MORAL ITY?

1. Is Reality TV Democratic? INFORMATION COMMUNICATION EQUALITY PARTICIPATION JUSTICE FREEDOM MORALITY?

2. Is this democratic? • “No” – says Big Brother creator Peter Bazalgette – it’s patronising. 1965 – The BBC broadcast Man Alive -a documentary about working-class people made by middle-class producers. Is Reality TV Democratic? 1990s –Docusoaps emerge. These combine documentary and personal video diary. E.g. Airport. ‘making ordinary people famous by casting them in their own lives’ • “The American dream idea • of level playing field, • whereby anyone’s dream • can come true” 2000 – Present Popstars, X-Factor, BGT

3. People increasingly use television as ‘pull media’ and watch it on demand, when they want to, where they want to. Viewing figures for Big Brother and the X-Factor still prove that a huge number of people still sit down together and consume television in a very media 1.0 way. The capitalist myth that is perpetuated is that fame is the ultimate aspiration for all of us. BUT If we media is really happening, why do we not turn off our Televisions and do something more interesting, like write a blog?

4. Is Reality TV Democratic? The issue is access • More ordinary people are on TV than ever before. • TV is becoming an arena for the masses. “An Arena for the Masses”? Democratic? The public have voted to victory people of various ethnic origins, sexual preferences and disabilities, unlike the ‘real’ political process. No one has to vote if they don’t want to...

5. Television should educate, inform and entertain in equal measure . (Lord Reith, 1927) De-humanising and Immoral. The capitalist myth that is perpetuated is that fame is the ultimate aspiration for all of us. Democratic? Reality TV is counter-democratic in so much as the serve to disempower citizens from the political arena. Instead of voting to change governments, we’re voting for Little Mix

6. People increasingly use television as ‘pull media’ and watch it on demand, when they want to, where they want to. Viewing figures for Big Brother and the X-Factor still prove that a huge number of people still sit down together and consume television in a very media 1.0 way. If we media is really happening, why do we not turn off our televisions and do something more interesting, like write a blog? “An Arena for the Masses”? The capitalist myth that is perpetuated is that fame is the ultimate aspiration for all of us. Is Reality TV Democratic? The issue is access • More ordinary people are on TV than ever before. • TV is becoming an arena for the masses. 1965 – The BBC broadcast Man Alive -a documentary about working-class people made by middle-class producers. • Is this democratic? • “No” – says Big Brother creator Peter Bazalgette – it’s patronising.

7. 2000 – Present Popstars, X-Factor, BGT “The American dream idea of level playing field, whereby anyone’s dream can come true” ‘making ordinary people famous by casting them in their own lives’ 1990s –docusoaps emerge. These combine documentary and personal video diary. E.g. Airport. Television should educate, inform and entertain in equal measure . (Lord Reith, 1927) De-humanising and Immoral. Democratic? The public have voted to victory people of various ethnic origins, sexual preferences and disabilities, unlike the ‘real’ political process. No one has to vote if they don’t want to... Democratic? Reality TV is counter-democratic in so much as the serve to disempower citizens from the political arena. Instead of voting to change governments, we’re voting for Little Mix