Teleology on Television
Implicit Models of Evolution in Broadcast Wildlife and Nature Programmes
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11486185 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Meryl Aldridge (School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK,, corresponding author), Robert Dingwall (0000-0002-1588-3796, Institute for the Study of Genetics, Biorisks and Society (IGBiS) at the University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK) |
| Year | 2003 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 435-453 |
| Publication date | 2003-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Journal of Communication (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0267-3231 • E-ISSN: 1460-3705 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0267323103184001 |
| OpenAlex | W2047627207 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 6 |
Wildlife and nature programmes are a popular and profitable genre. To test an impression that these programmes’ references to evolution tend to be teleological, the authors collected a sample of UK radio and television (both terrestrial and cable/satellite) output over a two-month period. Analysis suggests that they fall into seven subgenres but the very high-cost ‘blue chip’ and, conversely, the supposedly cheap and cheerful ‘presenterled’ categories accounted for over half the programmes. Counterintuitively, the most expensive and elaborate programmes seem to be most inclined to treat evolution teleologically. By contrast, the less respected presenter-led subgenre seems to allow more ‘space’ for explanatory complexity. We argue that, as in other subgenres, this is because the assumed audience demand for strong narrative drive can be met by borrowing from other programme genres, action movies and whodunits, for example
Action (physics · Advertising · Aesthetics · Affordance · Art · Biology · Cognitive psychology · Epistemology · Geography · Literature · Media studies · Narrative · Sample (material · Sociology · Teleology · Wildlife · Animal Behavior and Reproduction · Evolution and Genetic Dynamics · Media Studies and Communication · Philosophy · Psychology · Species Distribution and Climate Change · Ecology
The ‘moral careers’ of microbes and the rise of the matrons
Television wildlife programming as a source of popular scientific information
The extinct animal show
Ignorance or bias? Evaluating the ideological and informational drivers of communication gaps about climate change
Imag(in)ing the Anthropocene
Why did the C anada goose cross the sea? Accounting for the behaviour of wildlife in the documentary series Life
Celebrity Conservation
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,35 |
| Citation span | 2006 - 2020 (15) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |