Inside interventional television : media rituals in the age of participation

In the last decades, television has become something not only to watch but also to do: people in large numbers apply to be part of programmes focusing on self-improvement, conflict management, relationship advice or offering life-changing experiences in other ways. These programmes are often received controversially and criticized for being fake, voyeuristic or harmful to their participants.
Despite these debates, research into what happens behind the scenes is scarce and, in consequence, little is known about how and why people lend their lives to these programmes. What drives them to participate? How do they perform in front of a crew and an imagined public? And, more generally, what do such participatory practices tell us about the power of television in today’s thoroughly heterogenous media world?
In his research, Balazs combines content analysis with a series of interviews with participants and crew members of a variety of programmes. These programmes include the Dutch coming out programme ‘Uit de Kast’ and UK Channel 4’s disability dating show ‘The Undateables’.