Research Results in the Media

The entertainment industry and media feed off of research results. The audience’s feedback is essential to determine the direction in which the entertainment industry takes something. They may decide to take into consideration the audience’s opinion, ignore it, or even manipulate it. The game of manipulation may be what makes the entertainment industry so appealing and exciting. An example of manipulation in the media took place in July when the finale of “The Hills” aired. In the final minutes of the episode Kristen Cavallari says goodbye to Brody Jenner and then the backdrop rolls away, the cameras came out, and Jenner was standing on a Hollywood lot surrounded by the crew. The audience immediately went into shock and controversy broke out. The show was fake. Most people should have known from the beginning that it was fake, but based on twitter and Facebook many fans were distraught that it was all a lie. The show creator, Adam DiVello, states, “You always want to leave the audience wondering what happens next.” DiVello knew he wanted the finale to go out with a bang and to make people talk. The only way to do that was to show the world that the show was really just a joke. From research results DiVello must have known that many people believed the show was real and decided to awe them with the truth. However, the show now deals with huge scrutiny from its fans. They seemed to still try to manipulate the audience when asked whether it was all a joke or if some of it was real. Answering this question Brody Jenner states, “It was up to the fans to decide what had been real and what hadn't.” This goes to show that you should never believe what you see or hear on television. Most reality shows are scripted. Do you think that the entertainment industry manipulates research results to gain more publicity? I do!