Digital Participatory Culture and the TV Audience : Everyone’s a Critic

In this study, Falero explores how online communities of participatory audiences have helped to re-define authorship and audience in the digital age. Using over a decade of ethnographic research, __Digital Participatory Culture and the TV Audience__ explores the rise and fall of a site that some heralded as ground zero for the democratization of television criticism. __Television Without Pity__ was a web community devoted to criticizing television programs. Their mission was to hold television networks and writers accountable by critiquing their work and “not just passively sitting around watching.” When executive producer Aaron Sorkin entered __Television Without Pity’s__ message boards on __The West Wing__ in late 2001, he was surprised to find the discussion populated by critics rather than fans. His anger over the criticism he found there wound up becoming a storyline in a subsequent episode of __The West Wing__ wherein web critics were described as “obese shut-ins who lounge around in muumuus and chain-smoke Parliaments.” This book examines the culture at Television Without Pity and will appeal to students and researchers interested in audiences, digital culture and television studies. Acknowledgments 6 Contents 8 List of Figures 10 List of Tables 12 Introduction: Democratizing Criticism 14 The Collision of Old and New Media Forms 17 Notes 25 Chapter 1: “Meet Market”: The Attraction of a Place Without Pity 26 The Birth of Television Without Pity 27 Key Aspects of the Site’s Design 31 The Moderator’s Heavy Hand 32 Independence from the Networks 34 Studying Television Without Pity 39 Conclusion 50 Chapter 2: “The Industry”: A Brief History of Audiences In and Out of Control 53 The Epistolary Novel, Psychological Identification, and the Emergence of Human Rights 54 The Fear of the Active Audience: Theater and Public Performance in the Nineteenth Century 56 The Fear of the Passive Audience: Film Audiences 61 Film Audiences and the Hays Code 63 The Boob in Front of the Tube: Television Audiences 66 Violent Media and the Moral Panic of the 1990s 71 Conclusion 74 Chapter 3: “Give Pete a Line”: Participatory Television and the TWoP Community 77 A Direct Line to the “Powers That Be” 77 The Smallville Message Boards 79 Collective Intelligence 85 Personal Connections 90 Conclusion 99 Chapter 4: “Sorkin Situations”: The Television Auteur Meets the Digital Age 101 Who’s in Charge Here? 102 The Role of the Author in Western Art and Philosophy 103 Copyright and Authorship 107 The Television Auteur 109 The Sorkin Debacle and Authorial Control 110 The Internet and the Democratization of Criticism 119 Conclusion 121 Chapter 5: “Shows You Hate (But Watch Anyway)”: The Dark Side of Online Criticism 125 The New Media Landscape 126 Real World Anti-fans Meet The Real World Cast 133 “Fan-tagonism” and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Boards 139 Conclusion 145 Chapter 6: “Network Interference”: Policing Conversation and Political Discourse 148 Politics on the Internet 148 Rules for Polite Behavior 149 When the Talk Turns to Politics 157 The “TV Potluck” Boards 161 Unasked Questions 171 Conclusion 171 Chapter 7: “Permanent Hiatus”: The Death of Television Without Pity 174 The Bravo Deal 174 NBCUniversal’s Changes 179 Pulling the Plug 182 Rebirth at Previously.tv and the New Internet 184 Conclusion 186 Conclusion 189 Learning from Television Without Pity 189 Limitations of the Study 192 Appendix 196 Survey and Interview Questions 196 Interviewee Statistics 197 List of Message Boards Visited Most Frequently for the Study, 2000–2010 197 Television Without Pity Site-wide Statistics 199 Bibliography 202 Index 210 "Acknowledgments"--"Contents"--"List of Figures " -- "List of Tables" -- "Introduction: Democratizing Criticism" -- "The Collision of Old and New Media Forms" -- "Notes " -- "Chapter 1: â#x80;#x9C;Meet Marketâ#x80;#x9D;: The Attraction of a Place Without Pity" -- " The Birth of Television Without Pity" -- " Key Aspects of the Siteâ#x80;#x99;s Design" -- " The Moderatorâ#x80;#x99;s Heavy Hand" -- " Independence from the Networks" -- " Studying Television Without Pity" -- " Conclusion" -- "Chapter 2: â#x80;#x9C;The Industryâ#x80;#x9D;: A Brief History of Audiences In and Out of Control" -- " The Epistolary Novel, Psychological Identification, and the Emergence of Human Rights" -- " The Fear of the Active Audience: Theater and Public Performance in the Nineteenth Century" -- " The Fear of the Passive Audience: Film Audiences" -- " Film Audiences and the Hays Code" -- " The Boob in Front of the Tube: Television Audiences" -- " Violent Media and the Moral Panic of the 1990s" -- " Conclusion" -- "Chapter 3: â#x80;#x9C;Give Pete a Lineâ#x80;#x9D;: Participatory Television and the TWoP Community" -- " A Direct Line to the â#x80;#x9C;Powers That Beâ#x80;#x9D;" -- " The Smallville Message Boards" -- " Collective Intelligence" -- " Personal Connections" -- " Conclusion" -- "Chapter 4: â#x80;#x9C;Sorkin Situationsâ#x80;#x9D;: The Television Auteur Meets the Digital Age" -- " Whoâ#x80;#x99;s in Charge Here?" -- " The Role of the Author in Western Art and Philosophy" -- " Copyright and Authorship" -- " The Television Auteur" -- " The Sorkin Debacle and Authorial Control" -- " The Internet and the Democratization of Criticism" -- " Conclusion" -- "Chapter 5: â#x80;#x9C;Shows You Hate (But Watch Anyway)â#x80;#x9D;: The Dark Side of Online Criticism" -- " The New Media Landscape" -- " Real World Anti-fans Meet The Real World Cast" -- " â#x80;#x9C;Fan-tagonismâ#x80;#x9D; and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Boards" -- " Conclusion." Front Matter....Pages i-xxiv “Meet Market”: The Attraction of a Place Without Pity....Pages 1-27 “The Industry”: A Brief History of Audiences In and Out of Control....Pages 29-52 “Give Pete a Line”: Participatory Television and the TWoP Community....Pages 53-76 “Sorkin Situations”: The Television Auteur Meets the Digital Age....Pages 77-100 “Shows You Hate (But Watch Anyway)”: The Dark Side of Online Criticism....Pages 101-123 “Network Interference”: Policing Conversation and Political Discourse....Pages 125-150 “Permanent Hiatus”: The Death of Television Without Pity ....Pages 151-165 Back Matter....Pages 167-191 Meet Market: The Attractions Of A Place Without Pity -- The Industry: A Brief History Of Audiences In And Out Of Control -- Give Pete A Line: Participatory Televison And The Twop Community -- Sorkin Situations: The Televison Auteur Meets The Digital Age -- Shows You Hate (but Watch Anyway): The Dark Side Of Online Criticism -- Network Interference: Policing Conversation And Political Discourse -- Permanent Hiatus: The Death Of Television Without Pity. Sandra M. Falero. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 181-188) And Index. In this study, Falero explores how online communities of participatory audiences have helped to re-define authorship and audience in the digital age. Using over a decade of ethnographic research, she explores the rise and fall of a site that some heralded as ground zero for the democratisation of television criticism