Reality TV - Fun Or Fundamental
Are the programme makers being responsible?
A recent survey conducted by MORI and Vox Pops International has found that reality TV is playing a major part in young people's lives. Indeed, three in five (61%) 15-24 year olds agree reality television programmes such as 'Big Brother' and 'Survivor' help to teach them about the ways in which people interact with each other.
The vox pops qualitative arm of the study, which overall included 12-24 year olds, revealed that while young people are seeing practical changes to their social contact & viewing through reality TV, they are also learning about and being shocked by the human behaviour shown - including nudity, sexual openness, backstabbing and arguing. Instead of imitating what they see, however, they say they are grateful for the chance to learn important life lessons and skills via reality TV.
Annabelle Phillips, who heads up Youth Research at MORI said: "The MORI part of the research found that there is a core group of Britain's youth whose lives are being shaped by reality television programmes, such as Big Brother and Survivor. These young people make sure they are at home to watch the programmes, spend a significant amount of time talking about what happens in the programmes, and feel the programmes are teaching them about human behaviour and interaction, which they often find shocking."
"The makers of reality television programmes therefore have a responsibility to young adults when making shows which have a significant influence over the way people learn to interact with and behave towards each other."
The vox pops research showed that these programmes appeal to young people precisely because they believe it portrays real life. Particularly among under 15s, who are watching these shows unsupervised, there is a belief that it can educate and prepare them for adult life, often in a unique way.
Ally Castle, a researcher from Vox Pops Intl, said: "With reality TV, programming is moving from entertaining and educating, to actually parenting - from the passive role of a substitute babysitter, to the more active role of guiding and teaching usually fulfilled by mums & dads. The question is, are parents aware of this and how far is reality TV contributing to the trend of kids getting older younger?"
A complete summary of the findings, including video clips and audio files as well as a written document, is available by contacting the named contacts below, or visiting www.ipsos-mori.com or www.voxpops.com
Technical details
Reality TV was defined as: programmes which are based on people's lives, or follow people in different situations. For example, competitions like Big Brother, Survivor, Shipwrecked, etc.; docusoaps, i.e. programmes which follow people in their everyday lives, such as Airport, Driving School, Paddington Green, etc.; and chat shows, which let people discuss their problems such as Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Trisha, etc.
MORI interviewed a representative sample of 293 15-24 year olds via its Omnibus survey between 26-31 July 2001 - which also coincided with the finales of Big Brother and Survivor. The interviews were conducted face-to-face in home by MORI in 195 constituency-based sampling points across Great Britain.
The qualitative research was conducted by Vox Pops International and took the form of face-to-face vox pop interviews. The interviews were filmed - in total forty four interviews with 12 to 25 year olds. Interviews were carried out at 3 distinct locations in London (Richmond, Clapham and Mile End). Respondents were selected on the basis of their age and all watch reality TV shows.
