The purpose of this research is to examine the phenomenon of so-called trash TV. The plan of the research will be to define the term and set forth the historical background and context in which trash TV has become an issue, and then to discuss its impact on television programming as well as the implications of trash-TV programming for the content and praxis of journalism in particular and for the culture as a whole.
Broadcast and cable television in the decade of the 1990s has been marked by a significant increase in the number of reality-based shows. Far from being confined to three-network broadcasts of fiction in the form of drama, comedy, and soap opera, and belonging to a different on-air exercise than game shows and variety shows (plus public television, independent stations, and one or two cable channels), today's television programming is on a 24-hour cycle of news, instructional, and informational channels such as CNN, CNBC, and MSNBC; Discovery, C-SPAN, the History Channel, and H&G (Home and Garden); and various sports channels. The reality basis of programming available on these shows ranges from instructional, historical, and nature documentaries to talk shows and panel shows.
Since the late 1980s and through the 1990s, reality-based programming configured, in general terms, as news, talk, or panel shows, popularly known as trash TV, has assumed a higher and higher on-air profile. While no single definition of the genre exists, it has come to be associated with shows featuring issue-specific content and adversary discussion, led or directed by hosts, of and confrontation on such content. Host, guests, and live in-studio audiences routinely participate in the shows, though the relative level of involvement varies with show format and topic. The confrontation may be verbal, physical, or both. Some show formats also feature as a part of the presentation analysis and/or directive, persuasive, or problem-solving input from...