Talk On Television: Audience Participation and Public Debate (Communication and Society)

214 Pages·1993·3.444 MB·English

by  Sonia Livingstone

Talk on television
What happens when the audience becomes an active participant in television
programmes? Why do ordinary people tell their stories in public? Can rational,
critical debate result from such studio discussions? Is any public good served by
them or are they simply trashy entertainment which fills the schedules cheaply?
Not only is everyday conversation increasingly dependent on television, but more
and more people are appearing on television to discuss social and personal issues.
Talk on Television examines the value and significance of televised public discussion
and debate.
The authors analyse a wide range of programmes – including Donahue, Kilroy
and The Oprah Winfrey Show, drawing on interviews with both the studio
participants and those watching at home. They ask how the media manage audience
discussion programmes, and whether the programmes really are providing new
‘spaces’ for public participation. They find out how audiences interpret the
programmes when they appear on the screen themselves, they analyse the
contribution made by ‘experts’, and they unravel the conventions – debate, romance,
therapy – which make up the genre. They consider TV’s function as a medium of
education and information. Finally they discuss the dangers and opportunities the
genre holds for audience participation and public debate in the future.
Sonia Livingstone is a Lecturer at the London School of Economics and Political
Science. She is the author of Making Sense of Television (1990) and, with Peter
Lunt, of Mass Consumption and Personal Identity (1992), as well as numerous
related articles. She is also on the editorial board of Journal of Communication
and European Journal of Communication.
Peter Lunt is a Lecturer in Psychology at University College, London. He is co-
author of Mass Consumption and Personal Identity and of a series of articles on
related topics.

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Talk on television
Audience participation and public debate
Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt
London and New York
First published 1994
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2001.
© 1994 Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in
any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Livingstone, Sonia M.
Talk on television: audience participation and public debate/Sonia Livingstone and
Peter Lunt.
p.cm.–(Communication and society)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Talk shows. 2. Television viewers. 3. Television broadcasting – Social
aspects. I. Lunt, Peter K. (Peter Kenneth), 1956–. II. Title. III. Series:
Communication and society (Routledge (Firm))
PN1992.8.T3L58 1993
791.45’6– dc20 93–15440
CIP
ISBN 0–415–07737–0 (hbk)
ISBN 0–415–07738–9 (pbk)
ISBN 0-203-13191-6 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-18284-7 (Glassbook Format)
We dedicate this book to Joseph and Anna

Contents
List of tables x
Acknowledgements xi
1 Television talk and talking about television 1
Overview of the book 1
Theoretical approach 4
2 The mass media, democracy and the public sphere 9
3 Studio debates and audience discussions: a television genre 36
4 The critical viewer 70
5 Media constructions of expertise and common sense 92
6 Media management of argument and rhetoric 133
7 Studio discussions, social spaces and postmodernity 162
Appendix 1: Data collection 181
Appendix 2: Programme selection 183
Appendix 3: Coding of focus group discussions 184
References 186
Index 198