INPUT / … / … / Reality TV: Working with Volunteers_ Actors and Ordinary People

Those who work for public service broadcasters should always feel the heavy burden of responsibility to our audience. But the media and movie world is full of glitter, glimmer and glamour, and we ordinary people (public service television professionals and our audience) are always watching news and programmes about celebrities, sex, drugs, alcohol, marriage and divorce, rather than programmes about our own lives. What about the everyday life of ordinary people? Luckily, ordinary people also have sex lives, lots of them are struggling with alcohol or drug problems and they – hopefully - get married and regretfully get divorced. How do we programme makers approach our ordinary protagonists? Do we just show them in their true reality without any sort of interference with the events happening in front of our cameras? Are we responsible for them if they make themselves look like complete idiots? (And what if in their everyday reality they are?) Or do we manipulate the process and try to influence their lives and help them turn into our heroes, stars or even into celebrities? Can we change their lives for a while or forever - making them into the ideal example of our ordinary audience? Hmmm, there are so many things to watch and discuss…