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/virgin-diaries-virgin-diaries-sneak-peek.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 9. C• 2. D 10. D • 3. C (500 million members)11. D • 4. False 12. D • 5. D 13. a• 6. A • 7. True• 8. D

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 Representationhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPuyZEIG2G4

(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=6gkIiV6konYWhat 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/video/flv/generic.html?s=frol02s483q70&continuous=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/bluefin-labs-introduces-first-ever-analysis-of-social-media-commentary-and-audience-responses-to-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?