In every avenue of entertainment — sports, film, theatre, music, television and other major entertainment fields – annual televised programs and competitions are dedicated to identifying the year’s champions, or to giving out “best of” awards and shedding light on the brightest talents and stars in their industry. The awards programs, or the sports tournaments, are televisual spectacles surrounded by fanfare, massive advertising campaigns, prognostications by inside “experts,” and extensively promoted build-ups to the final event.
These events are not without controversies – in recent years, for example, the Oscars Awards have continued to receive criticism for their exclusionary practices and the biases that influence nominations and final voting. Highly financed campaigns are aimed at garnering nominations and influencing voters. In the music competitions controversial categories define musical genres. In the sports competitions (such as the NCAA “march madness” for college men and college women’s basketball), the men’s sports receive far more financial resources, and more select prime-time television slots than the women’s tournament.
Choose one of these award programs or sports events, and consider the ways in which controversies are included in the television coverage, or are excluded from the television coverage. (It might be the case, for instance, that print journalism and social media examines the controversies in great detail, but that the broadcasts themselves ignore or minimize the controversies). You’ll need to do research to determine what the controversies are.
What are the factors – including expectations by the fans and the interests of the sponsors – that determine how much controversy makes its way into the broadcasts? How is controversy built into the system, and how is it excluded? What are the most important controversies in the award program/sports competition you are analyzing? Who decides when and how those controversies are part of the event, or are made marginal to the event?
How does advertising matter in this process? How does the perceived “purity” of the process effect the treatment of controversy? Does the nature of the competition itself contribute to controversies (for example, the votes of people in the industry compared to sports competition in which there are winners determined by direct competition)? Is the event/spectacle maintaining its value, or losing its value in public estimation, and viewer attention, as a result of the controversies?
Along with your examination of the televised event, this project will require some additional research into the history of the event/spectacle and the controversies surrounding it. What, historically, does the event/spectacle celebrate? Who decides what gets selected? What role does advertising play? What are the controversies? Have those controversies changed the event/spectacle? Is it of diminished importance?
Examples: March Madness, the recent Olympics, ESPYs, Golden Globes, Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, MTV Awards, Country Music Awards, Billboard, Eurovision Song, (or choose one from your country or region – it need not be a US based or focused event/spectacle). You can watch the event as it unfolds, or find recently televised versions of awards shows/competitions if that makes it easier to undertake this project.
Format: Your final project should be 3-4 pages long.
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