The West Australian newspaper gave ‘reality TV’ show Big Brother a big ratings boost this morning by placing a big colour photo of naked Big Brother ‘inmates’ on the front page. It’s a screen shot from the late night edition of the show.
The ‘naughty bits’ were covered with little censored signs. The article tried to tell us that it was there to ask the question of whether the show is going too far with what they’re showing. Instead I feel that it accomplishes two outcomes. One, The West will sell more copies because they have naked bodies on their cover. Two, Big Brother will experience a ratings spike from W.A. as voyeurs are directed towards a show that will give them what they want.
It was never a serious attempt to look at the issue. If it was, there would have been a front page story, not just a large front page picture. The picture only has a caption; the story is buried a few pages in.
I know that by highlighting the issue I run the risk of boosting ratings for the show too but I feel it should be discussed ….. and no matter how much you beg, I’m not posting any pictures. I don’t have a problem with the human body, it is indeed a beautiful thing (though not so much in my case) but this show isn’t about beauty, it’s about cheap titilation.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
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“Stories” like this are the reason I generally avoid non-satirical media sources these days. What I find amusing is that this can be referred to as “investigative journalism” or “analysis”, while a website or magazine that specialises in showing naked bodies (and is at least honest enough to admit it) is referred to as “smut”. Can someone please explain the difference to me?