What Do You Want to Watch?
In today’s Los Angeles Times, there is an article on reality shows that portray people doing dangerous jobs, a trend that began with shows like Deadliest Catch, about fisherman off Alaska, and Ice Road Truckers, which is perfectly described by its title, a feat that is considered elegant in the TV business, comparable, say to when in the physics business, a simple formula sums up a lots, for example, E=MC2.
Anyway, there is some speculation in the article as to why the trend in reality shows is going the way of people doing dangerous jobs. For example, the people shown are doing their jobs, not like the people are on, say, Survivor or Big Brother, because they’ve been assembled for to the purposes of being on a TV reality show, they’re doing them because those are actually their jobs and they’d be doing them regardless. The article talks about authenticity and viewers identifying with ordinary heroes.
But from the perspective of the Vanguard Journalism unit here at Current TV, there might be another reason. Maybe people are watching these shows because this is where reporting on television tops out. When was the last time you saw a TV news documentary that gave you a plausible reason why the stock market has been going up while the unemployment rate is going up? Because we don’t seem to be very good at delivering believable coverage of the stuff that’s most important to you—questions such as, will I have a job in six months or will I be dumpster diving to support my family?—you the viewer are obliged to stick with the last level of coverage that is believable. And you tend to believe, say, the guys at Original Productions when they show you that those truckers really are driving over ice. It’s coverage you can trust.
Anyway, there is some speculation in the article as to why the trend in reality shows is going the way of people doing dangerous jobs. For example, the people shown are doing their jobs, not like the people are on, say, Survivor or Big Brother, because they’ve been assembled for to the purposes of being on a TV reality show, they’re doing them because those are actually their jobs and they’d be doing them regardless. The article talks about authenticity and viewers identifying with ordinary heroes.
But from the perspective of the Vanguard Journalism unit here at Current TV, there might be another reason. Maybe people are watching these shows because this is where reporting on television tops out. When was the last time you saw a TV news documentary that gave you a plausible reason why the stock market has been going up while the unemployment rate is going up? Because we don’t seem to be very good at delivering believable coverage of the stuff that’s most important to you—questions such as, will I have a job in six months or will I be dumpster diving to support my family?—you the viewer are obliged to stick with the last level of coverage that is believable. And you tend to believe, say, the guys at Original Productions when they show you that those truckers really are driving over ice. It’s coverage you can trust.
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- vanguard blog
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- Jobs, Journalism, Mainstream Media, Reality, 2 more
