Defining the Reality Genre
http://realitycheck2012.wikispaces.org
You have 1 week to comment on the definition
(due Feb. 8): 8/10 points possible for a simple
response; 10/10 possible for also commenting on
another classmate’s response.
Your second One-Pager is due Tuesday, Feb. 7. I
have listed resources on the Wiki, including links
to online reality TV shows, memoirs on Google
books, and blog links.
Who Is Saying What
to Whom and Why?
http://tlc.discovery.com/videos/virgi
n-diaries-virgin-diaries-sneakpeek.html
Who Are the Intended Audiences
for Reality Stories?
To get at this, we take a closer look at media:
What are media? How do media affect us?
Media – Latin for “between”
Answers to the Quiz
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1. True
2. D
3. C (500 million members)
4. False
5. D
6. A
7. True
8. D
9. C
10. D
11. D
12. D
13. a
What’s one thing you learned or
surprised you?
In What Ways Do Media
Affect Audiences?
Killing Us Softly 4 (2:43-5:10):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ujySz_NFQ&feature=related
Advertising: $250 billion a year industry in U.S.
An average American is exposed to 3,000 ads every
single day and will spend two years of his/her life
watching TV commercials (Tivo help!)
So, do you feel personally exempt from the
influence of advertising and media? (talk to a
neighbor)
Tough Guise and Miss Representation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPuyZEIG2G
4 (stop at 3:20)
Do you agree: Is violent masculinity a cultural
norm perpetuated by media? Do you see it in
the reality genre? Where? (talk to a neighbor)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gkIiV6konY
What about media depictions of women: Are
they keeping women down? (talk to a
neighbor)
Cutting Through the Clutter
• One man interviewed said that in the media,
you need to shock to cut through the clutter.
• What do you think: Are reality texts a way to
“cut through the clutter”? Why, why not?
Break
How Do Audiences Affect the Media?
• What do you think?
Have You Ever Heard the Word
Millennials? That’s You
• Born between 1981 and 2000
• Most racially and ethnically diverse cohort of
youth in the nation’s history (18.5 percent
Hispanic; 14.2 percent black, 4.3 percent
Asian, 3.2 percent mixed race; and 59.8
percent white)
• Politically progressive
• Least religiously observant generation
• Trusting of institutions
How do we know these statistics and
why do they matter to media?
Apparently, Your Opinions Matter
• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/vi
deo/flv/generic.html?s=frol02s483q70&contin
uous=1
• I’d like you to write down at least one thing
that sticks out to you: quotes, numbers,
images, or other things.
What stuck out?
Two quotes that stuck out to me:
1.) “Teens are like Africa.”
What do you think of this idea of being a group
that others seek to colonize?
2.) The narrator said of marketers studying
teens:
“They study them carefully as an anthropologist
would an exotic native culture.”
So What’s the Latest in
Media Research of Audiences?
• http://bostinno.com/2011/02/02/bluefinlabs-introduces-first-ever-analysis-of-socialmedia-commentary-and-audience-responsesto-tv-ads/
• The Republican presidential candidates are
using it.
How Does This All Relate
to the Reality Genre?
Exit Tickets
• What’s one thing you learned about how
audiences are affected by media?
• What’s one thing you learned about how
audiences affect media?