Peter Black's Freedom to Differ

My weekly chat with Andrew Bartlett on 4ZzZ

Every Monday morning I appear on Andrew Bartlett's 4ZzZ breakfast radio show to discuss some of the current public and political issues of the week.  This week we discussed the Logies, the NSW election result, some of the controversy surrounding the Greens (including Julia Gillard's bizarre remarks from last week), Campbell Newman's bid to become Premier, and Libya:

Should we keep reality out of TV?

Over the weekend I blogged about Glee and copyright, so I was amused to read this short post that suggested the problem of judging TV programs against reality is not just confined to Glee:

You have to love it when reality meets TV: Christina Mulligan examines the concept of Glee, and how it would be completely impossible/illegal for an actual high school glee club to perform the songs we see on the show, thanks to copyright.

Similarly, NPR did a great piece on what an actual hospital visit portrayed on House might cost. (In real life...you'll just die.)

Let's do our best to keep reality out of tv, ok?

Do you agree?  Should we keep reality out of TV?

Recap of the 40 Hour Famine Lock-In

This weekend I had the amazing experience of doing the 40 Hour Famine while locked in the Big Brother house.  The 40 Hour Lock-In, as it was dubbed, was a once in a life experience that raised awareness and money to help children, families and communities in desperate need.  So far we have managed to raise over $16,000 for World Vision Australia, but it is not too late for you to donate.

I covered my time in the house on Twitter (see my #40hrlockin tweetstream here), as well posting photos to Posterous (see here) and audio tweets to Audioboo:

This morning Weekend Sunrise also payed a visit to the Big Brother house:

It was a wonderful weekend for a great cause, and I would like to congratulate the organsier, David Curtin, from Dimension 8 Marketing, for all his hard work and vision in making this weekend become a reality.

And you thought I was obsessed with reality TV

Two psychiatrists from Montreal claim there is a recognisable psychiatric illness known as The Truman Show Delusion:

Joel and Ian Gold, brothers and psychiatrists from Montreal, believe they have discovered a signature mental illness of the YouTube era: patients who claim they are subjects of their own reality TV shows.

They have named the malady the "Truman Show Delusion," and though they are in the process of putting together a medical paper on the topic, their discovery is already causing a stir.

While traditionalists insist that this delusion offers nothing new -- it is no different from, say, a deranged man who believes that the CIA has planted a microchip in his tooth -- the Gold brothers argue otherwise.

"It's really a question of the extent of the delusion," said Joel Gold, 39, who has been on staff at New York's Bellevue Hospital Center for eight years. "The delusions we typically treat are narrow: There is Capgras Delusion, where someone will think his family has been replaced by doubles. Or the Fregoli Delusion, where someone believes that one person is persecuting him: a doctor, mailman, butcher. The Truman Show Delusion, though, involves the entire world."

He also says that The Truman Show had an impact on patients that other films did not, no matter how powerful they were. "I never heard people say, ' The Godfather, that's my life.' "

While Dr. Gold says they could have easily called their new disorder the EDtv Delusion or the Matrix Delusion -- both films that refer to an unreal existence-- three of the five patients he treated at the storied mental health hospital directly likened their plight to The Truman Show, the 1998 film about Truman Burbank, an affable suburbanite who slowly becomes aware that his every movement is broadcast 24/7 to voyeuristic viewers around the world.

Read more here (from canada.com).  (Hat tip: The Volokh Conspiracy.)  And for the record, I have a movie poster mounted in my office at work of The Truman Show ...

One more Big Brother post

Given my gushing rant on Monday night you probably thought that would be the last post on Big Brother for some time, possibly ever.  However, I thought I'd post this video that pays tribute to the 2008 housemates:

It's time to go Big Brother ... for now

The last episode of Big Brother ended tonight with the words "It's time to go Big Brother ... for now".  So hope remains that Big Brother will one day return in some form.  But for now it is worth reflecting on the past eight seasons.

I've always blogged a bit about Big Brother and have refused to apologise for it, so I thought it was appropriate to share some of my thoughts and reflections and once again explain I think it was good TV.  So you understand where I'm coming from here is my 2007 declaration where I told readers of this blog that they must watch Big Brother!:

Ok.  I'll admit it.  I watch Big Brother (well, at least the evictions) and follow the going-ons in the house on the Big Brother website and Behind Big Brother. I've even gone to a couple of live evictions.  I've been following the show since year one, day one.  And I enjoy it.  I find the relationships, the characters, the politics, the games Big Brother plays and even Gretel Killeen entertaining - and occasionally even insightful.  Most of my so-called "intellectual" friends and colleagues consider that there must be something wrong with me (even though most are also able to follow a conversation about the show quite easily). However, I refuse to apologise for it.  Big Brother isn't meant to change the world, but it is good TV.

And last night's episode of Big Brother was great TV - we got to select two new housemates, a relationship in the house were revealed, the reason for the mysterious White Room was disclosed, and Mr X was introduced to Australia and the unsuspecting housemates.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about or think that this all sounds silly, then you are missing out.  This season has been set up as possibly the best Big Brother ever.  The housemates are older and more diverse (although still ridiculously good looking), the house has adopted a positive environmental stance, and most importantly, the first two episodes have shown that this season's Big Brother has a wonderfully wicked sense of humour.  The housemates - and us - have absolutely no idea what Big Brother will throw at them next.  Now, that is good TV.

As many of you reading this post will just dismiss it as a rant from a tragically deranged fan, may I suggest that if you are a reality TV sceptic you should read an excellent piece in one of your so-called "intellectual" magazines, The Atlantic Monthly by Michael Hirschorn, "The Case for Reality TV: What the snobs don't understand".  Read it here.

So if you want to know what all the fuss is about, then you should watch this season of Big Brother.  And enjoy it for what it is - good TV.  Don't be embarrassed and don't apologise for it.  After all, you don't have to tell people that you watch it ...

Read it here.

Let me begin by admitting that Big Brother was far from perfect TV - they had to fill so much air time, especially in the seasons with UpLate, that it was inevitable that at times it was far from compelling.  In fact, at times it was downright dull.  Other times, it was incredibly silly, which you could either embrace for what it was or dismiss it as juvenile.  Some housemates, tasks, twists, sets and even hosts were better than others (for the record, I thought Gretel Kileen was far superior to Kyle and Jackie O).  So given its inconsistency, what was its appeal?

For me the show worked for two reasons.  First, it was entertaining.  This was largely due to the housemates and the relationships they formed with one another.  They willingly shared their emotions with each other and with the public.  When at the end of the finale this evening we had a montage of the past eight seasons, I couldn't help but recall so many fascinating relationships and wonderfully real, honest moments.  I'm thinking of Christina and Peter; good guy Ben; Marty and Jess; Peter when his young brother runs into the house after he has been announced as the winner of season 2; Reggie and her heartbreaking self-realisation that she wanted to change her life after Big Brother; Chrissie screaming at Ben; the twins in season 5; Tim Brunero trying so earnestly to lift the tone of political discussion in the house; Vesna's rawness; David, the 'token' gay farmer; the mother-daughter twist; Jamie and Katie; Aleisha and Billy; the White Room; Bodie and TJ's fighting; and then there was the 52 year old grandmother Terri winning this, the final season.  Love them or hate them, Big Brother resulted in Australia seeing some different personalities on TV.

Second, right from the beginning the show became part of the national conversation and it was able to use its unique profile to raise issues that otherwise do not get discussed  on TV: homosexuality, racism, refugee policy, issues of body image, sexual harassment and assault, censorship and sexuality.  And up until this year all this was done thanks to Gretel's deft touch.  Big Brother was able to deal with all these issues in a way other shows could not.  Because it was real.  Or at least a lot more real than Neighbours, Home and Away or A Current Affair could ever even aspire to be.  Whether or not you liked the show you cannot dispute the profound influence it had on Australia's culture, probably more so than any other Australian TV show in the past decade.

So as far as I'm concerned Big Brother will be missed.  To the show's producers, housemates, Gretel and everyone who worked on the show for the past eight years, I say thank you.  For all its occasional banality and triviality, your Big Brother was more than just fun to watch, it changed TV and had a positive impact on Australia's national conversation.

It's hard to tell what is real these days ...

TV Tonight reports on this bizarre intersection of several forms of so-called "reality TV":

Fake Corey just part of the Act

No that isn't Corey Worthington, but this promo made by the Movie Networks Channel was enough to trigger complaints by viewers who felt it inappropriate to hire the notorious party boy.

It is in fact someone else known to TV viewers, hired to mimic Worthington for the Movie Greats 80's Party held last weekend.

To find out who... read on.

ANSWER: It's Shane Jenek, aka gender illusionist 'Courtney Act' from Australian Idol series 1.

Read it here.

A social Big Brother

The online presence of Australian Big Brother, which launched tonight, is embracing user-generated content:

NETWORK Ten is about to take a big leap into the world of social media with the launch of more user-generated content on the official Big Brother 2008 website and a Facebook profile.

The network is developing a series of complementary internet media channels to cater for the core 16 to 24-year-old fans of the reality television show, which begins its eighth series at 7pm tonight.

Ten's head of digital media, Damian Smith, said the network experimented with a Facebook profile for So You Think You Can Dance Australia, which ended its first season last night with about 28,000 Facebook fans.

It also launched a Facebook application -- a "Which Top 20 Member are you most like?" quiz that users could add to their Facebook profile.

The Big Brother Facebook profile will include a news feed and other features.

"Over the next week there'll be interesting things you can get for your Facebook profile," Mr Smith said.

...

"We're very happy to work with a range of social networking sites," Mr Smith said.

"We regard them as complementary to the core website," he said. "Everyone's a competitor and potential partner right now."

He said Ten had more freedom in relation to the websites that it could form alliances with, as it did not have a partner offering its own social networking services.

"We're hopefully in a better position than some to exploit (social media)," Mr Smith said. "We are a little more Swiss (in that) we are not linked with a US portal.

...

"We've got an audience that loves to interact, express its opinions and create their own video, and that's pretty exciting," Mr Smith said. "There's going to be a lot more blogging on the site (such as) Big Brother's Little Sister, which will be a different-toned blog from the rest of the site. It's from people working for (production company) Endemol Southern Star and taking an interesting perspective on what's going on in the house."

Apart from mobile phone coverage of the show, there will be 3mobile Mouthpiece -- a section for uploading mobile video.

Read more here (from The Australian).  Although this is an interesting strategy by Ten, they could still do more to engage with social media.  One obvious oversight is the lack of an RSS feed for news updates.  This means I'm more likely to get my Big Brother news from the unofficial Behind Big Brother portal (which is also allowing user-generated audience blogging) than I am from the official Big Brother website.

It's back ...

I can't think of a better way to resume blogging than with this great teaser for the upcoming season of Big Brother:

"I Like to Watch"

In a piece for Salon, Heather Havrilesky observes that even if you can't live a life of leisure, at least you can watch one on TV, from Big Brother to The Real Housewives of New York City.  Read it here.

Share and share alike

Bloomberg looks at unusual online business model that gives a whole new meaning to "reality TV":

If you want to watch Nick having sex with a prostitute, he's happy to let you.

The 36-year-old bank-security technician drove eight hours from his home in Metz, France, to Big Sister, a Prague brothel where customers peruse a touch-screen menu of blondes, brunettes and redheads available for free. The catch is clients have to let their exploits be filmed and posted on the Internet.

``Sex is no taboo,'' Nick says, though he asked that his last name not be used. ``You have to free your mind.''

Big Sister is marrying 21st-century technology with the world's oldest profession to profit from the public's appetite for ever-more graphic reality TV. Since 2005, more than 15,000 men have taken up the offer of free sex in return for 15 minutes, or less, of fame, according to the brothel. Big Sister is now expanding into the U.S. with a local version of its Web site.

Visitors to the virtual brothel pay 29.95 euros ($43.88) for a one-month subscription to a smorgasbord of sex listed by position, preference and number of people. Big Sister also produces cable TV shows that air on Sky Italia and the U.K.'s Television X, as well as DVDs such as ``Sex Hyenas'' and ``Voyeur's Eye.''

``Our goal is to attract as many people as possible to catch the first reality sex TV,'' says marketing manager Carl Borowitz, who goes by the name Carlos. ``This is National Geographic for adults. Everyone's curious to watch their neighbor.''

Read more here.

(Hat tip: well, you know who you are ...)

It's time to go ... Gretel

I an unashamed watcher of Big Brother and a supporter of Gretel Killeen I was disappointed to read today that she will not be back hosting Big Brother next year.  Indeed I have always thought Gretel's very sharp and dry sense of humour worked really well on Big Brother.  Besides she was able to handle the pressures and demands of live television with aplomb..  News.com.au has the story:

GRETEL Killeen has been dumped from Big Brother as Ten seeks to revamp the struggling show by introducing new hosts, radio duo Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O.

"Working on Big Brother has been an extraordinary, challenging and rewarding experience," Killeen said.

"I'm really proud of what we've achieved but I now have the seven-year itch and am busting to get on with a million new things, including my first feature film, which we're shooting in the new year."

After seven years, the show is in dire need of a change.

The 2007 series was criticised for its boring and predictable housemates, resulting in poor ratings and speculation the show might be axed.

But producers Endemol Southern Star have confirmed the show will return in 2008 in a "tighter, re-energised format".

Read more here.  In addition to being disappointed Gretel won't be back I'm not sure Kyle and Jackie O is the answer.  Sure, Kyle has actually worked out well for Australian Idol, but Big Brother is a very different format and I find Jackie O really quite annoying.  Anyway, we'll see I suppose ...

What is TV indecency may end up before the US Supreme Court

USA Today has a detailed feature story on whether the US Supreme Court may enter the debate on indecency standards on US television:

The dirty words that started the ruckus were fleeting, but their consequences for television have been long-lasting.

At the December 2002 Billboard Music Awards, Cher waved her "Lifetime Achievement" trophy and said, "People have been telling me I'm on the way out every year, right? So (expletive) 'em." At the Golden Globes the next month, U2 lead singer Bono accepted an award by saying, "This is really, really (expletive) brilliant." At another Billboard Awards in 2003, TV star Nicole Richie used expletives as she joked about removing cow manure from a purse.

As the Federal Communications Commission was reviewing viewer complaints about the incidents, Janet Jackson's breast was exposed during a Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 1, 2004. The next month, the FCC, in an unprecedented move, said that even a one-time use of vulgarities associated with "sexual and excretory functions" violated indecency standards. It cited NBC for Bono's remarks, then Fox Television for those by Cher and Richie.

The FCC's stance has inspired a legal battle — now on the Supreme Court's doorstep — over how rigorously the government can police what's on TV.

The larger questions surrounding the dispute: As broadcast TV pushes the limits of sexual content to compete against its racier and unregulated cable competitors, should an occasional expletive be allowed? Or can the FCC completely stamp out what it views as verbal smut on broadcast television, in the name of family-friendly programming?

The Supreme Court soon will decide whether to wade into the dispute and, for the first time since 1978, dictate indecency rules for the airwaves. No matter what the court does in the case pitting Fox against the FCC, the battle could lead to new standards for broadcast networks.

Already, the FCC's tough stance could be changing what Americans see on live TV ...

Read more here.  What is arguably most concerning about this trend is the potential chilling effect on what can currently be shown on US television.  Again, from USA Today's report:

The last time the Supreme Court reviewed the FCC's power to curb indecency, in 1978, it rejected a First Amendment challenge to limiting the hours that broadcasters could air "indecent" material.

The 1978 case arose over a New York City radio station's airing of comic George Carlin's "seven dirty words" monologue.

Carlin repeated seven words that referred to various sexual and excretory functions during a 12-minute routine that aired at 2 p.m. on Pacifica Foundation's FM station.

The court upheld the FCC's policy sanctioning the broadcast because it occurred between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when indecency is forbidden for radio and broadcast television.

In its decision, the court said it was not ruling on the broadcast of "an occasional expletive."

Today, the FCC's tougher approach casts uncertainty across network programming.

Read more here.

Is Nine trying to be cool?

A strange programming move by the Nine Network:

THE embattled Nine Network will attempt to woo the internet generation, which increasingly favours the computer screen over the TV, by airing a one-hour program featuring the world's most popular online video clips.

With commercial television programmers battling to keep a young audience in the face of growing competition from internet video sharing sites and web-based entertainment, Nine will tonight air I-Caught, an American show that features people who have shot or starred in clips on YouTube, the video-sharing website.

Read more here (from The Australian).

The best of Australian Idol

Scott, To Be Certain is counting down the top twenty performances of all time on Australian Idol.  His number five choice - Casey Donovan, "Here's Where I Stand" (Season 2, Semi-Finals), however, is my clear number one.  Watch the video, but do read Scott's analysis here:

Reality TV Review released

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, today directed the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) to release its Reality Television Review.  Read Senator Coonan's media release here and download the final report here.

Your Truman Show

As The Truman Show is one of my favourite films, I am intrigued by TechCrunch's recent post about Your Truman Show:

Your Truman Show launches ... with a product dedicated to publishing, rating and reviewing personal video stories.

The service is a combination of personal blogging, user-generated video and social networking, delivering users an intuitive interface than enables them to catalog their lives.

The “V-link interface” with in Your Truman Show visually connects related storylines making it easy for users to find and follow stories as they develop over time. Usual user rating systems are also provided with higher rating videos gaining preference at key navigation points.

My first question naturally was in relation to the name. Warner Bros didn’t renew their rights to exclusive use of The Truman Show, so now it makes up two thirds of a Web 2.0 startup.

The platform feels a little bit like YouTube meets blogging. Yes, it is another video hosting platform ala YouTube but the layout is different. The focus is very much on blogging personal stories; with features include chronological submissions through to story books.

Read more here.

Emma is evicted

In tonight's Big Brother live eviction, Emma was evicted.  Big Brother Producers, Endemol Southern Star issued this statement:

Because Housemate Emma had been nominated and faced possible eviction tonight, last night, with the full support of her family, Emma was told in private that her estranged father had passed away.

Her brother Matt conveyed this news to Emma in the company of Big Brother’s resident psychologist.

That meeting will remain private.

Big Brother has taken advice from the psychologist, with the full support of Emma’s family, that she be told of her father’s death last night so that she would have time to process the news in the event she was evicted tonight.

Big Brother also wanted to ensure Emma had sufficient time to consider whether she wished to go on stage with Gretel during tonight’s Live Eviction show.

Emma was offered counselling and was given the option to leave the house immediately if she wished.

She chose to stay and will again meet with the psychologist and her family tonight.

Fans will recall that Emma’s late father and her family had requested that she not be informed of her father’s passing.

Big Brother was unaware that Emma’s father had passed away until several days after his funeral.

Big Brother understands the concern the public has expressed for Emma’s welfare.

This has been a very difficult situation in which there has been no perfect answer.

Big Brother has held Emma’s best interests paramount at all times and in doing so has drawn on the advice of the people best placed to give it – her family.

Like all Emma’s supporters, Big Brother looks forward to hearing Emma tell her own story.

Read it here.

The latest Big Brother promo

The latest Big Brother promo courtesy of The Chaser:

Is this funny?

From Behind Big Brother:

World falls for Endemol hoax

Controversial reality programme “The Big Donor Show” finally hit the air tonight in Netherlands - and revealed it was all just one big joke.

The dying woman with a kidney up for grabs was actually an actress, though the three potential recipients are all in need of a new kidney, but knew the real nature of the show.

Producers Endemol, the company behind Big Brother, claim the elaborate hoax was about highlighting the shortage of donors in the Netherlands.

Previous Endemol hoaxes include Something about Miriam, where the men unwittingly competed to date a transsexual, and Space Cadets - which saw three lucky contestants enjoy a four day space mission - in a warehouse in eastern England.  However on both these occasions it was only the contestants in the dark.

Read it here.

The Chaser breach Big Brother security?

From Behind Big Brother:

We hear a rumour the team from The Chaser were involved in an “incident” at the Big Brother house Friday morning.

Apparently the incident involved getting messages into the house.

Fans of BB and The War on Everything are suspecting the Surprise Spruiker was involved. We’ll be watching the ABC Wednesday night to see.

Thanks to zuiko

Read it here.

Australian Big Brother is news in the US

The latest Big Brother controversy, surrounding the death of Emma's father and her family's decision not to tell her, has made news in America, with FoxNews dedicating a segment to the story:

Read more at Behind Big Brother here.

The latest Big Brother controversy

The latest Big Brother controversy surrounding the death of Emma's father and the decision not to notify Emma of her loss, has attracted quite a bif of media attention over the last 24 hours or so.  Emma's brother has written a response that has been posted on the Big Brother website:

Emma was aware of the possibility that our dads impending death may occur whilst she was in the Big Brother production. Our dad had been ill for a considerable amount of time and wasn’t taken from us suddenly; the family did have time to prepare themselves.We reassured Emma that, in the event that this did happen, grieving our dad’s death when she was released from Big Brother would be no less meaningful or significant than when he actually passed away.

I personally spent the last week of dad's life by his side and one thing he was absolutely certain about was the fact that he didn't want his death to impose either negatively or positively on Emma's Big Brother experience.

He made us promise him that no-one would notify Emma of his death. He was adamant and clear in expressing this request. He also requested that his death remain private from the Big Brother ‘hype’ but unfortunately due to the indecency of the person who leaked the information to the media we have been unable to honor this wish.

Emma and I have maintained a close friendship for many years. We have previously and recently in 'lock down', discussed the possibility of dad’s death thoroughly.  I can confirm with absolute confidence that Emma has prepared herself and her views have been considered in the family’s decision-making process.

People may cast their own views and opinions but these people are not privy to Emma and dad’s relationship. We as a family wouldn’t want to interfere with anyone else’s family affairs especially in their time of sadness so we’re stunned by the reaction of so many that have based their opinions on a total lack of knowledge of our family’s internal workings. As Emma’s family we know her very well and are confident we have made the right decision.

Our dad was extremely proud of Emma’s achievements so far on Big Brother. He would watch her each night proudly from his hospital bed heckling rivals and laughing at Emma’s wicked attitude and antics. Without you guys and this Big Brother experience he wouldn’t otherwise have had this opportunity and insight into his daughter’s life, thank you.

Rest assured that the family has made arrangements to postpone dad’s final service until Emma departs the house to ensure Emma is still given the opportunity to participate.  As you are aware the funeral has already taken place however the family will reconvene with Emma to lay dads ashes to rest.

On behalf of Emma’s family including Tim [her partner], we sincerely thank the Big Brother production team for supporting and respecting our family’s decision. Our family is not familiar with all this media attention and we are extremely grateful and appreciative of Big Brother's discretion and tact in dealing with this issue.

Regards
Matt (Emma’s brother)

I have bolded what I think is the most important paragraph in this letter.  This was a family decision and we should respect that decision.  And this should be the end of the matter.

Big Brother UK

With Australian Big Brother ratings down on previous years, Behind Big Brother shows us what Big Brother UK is up to:

Big Brother UK will be starting it’s 8th year in less than a week and before the entire behindbigbrother.com staff abandon this website to go watch we thought we would show you want BB looks like when its run with a fresh and bold outlook.

Read more about it here.

Has Big Brother jumped the shark?

Behind Big Brother guest blogger Molli thinks that Big Brother has jumped the shark:

And then we come to yet another special and I fear that this is where BB jumped that proverbial shark and began to leap a dolphin and whale simultaneously. The oh so anticipated Golden Key contestants. SO far the only highlight to this debacle has been Rilly’s avatar which keeps on amusing me every time I look at it. The whole episode was a set up from start to finish. How can these four, out of the countless others we saw represent the Australian public? And to be chosen by searching through a container of lollies? My mind has been boggling so much it’s beginning to spin itself out of existence.

I often wonder whether Gretel sees the idiocy in the things that BB does and whether she has any say at all. I’ve often thought her to be an intelligent woman but feel that her voice just doesn’t get heard. She can’t seriously be happy with the wasted chances and opportunities that seem to slip through the production teams fingers.

And now we have a new set of intruder’s set to enter on Tuesday night. Puhleaze!! We have only had three evictees so far and they are going for another ratings grab by bringing in new people.

And I think Molli may well be right when she explains what's gone wrong:

Yet BB is pushing the specials and seems to believe that just watching people interact is not enough. It is BB it is! The housemates provide us with the entertainment. We will watch them on the couches, bitching in the chill out room, cooking the dinner. The basic pared back BB is what we all seem to be longing for. The days of yore seem to be talked about more and more these days. The first BB where we watched them doing nothing and then the third series where we watched housemates enter alone and deal with the fallout from joining houses together.

Read more here.

Big Brother housemates online

Behind Big Brother has posted some housemate links:

• Hayley Interview;
• Bodie’s myspace;
• Emmacornell.com;
• Emma’s myspace;
• Billy’s myspace;
• Support Thomas myspace;
• Bodie’s modeling page.

MySpace to launch political reality show

From Reuters:

Up next: "American Idol" meets "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."

Mark Burnett, the producer who popularized reality television, and Internet social network MySpace will unveil a new reality TV and Internet series that aims to groom one young politician or community leader to represent young America.

Politicians globally have put videos online and designed Web pages on MySpace and the YouTube video service, MySpace's new program, "Independent," has a similar objective: to engage young U.S. citizens -- in reverse.

To do this, "Independent" will let viewers decide the fate of contestants who submit audition videos on MySpace.

The program, expected to launch in early 2008, may be a way to spark interest in the political process among young adults, executives involved with the project said.

Read more here.

You must watch Big Brother!

Ok.  I'll admit it.  I watch Big Brother (well, at least the evictions) and follow the going-ons in the house on the Big Brother website and Behind Big Brother.  I've even gone to a couple of live evictions.  I've been following the show since year one, day one.  And I enjoy it.  I find the relationships, the characters, the politics, the games Big Brother plays and even Gretel Killen entertaining - and occasionally even insightful.  Most of my so-called "intellectual" friends and colleagues consider that there must be something wrong with me (even though most are also able to follow a conversation about the show quite easily).  However, I refuse to apologise for it.  Big Brother isn't meant to change the world, but it is good TV.

And last night's episode of Big Brother was great TV - we got to select two new housemates, a relationship in the house were revealed, the reason for the mysterious White Room was disclosed, and Mr X was introduced to Australia and the unsuspecting housemates.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about or think that this all sounds silly, then you are missing out.  This season has been set up as possibly the best Big Brother ever.  The housemates are older and more diverse (although still ridiculously good looking), the house has adopted a positive environmental stance, and most importantly, the first two episodes have shown that this season's Big Brother has a wonderfully wicked sense of humour.  The housemates - and us - have absolutely no idea what Big Brother will throw at them next.  Now, that is good TV.

As many of you reading this post will just dismiss it as a rant from a tragically deranged fan, may I suggest that if you are a reality TV sceptic you should read an excellent piece in one of your so-called "intellectual" magazines, The Atlantic Monthly by Michael Hirschorn, "The Case for Reality TV: What the snobs don't understand".  Read it here.

So if you want to know what all the fuss is about, then you should watch this season of Big Brother.  And enjoy it for what it is - good TV.  Don't be embarrassed and don't apologise for it.  After all, you don't have to tell people that you watch it ...

Big Brother returns to TV tonight

Big Brother returns to Australian TV at 7pm tonight.  Today's News Limited papers have the official list of housemates (see The Sunday Mail's report here), but they also contains reports that the names of the housemates swere prematurely revealed after an internet hacker claimed to have obtained the names from "a glitch in a Big Brother-related site" (see The Daily Telegraph's report here).  However, as with previous years, the fan website Behind Big Brother, seems to have the most information on both the housemates and the alleged hacking.

With respect to the alleged hacking, Behind Big Brother claims that "We have spoken to the person who found the images and the site was not hacked, the images were left on a public WAP page that Three Mobile users could access freely."  Read more here.

Behind Big Brother also has details from the launch last night, including attempts by the producers to stop live updates leaking out.  Here is some of the information revealed by the site:

• 12 Housemates have entered the house, with 2 more to be chosen from the public (1 male, 1 female) via SMS vote. The male “choose me” group consists of Zoren, Cruz and Harrison. The female group is Kara (18, admirer of Paris Hilton), Susannah (30, fraud analysis) and Demet (pronounced ‘Demi’, is a belly dancer).
• The Big Brother house has a phone, but they did not specify what this is for
• The housemates are not very “worldly” as promised by producers - almost all of them are in their early 20s. One is over 30.
• ... the producers did all they could to stop our updates from the launch. During an ad break Mike Goldman offered prizes to anyone in the audience who dobbed in people using mobile phones. Security guards and police patrolled the venue. They stopped filming twice for approximately 10 minutes each time to try and catch people using mobile phones, and warned they would not continue if our updates didn’t stop. One person was ejected from the auditorium for using a mobile phone however this was not a BBBA staff member.
• Eventually the producers banned the use of mobile phones completely, as well as regular digital cameras. Gretel tried to stick up for people with regular digital cameras but the producers would not budge.

Read more here.

Australia's reality TV debate

Crikey's Glenn Dyer reports on Australia's reality TV debate:

Fielding weighs into reality TV debate. The Ten Network's Big Brother will have a change of executive producer with news that the head of Endemol Southern Star, Chris Noble, is on sick leave and won't be able to oversee the controversial reality program. That means there will be effectively two new senior producers overseeing the program as the head of development at Ten, Tim Clucas, is leaving the network. He had been deeply involved in BB from Ten's end since it started. His replacement hasn't been named by Ten while at Endemol Southern Star, producer, Tim Toni, is in the chair at the moment. At the same time there are reports that Ten has been "vigorous" in its discussions with Endemol Southern Star about the changes it wants to see in this year's series. Ten is also attempting to head off any suggestion that the vetting of housemates might be relaxed by Endemol Southern Star to encourage some publicity, such as we saw with the appalling Celebrity Big Brother on Channel Four in the UK last month that proved a PR disaster. The discussions and the management changes (inadvertent as they are), come as the Australian Communications and Media Authority has posted around 180 submissions from parties responding to its wide ranging inquiry into reality TV. That is likely to start soon and be finished by April-June. Here are the submissions on the ACMA website. Many are from Christian groups, with the Family First Senator, Steve Fielding (the man who allowed the Coonan/Howard media law changes through) making a personal submission calling for reality TV to be controlled. Some in the TV industry say Fielding is doing the bidding of Prime Minister Howard, who wants Big Brother off our TV screens but doesn’t want to be seen doing it directly.

Read more here.

Australia's biggest ever integrated television promotion

Network Ten has announced "Australia's biggest ever integrated television promotion".  From Ten's media release:

Network Ten, Big Brother producers Endemol Southern Star and Masterfoods today announced Australia's biggest ever integrated television promotion: the Big Brother Starburst Golden Key.

One hundred lucky instant winners will receive a trip to the Gold Coast sometime after the 2007 Big Brother series begins.

They'll audition before Big Brother producers for the chance to become a bona fide Big Brother housemate who will enjoy full housemate privileges, including eligibility to win Big Brother 2007 ...

Kris Noble, managing director Endemol Southern Star, said: "For the first time in Australian Big Brother history, a member of the public will be chosen at random for the unique chance to become a housemate in this year’s Big Brother house …that is if they are lucky enough to find a special Golden Key code."

Read more here.  Come on reality TV junkies, it is time to start buying Starburst ...

A different take on John Edwards's webisode

In the last two weeks I have blogged postively about John Edwards's behind the scenes webisode twice (see here and here), but Howard Kurtz has a different take:

John Edwards is ridiculing his political consultants.

"You know, they gave me a really great memo," he says, waving the document, which advises him to highlight the importance of public education when addressing teachers. "I pay a lot of money for people who have the expertise to tell me this."

An unscripted moment caught on a cellphone camera? Not exactly. The video of the presidential candidate chatting on his plane is on Edwards's Web site. The former senator seems unusually frank about the absurdities of political life -- or is this just carefully choreographed candor, packaged for the YouTube age?

Read more here (from the Washington Post).  Kurtz also looks at how Edwards is using the blogosphere:

Edwards's second bid for the White House, announced shortly after Christmas, was overshadowed by the death of Gerald Ford and the hanging of Saddam Hussein. But Edwards generated plenty of online buzz by hiring friendly bloggers or paying their travel expenses, which would be ethically unacceptable for mainstream journalists.

"We live in a world in which everybody has the power to capture and then broadcast," says Gross, a Dean campaign veteran, noting that the bloggers have full editorial control over their own words and pictures.

Edwards has gone deep into the blogosphere, posting profile pages on MySpace and Facebook and fielding questions -- with his wife, Elizabeth -- on the popular liberal site Daily Kos. His daughter Cate also blogs on the campaign site.

Should we hold Google and YouTube acountable?

News.com.au is reporting that three children have hanged themselves after seeing footage of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's execution on television - a 10 year old boy in Texas, a 9 year old boy in Pakistan and a 15 year old girl in India.  Trevor Cook suggests that we should hold Google and YouTube accountable:

But what about the responsibility of the publisher. Now that Google owns Youtube, I think we're going to see legislators, not to mention litigants, moving to make them far more accountable for the consequences of what they publish. The old saying about free speech not giving you the right to yell fire in a crowded theatre still holds true.

I have a couple of problems with this suggestion.  First, it is almost impossible to establish causation - we have never been able to prove violence on TV causes real-life violence and the same difficulty is present for online video.  Second, placing restrictions on online video sites would significantly restrict the user-generated content on these sites, thereby undermining their appeal and the valuable role they can play in opening up speech and the media.  Third, I don't agree with the old saying - you should have the right to yell fire in a crowded theatre as although it is a stupid and irresponsible thing to do, no-one is physically harmed by that act.  Indeed, that saying comes from the opinion of Justice Holmes in Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919) ("The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic ... The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent."), a decision which was effectively overturned by the Supreme Court in a series of decisions culminating in Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969):

[The Court has] fashioned the principle that the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force or of law violation except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action

Thus, the courts have recognised that the the old saying about free speech not giving you the right to yell fire in a crowded theatre in fact no longer holds true.  The upshot of all of this is that I would be opposed extending liability to hold Google and YouTube somehow accountable for these tragic suicides.

Investigation into reality TV

As I blogged last week (see here), the Australian Communications and Media Authority has released a discussion paper on reality TV.  Crikey's Glenn Dyer comments:

ACMA inquiry threatens future of reality TV

The full extent of the inquiry into reality TV generated by complaints about the Ten Network's Big Brother programs has now become apparent, and the highest-rating and most profitable part of the Australian TV industry is under threat from the Australian Media and Communications Authority's examination.

ACMA was directed to hold the inquiry by the Federal Media Minister, Senator Helen Coonan, who was reacting to complaints about the now-infamous "turkey slapping" incident in the Big Brother house this year.

ACMA said in a statement that as it is required to report to the Minister by "1 April 2007, strict timing constraints have meant that the deadline for submissions is 1 February 2007. ACMA acknowledges that this timing is not ideal for stakeholders, and expresses its appreciation of the efforts of parties making submissions by this date."

So it could very well be a quickie interview to satisfy the minister and her political mates which is what the TV industry, especially the Ten Network, would want to occur.

The Minister will no doubt take a little time to consider the report: it will go to her department for consideration. With any luck the federal election will intervene and any decision or further discussion won't emerge until 2008. Any change would then impact the 2009 reality programs (if there are changes recommended).

ACMA said: "As part of its investigation into whether the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice provides appropriate community safeguards with respect to reality television programming, the Australian Communications and Media Authority has published a discussion paper outlining issues on which it seeks public comment.

"Submissions are invited from interested parties on the questions presented in the discussion paper. These include:

• does reality television programming raise issues of community concern?
• does the code reflect community standards with respect to reality television?
• are the existing code mechanisms operating effectively to provide appropriate community safeguards with respect to reality television programming, including with respect to classification distinctions and consumer advice requirements?
• does the code provide appropriate community safeguards with respect to the broadcast of reality television program excerpts in news and current affairs programs?
• is the complaints mechanism in the code operating effectively and in a timely manner in relation to reality television?"

ACMA expanded on each of these questions in the discussion paper. The most dangerous part (from the industry's point of view) is the suggestion that a proper standard might be needed to address any problems not handled by the present co-operative approach.

Moving to a standard would break much of the flexibility available to producers and programmers from the current "reality TV" genre and its use on Australian TV:

If ACMA determines that the Code is not operating effectively with respect to reality television programming, it will provide the Minister with recommendations as to what action should be taken and by whom. These recommendations may include, for example, whether a Code revision is advisable or whether ACMA should move to determine a program standard (Section 3).

ACMA may determine a standard only where there is convincing evidence that the Code is not operating to provide appropriate community safeguards.

While this review focuses on the effectiveness of regulation of reality television programming by the Code, a wholesale review of the Code is not within the scope of this investigation. The current version of the Code, which was registered in June 2004 by ACMA, is due for review again commencing in 2007.

And there's the out for the industry. If the argument or discussion generated by submissions starts looking dangerous, the industry will try very hard to push the whole lot into the review of the current code from next year onwards.

This inquiry should not be underestimated. Some of the complaints are from nutters but others are genuine and were concerned about programs like Big Brother and whether there's too much reality TV on our screens each night: there is an awful lot, probably more than many viewers really appreciate.

In fact it dominates our screens every week. It's the most popular form of programming and generates lots of ratings points and profits for the commercial networks. If not handled properly the commercial TV industry could find itself with a new set of controls over its most popular and profitable form of programming.

Read it here.

Media Guardian's Viral Video Chart

After last week's quite somber Viral Video Chart from the Media Guardian (see here), this week the chart is "a mini-chart of exactly what not to do when celebrating the Christmas season".  You can view the full chart here, but this was number one:

ACMA looks at reality TV

The Australian Communications and Media Authority have released a discussion paper on reality TV.  The paper covers these issues:

• does reality television programming raise issues of community concern?
• does the code reflect community standards with respect to reality television?
• are the existing code mechanisms operating effectively to provide appropriate community safeguards with respect to reality television programming, including with respect to classification distinctions and consumer advice requirements?
• does the code provide appropriate community safeguards with respect to the broadcast of reality television program excerpts in news and current affairs programs?
• is the complaints mechanism in the code operating effectively and in a timely manner in relation to reality television?

Read the discussion paper here.  If you wish to make a submission you will need to do so before 1 February 2007.