t is simply gossip.
McConnell's formulation seems much too simplistic and dismissive for what is an important American (and global) cultural phenomenon. To define the discourse as gossip is to say both that it is not serious conversation and to say that gossip itself has no redeeming social value. Neither of these may be true for participants.
For example, participants may find the forum an opportunity to inform the audience at a deep personal level about their lives and the meaning of those lives. In looking at the Donahue show, priest and Dominick (1994) concentrated on exploring the reasons why people were willing to discuss sensitive and private matters on the show and discuss issues that were generally considered inappropriate and stigmatizing. They conducted focused interviews with 29 subjects who had appeared on the Donahue show. Subjects ranged from age 12 to age 68 and represented both genders.
The most significant finding in these interviews was that subjects revealed an evangel
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