REALITY TV

July 2000
		What's behind the increasing popularity of "reality TV"? Robert Thompson, head of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University and Frank Farley, past president of the American Psychological Association, who teaches now at Temple University, take your questions.

Forum introduction Are just we trying to learn more about people by watching reality TV? Is there an age bias in this type of programming? Why would people want to be exposed this way? Will cross-promotion of reality programming on news shows hurt the news? Does TV production take away from the "reality" of this kind of programming? Could this type of TV lead to other, less acceptable forms of voyeurism?     July 5, 2000: A discussion on the rise of reality TV. Browse the NewsHour's coverage of media issues.

Tom from Nevada asks: I am a cameraman who has done reality television before and in its current style. While we were taping the intimate details of the subjects -- and the viewers saw what they thought was a fly on the wall view point of somebody's life -- what the public may not be aware of is what is happening on the other side of the lens. In my case you saw young people going through a day, doing errands, going to the airport, getting prepared to go to a show, you saw them in a car, beauty shop, store, etc. Every day life -- or so it would seem. Do you think the audience sitting at home watching their TV would have a different view of these programs if they knew just five feet away on the other side of the lens is a cameraman holding a betacam, surrounded by lots of cumbersome equipment? Not to mention a sound man with a boom mike, a producer with a radio, and a production assistant running around with release forms to be filled out by any passerby that may accidentally be included in the edited product?   Frank Farley responds: I have no doubt that viewers would have a different perception of "reality TV" if they saw on-camera all the things you note in your question. It would make reality TV look like a studio our sound-stage, and much less real. Survivor attempts to give the impression of a Swiss Family Robinson, which would be shattered if we had an aerial view of it all with the plethora of cameras, equipment and personnel.   Bob Thompson responds: It is amazing how carefully the situation you describe is kept invisible. As much as "Survivor" refers to the fact that it's a TV show, we never, ever, see a camera, a microphone, a helicopter. Most people know, or would if they bothered to think about it, that these situations are crowded with staff and technicians just outside the shots, but they choose to ignore it. We watch these shows to be amused, so we suspend our disbelief, just like we do when we see a play on the stage. When I watch "The Real World," I know there must be a guy like you delivering the pictures: after five minutes, however, I've forgotten you completely.