Media researcher
Prof. Dr. Joan Kristin Bleicher, who is also an associated researcher at the Hans-Bredow-Institut, writes in her latest
article for the Tagesspiegel about the status quo of German reality TV.
Crossover to Social Media
The variety of moving image formats that the Internet and social media have brought to the market is putting reality TV producers under competitive pressure. They are forced to adapt to the new media landscape and expand the effectiveness of their broadcasts to other channels. This can be seen, for example, in the presence of reality actors on social media.
Suggested Authenticity
When consuming reality TV formats, viewers enter into an indirect pact with the producers to accept the story shown as real for the duration of its broadcast, writes Bleicher. This would also enable viewers to make social comparisons with the lives of recipients of unemployment benefits (Hartz IV) or millionaires, such as “Plötzlich reich, plötzlich arm - Das Tauschexperiment [Suddenly Rich, Suddenly Poor – The Exchange Experiment]” (Sat 1). The pact increases the information and experience value of what is shown.
For the whole article click
here.
Image:
Avel Chuklanov on
Unsplash
