Panel examines popularity behind reality television shows

Stranded in the Goldberg College House lounge, students and faculty members questioned the popularity of reality television -- especially the debut of Survivor: The Australian Outback. PennTalks and the Residential Advisory Board kicked off a two-month discussion series last night with an in-depth exploration of the Survivor phenomenon. "You can take any aspect of media and make it a topic worth considering," said Communication Professor Joseph Turow, who led the exploration. With this attitude, Turow spurred discussion on the topic of "reality shows" with a group of 15 students and faculty members. The group, including residents in the Media and Communication program at Goldberg, discussed reality television shows such as Survivor, throwing around possible reasons for their explosive popularity. "Survivor is becoming part of our culture. If you don't watch it, you stand out and feel excluded," RAB Secretary and Engineering junior Stuart Berger said. "Cultural explanations may be true, but we can't neglect the role of the [entertainment] industry," said Turow, who teaches a course at the Annenberg of Communication on the workings of mass media industries. Explaining CBS's history as a network lacking advertiser appeal because of an older viewing audience, he cited economic reasons for the network's Survivor hype. "Think of what category the Emmies would put them in," said Turow in an attempt to reach a definition of the reality show. "It's sort of a documentary-meets-game-show type of thing," RAB Chair and College junior Margaret Watt said. "It's an engineered reality," said RAB Treasurer William Krebs, an Engineering sophomore. The discussion ended with a look at the morality of reality-based shows and with a prediction for the future. "In the future," Turow said, "commercials would be integrated into programs," further blurring the distinction between editorial content and advertising. With Turow's insight into the media industry, students left the discussion with a different perspective than the typical TV viewer. "The purpose of PennTalks is to build up the community through conversation," PennTalks Programming Coordinator Lillian Rozin said. "I feel really excited about the whole program. Students seem really engaged and there has not been any shortage of ideas."