Today, I read a very interesting feature by Wendy Kaminer in The Atlantic. The feature discusses that Oprah is one of the reasons why we have so many reality TV shows these days.
The feature would be a good example of a entertainment piece, showing how a show like Oprah's could give us other media such as reality TV shows.
Kaminer mentions that the recent White House party crashing episode and the fact that they were up for a reality TV show could be because of shows like Oprah's
Kaminer explains that shows like Oprah's bring on people that have issues and make them public, so other will know their experience. However, because of the people who watched the guest felt bad for them, they as Kaminer put it "encouraged the practice of self-promotion."
One example that Kaminer shows is that a girl comes onto Oprah and says that she is ugly. Oprah and the experts talk about her self-esteem and you can see the girl sit there love every single second that they are talking about her.
The main point is that all of these shows bring in people with problems, and although they tell the whole world about their problem, most enjoy being in the spotlight.
The story overall was good, but some of the language used was a little heavy. Also I did not think the story flowed as well as it should have.
I think this feature was very interesting. The author campares Oprah to Jerry Spring and Geraldo, as far as interviewing ordinary people on public television. I felt like many paragraphs from the feature seemed to get off topic. One paragraph talked about Oprah's popularity because of her addition. I think the author doesn't make a valid enough point to blame Oprah for reality TV.
This review of the feature is very interesting but misses out on many of the arguments the author was trying to say. The focus was not about how ordinary people enjoyed the spotlight, but rather Oprah bringing the spotlight to them. Overall, it was a very interesting article that brought a new perspective on reality tv that I wasn't aware of previously.
Wow this is a rather interesting Feature! I think you do a really good job in summarizing this feature and pointing out the key points. I agree about what you think Kaminer is trying to get across but my question for you is how do you feel about this article? I would have love to have read your opinion. Do you think this is an appropriate assumption made by the writer? I think that this is a rather bold statement to make. I feel that Kaminer offers few facts or evidence to support what she is arguing. Although Oprah was on of the first reality shows I do not think most reality shows are similar to Oprah's. For example, take MTV's reality shows like The Hills or Sweet 16, they are much different then Oprah. I think that Oprah has many shows that can be considered almost news worthy.
I do agree that the story did not flow very well. It was rather short and abrupt jumping from point to point quickly. I also think that you are correct in saying that this is a feature story.