media communication essay

Reality TV

Television has become one of the most powerful tools of communication in modern history . Studies have shown its impact on all aspects of society and have even become a primary resource for education , social orientation and information (Kawamoto , 2002 . It has been seen both as a boon and bane of progress and it will undoubtedly become even more important in society in the future (Starr , 1998

Reality Television refers to a genre in television programming that is characterized by the absence of scripts and presenting real life situations and

comes in a variety of formats (Reality television , 2006 The earliest from of popular reality television is credited to Alan Funt who created the television program Candid Camera . The program first aired in 1948 and featured outtakes of humorous situations or jokes (History of Reality TV , 2005 . According to Murray (2004 , reality television "is a label that encompasses a wide range of non-fiction formats including gamedocs , makeover programs , talent contests docusoaps , dating shows , court programs , tabloid newsmagazine shows , and reality-based sitcoms

The genre has enjoyed its high and lows . Reality television hit a high in the 1990 's with MTV 's production The Real World , a program featuring a group of people living together in one apartment It reached another peak in 2000 with Mark Burnett 's the reality series Survivor which featured ordinary people marooned and tasked to survive ' in their new environment

Today , reality television , or television in general , is not just anymore considered as forms of entertainment but they have been recognized to influence popular culture more than any other television genre (Piper 2004 Anderson Collins , 1988 . Reality television has received has come under scrutiny as it continues to dominate television . Some critics have said that the term "reality television " is somewhat of a misnomer and that such shows frequently portray a modified and highly influenced form of reality (Reality Television , 2006 . Suzuki (2006 ) suggests that there is a need to evaluate the entertainment prevalent today particularly reality television , because of its influence and position in society today

Reality Television

Reality television actually ambiguously encompasses all forms of television programming that does not use a script . Footage is taken as it occurs naturally and any editing is supposed merely for the purpose of cleaning the material or enhancing cohesiveness . According to Larkin (2006 , One of the attractions of reality television is the supposed `reality ' of it - unscripted and unplanned situations and reactions

Influences

The motivation for developing reality television is to answer to the demand for realism . Initial broadcasts both in radio and television were theatrical or musical in nature (History of broadcasting , 2006 . The first forms of unscripted broadcast footage came in the form of news reels or reports . The earliest forms were designed to be documentaries often featuring events or people of interest . War and propaganda footages became popular with the development of broadcast television in the 1930 's (Schoenherr , 2004

Media entertainment also started to feature the life of ordinary people into movie...