stereotypes and partying)

Representation

• Representation is of the 'Geordie' lifestyle that we see on our television as the cast members often refer to the partying and drinking antics as 'Geordie Style' representing the city as these kind of people.
• The male and female gaze, when the cast often go the party the low angle shots of females assets the close up angles of the males topless etc.

Narrative

• The narrative is always done by the cast with little cut always of them explaining or reacting to a situation as they look back on it
• There is no main character, so every character will have a specific story in every episode.
• Regarding setting they tend to travel and go to different cities howeever the narrative mainly stays within Newcastle.

Audience

• Demographic the audience is a E unemployed, students and causal workers. This is probably students aspiring to have this life while watching it as it is a young audience.
• Star Appeal, the audience becoming attached to a specific character as they become likeable. For example the funny, cute and innocent Charlotte who is very likeable and fragile. Compared to the loud mouthed, strong minded and violent Vicky take different likes to the Audience.

Media Effects

• The Hypodermic Theory, youngsters want to then go out and live this lifestyle. Evidence of the hypodermic theory in action regarding this show one of the cast members Garry 'gaz' has a catchphrase this has reverberated round youngsters in the E section of the demographic graph and tend to use it while drinking 
• Blumur & Katz escapism. The student life can become very stressful and watching this shows gives them a chance to rightly or wrongly aspire this kind of lifestyle.

Issues and Debates

Geordie Shore is frequently under scrutiny about the shows actual content. It has been said that you can sum up the show in seconds. Drinking, partying, fighting and sex. The show lacks direction and substance as we watch the tanned gang live the lives that the aspirational audience lust for.

It also asks questions of what type of message does it convey the youth of not just Newcastle but UK. Having dreams to become famous for nothing and just party and have sex is what this target audience is looking up to. One of the stars Holly Hagan's quote is "I'm fake, flirty and got double F's." The teenagers then believe this is acceptable and look up to these people and aspire to be them.

And a critic for the Metro wrote: "I can usually take a fair amount of slop before I start with the moral proselytising and mourning of the death of television and I must confess to at times being amused and grimly entertained by this opening episode, but after an hour of wayward genitalia, shag pads in sheds and unprotected underwater sex, even the bawdiest DC's (daft c****s, thanks Vicky) can't help but be scornful." 

News Value

Regarding news Geordie Shore hardly makes headlines unless it is another MP slating the show about it's representations or a segment on how negative shows such as these have on the UK. But MTV being such a large institution it has its own news therefore having it's own news values where politics is probably not on the agenda. It frequently gives Geordie Shore a lot of stories like the 'gossip' who is leaving and hints and new stories. 

Regulation and censorship

There is not much that is censored in this show. Nudity is at a moderate level and swearing is not held back. This is why this show receives a lot of negative criticism. The high level of sex, violence and inappropriate language is what makes the show so gripping and 'Geordie'  

Digital Revolution

Geordie Shore has a very specific audience and of course with technology being so amazing nowadays the show use social networking sites to advertise the show. Before every programme they remind viewers they can 'hash tag' Geordie Shore and join the discussion. On top of this past and present cast members have their own personal twitter accounts however they still promote the show on behalf of MTV despite claiming this is the view of them and not the company. Facebook groups and pages never go amiss also all of these aspects that just ring in those extra viewers and fans.

Ownership and Control

As mentioned before the two production institutions are Lime Pictures and MTV. This show is particularly low budget as there is not much special effects and expensive things that go into these kind of shows. The main thing that money goes into is the house that the Geordies stay in. Geordie Shore is deemed a home-grown show from MTV as most of there shows are imported from the US within all there other channels like MTV UK and Ireland, Spain Base, VIVA, TMF and much more.

Online Research

The Guardian Articles

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/mediamonkeyblog/2011/apr/28/geordie-shore-mtv?INTCMP=SRCH - Geordie Shore; Who really cares?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/01/geordie-shore-noblest-people-in-britain?INTCMP=SRCH - Cast of Geordie Shore are the noblest people in UK

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/apr/27/geordie-shore-the-hunks-reality-tv?INTCMP=SRCH - The revival of Reality TV

Books

Reality TV restores a crucial, and often absent, element to the critical debate about reality television: the voices of people who watch reality programmes. From Animal Hospital to Big Brother, Annette Hill argues that much can be learned from listening to audience discussion about this popular and rapidly changing television genre. Viewers' responses to reality TV can provide invaluable information to enhance our understanding of both the reality genre and contemporary television audiences.

Drawing on quantitative and qualitative audience research to understand how viewers categorise the reality genre, and how they judge the performance of ordinary people and the representation of authenticity within different types of reality programmes.

* Do audiences think reality TV is real?
* Can people learn from watching reality TV?
* How critical are viewers of reality TV?

Reality TV argues that audiences are engaged in a critical examination of the development of popular factual television. The book examines how audiences can learn from watching reality programmes, and how viewers think and talk about the ethics of reality TV.

Jonathan Bignell presents a wide-ranging analysis of the television phenomenon of the early twenty-first century: reality TV. He explores its cultural and political meanings, explains the genesis of the form and its relationship to contemporary television production, and considers how it connects with, and breaks away from, factual and fictional conventions in television.