‘Kardashians,’ ‘Real World’ producers speak to J school students
Four reality television producers sat on a panel Friday.
Published Sept. 26, 2011
Many MU students in the J school observe strange behaviors of their peers.
These behaviors might include, but are not limited to: a constant and deep furrowed brow, worry wrinkles, fidgeting and an overall look of pain-stricken anxiety. These side effects are due largely impart to the influx of news about job cuts in the journalism industry.
Journalism students could finally exhale Friday, after four legendary producers revealed another application for the journalism skills acquired in the J school: reality television.
“Reality television is kind of like journalistic storytelling,” said Esther Thorson, associate dean of graduate studies at the J school. She served as one of the symposium’s moderators.
Although news and reality television are often viewed as two opposite ends on the media spectrum, they might not be as different as they appear, the event’s featured speakers said.
“’Entertainment Tonight’ is news that covers reality and entertainment, but it is set up like a news station,” ‘Entertainment Tonight’ Executive Producer Linda Bell Blue said.
High Noon Entertainment’s Jim Berger, LHeflin Filmworks’ Lance Heflin and Bunim/Murray Productions’ Jon Murray joined Bell Blue on a panel at the symposium held at the Reynolds Journalism Institute.
The producers said the participants’ reactions on their shows are not fabricated, a belief oftentimes held about reality television.
“On ‘The Real World’ we bring together a group of people that would not normally live together," said Murray, who produces “The Real World” and “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” “In that way, the situations may be contrived but the stuff that happens on it is very real.”
The panelists said that reality television producers are concerned with the facts, much like any responsible journalist.
“On ‘America’s Most Wanted,’ we spent a lot of time just getting the facts right,” said Heflin, who produces “America’s Most Wanted.”
Reality television doesn’t only offer an alternative direction for journalism students, but it also might be a more desirable direction for journalism students, the panelists said.
“Reality television is a growth market,” Murray said. “Reality shows repeat less so the networks need more reality shows to fill the airtime. Reality shows are tougher to sell but it is a growth market so there are more positions for producers and editors in reality.”
He said the public craves knowledge about people’s personal lives, which is one of the driving forces behind reality television. Because of this, he said jobs are plentiful.
“From the beginning of time we’ve always been interested in other people’s lives,” he said.
The world is constantly seeking and consuming information about the glamorous and sometimes troublesome life of stars, Bell Blue said.
“Currently the public has an insatiable appetite for people to know about stars and their lives and projects,” she said.
Despite the possibilities this new direction of journalism might offer, becoming an accomplished person in this field is still no easy feat, the panelists said.
“I think it’s a very mean business,” Bell Blue said. “You have to make sacrifices. You kind of have to leave your personal life behind. News is 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”