University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2012 Is manipulation within the construct of reality television ethical? Cheryl-Anne Whitlock University of Wollongong Recommended Citation Whitlock, Cheryl-Anne, Is manipulation within the construct of reality television ethical?, Master of Arts - Research (Journalism) thesis, School of Creative Arts, University of Wollongong, 2012. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/3967 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library:
[email protected] Is Manipulation within the Construct of Reality Television Ethical? A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree Master of Arts by Research (Journalism) from University of Wollongong by Cheryl-Anne Whitlock School of Creative Arts 2012 i Certification I, Cheryl-Anne Whitlock, declare that this thesis, submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Master of Arts by Research (Journalism), in the Faculty of Law, Humanities and The Arts, University of Wollongong, is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. Cheryl-Anne Whitlock 16 February 2012 ii Abstract The main purpose of the thesis is to determine to what extent duty of care is extended to reality television participants, to what extent elements of reality television programming are manipulated and whether those manipulations are ethical. Program participants are encouraged to be their ‘real’ and authentic selves, yet reality programming itself is often so extensively manipulated that the genre renders its own output inauthentic, thus compromising participants’ contributions and casting their performance in the same false light.