Reality TV in the digital era

A paradox in visual culture

Bibliographic Data

ID11267101
AuthorsArild Fetveit (University of Oslo, corresponding author)
Year1999
Volume21
Issue6
Pages787-804
Publication date1999-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMedia Culture & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0163-4437 • E-ISSN: 1460-3675
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/016344399021006005
OpenAlexW2106219656
LanguageEN
Citations received21
References cited9

The simultaneous proliferation of digital image manipulation and reality TV seems somewhat paradoxical. The death of photography is proclaimed at a time when the use of cameras to produce visible evidence is approaching an all-time high. This coexistence, it is argued, testifies to a transmutation within our visual culture. The credibility of photographical discourses has become less dependent upon common technological features and more based upon institutional warrant related to specific photographical practices. Thus, the recent efforts to negotiate and communicate standards for such practices within newsrooms and other institutions. It is further suggested that the proliferation of reality TV might be read partly as a symptom of unsettled issues in this transmutation. More precisely, it might express a longing for a lost touch with reality, prompted by the undermining of indexicality

Aesthetics · Art · Business · Credibility · Epistemology · Indexicality · Negotiation · Photography · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Visual arts · Visual culture · Warrant · Cinema and Media Studies · Cultural Studies and Postmodernism · Law · Law in Society and Culture · Philosophy

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access