TV Talk Shows

Paper Summary:

The paper examines the argument presented by Evan Imber-Black, in her article "Talk Show Telling versus Authentic Telling: The Effects of the Popular Media on Secrecy and Openness", that television talk shows have greatly diminished our moral views of what consequences may arise from casually revealing life-changing secrets. The paper maintains that Imber-Black fails to provide enough substantial evidence to support her argument. The paper is of the opinion that this article is a simplistic, one-sided view of those who watch TV talk shows.

From the Paper:

"At first glance, and from Imber-Black's psychiatric view, this atmosphere of greater openness brought benefits. Patients were less reluctant to reveal secrets that once might not have been raised. None the less, a frightening cultural shift was taking place. With the rising popularity of "ambush" style talk shows, people began to correlate opening secrets with the belief such actions were virtuous and automatically healing. What was once deeply personal and unmentionable was becoming a popular spectacle on a grand scale and was simply assumed to be cathartic."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Imber-Black, E. (2005). Talk show telling versus authentic telling: the effects of the popular media on secrecy and openness. In Coleman, L. & Funk, R. (Eds.) (2005), Professional and Public Writing - A Rhetoric and Reader for Advanced Composition (pp. 108-113). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall

More papers on TV Talk Shows:

• Essay # 14530 : "Talk Shows On Daytime TV"
• Argumentative Essay # 58395 : "Ethics, Talk-Show Hosts, and Producers"
• Essay # 48459 : "Trash TV"

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