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

212 Pages·2016·1.81 MB·English

by  Sandra M. Falero (auth.)

SANDRA M. FALERO
Digital Participatory Culture and the TV Audience

Sandra   M .   Falero
Digital Participatory
Culture and the TV
Audience
Everyone’s a Critic
Sandra   M.   Falero
California State University
Fullerton, California, USA

ISBN 978-1-137-49999-8 ISBN 978-1-137-50000-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-50000-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016936731
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2 016
The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identifi ed as the author(s) of this work
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher,
whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation,
reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in
any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic
adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or here-
after developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub-
lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the
material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.
Printed on acid-free paper
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature
The registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. London
A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am grateful to the many colleagues, friends, and family members
who helped in the creation of this book. Pamela Steinle prompted and
encouraged my academic thinking and writing about television. Kathleen
Fitzpatrick, Janet Farrell-Brodie, and Alexandra Juhasz were patient and
kind as this project grew into a decade of research and writing. Henry
Jenkins’ work inspired and continues to inspire my research and teaching.
Paul Booth served as a detailed and very thoughtful reader, asking ques-
tions and providing sources that ultimately gave the work deeper meaning
and coherence. My family provided unwavering support in the way of
kind words, gentle (and not so gentle) encouragement to write, hours
and hours of childcare so mama could think and write in peace, and in
general believing in my abilities. My husband Matt Lipschutz deserves
special thanks for listening to my diatribes about television and enduring
the many incarnations of this study before it became a book. Thanks also
go to the founders (Tara Ariano, David T. Cole, and Sarah Bunting) and
the community of members at TelevisionWithoutPity.com. Many hours
of laughter and tears were had in the glow of your pastel-colored forums
before and during this project. Thank you for shedding light on all things,
including television.
v

C
ONTENTS
1 “Meet Market”: The Attraction of a Place Without Pity 1
2 “The Industry”: A Brief History of Audiences In 
and Out of Control 2 9
3 “Give Pete a Line”: Participatory Television and the 
TWoP Community 5 3
4 “Sorkin Situations”: The Television Auteur Meets
the Digital Age 77
5 “Shows You Hate (But Watch Anyway)”:
The Dark Side of Online Criticism 101
6 “Network Interference”: Policing Conversation
and Political Discourse 1 25
7 “Permanent Hiatus”: The Death of Television
Without Pity 151
vii
viii CONTENTS
Conclusion 1 67
Appendix 175
Bibliography 1 81
Index 189
L F
IST OF IGURES
Fig. 1.1 Total posts in all message boards 4
Fig. 1.2 Total topics in all message boards 5
Fig. 1.3 Example post 6
Fig. 7.1 Emily Nussbaum, twitter 1 60
ix