Editing Reality television (section)

=== Political and cultural impact ===
Reality television's global success has become, in the view of some analysts, an important political phenomenon. In some{{quantify|date=October 2017}} [[authoritarian]] countries, reality-television voting has provided the first opportunity for many citizens to vote in any free and fair wide-scale "elections". In addition, the frankness of the settings on some reality shows presents situations that are often taboo in certain conservative cultures, like ''[[Star Academy Arab World]]'', which began airing in 2003, and which shows male and female contestants living together.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.tbsjournal.com/lynch.html |title= 'Reality is Not Enough': The Politics of Arab Reality TV |first= Marc |last= Lynch |year= 2006 |access-date= March 11, 2011 |archive-date= July 16, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110716194108/http://www.tbsjournal.com/lynch.html |url-status= live }}</ref> A Pan-Arab version of ''Big Brother'' was cancelled in 2004 after less than two weeks on the air after a public outcry and street protests.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3522897.stm |title= Arab Big Brother show suspended |work= BBC News |date= March 1, 2004 |access-date= April 27, 2009 |archive-date= July 28, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110728021432/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3522897.stm |url-status= live }}</ref> In 2004 journalist [[Matt Labash]], noting both of these issues, wrote that "the best hope of little Americas developing in the Middle East could be Arab-produced reality TV".<ref>{{cite magazine |url= http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/752xbofx.asp?pg=1 |title= When a Kiss Is Not Just a Kiss |first= Matt |last= Labash |magazine= [[The Weekly Standard]] |date= October 18, 2004 |access-date= July 11, 2006 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070311091348/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/752xbofx.asp?pg=1 |archive-date= March 11, 2007 |url-status= dead |df= mdy-all }}</ref>

In 2007, [[Abu Dhabi TV]] began airing ''[[Million's Poet]]'', a show featuring ''[[Pop Idol]]''-style voting and elimination, but for the writing and oration of [[Arabic poetry]]. The show became popular in Arab countries, with around 18&nbsp;million viewers,<ref name="Winner's tribe">[http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100419/FOREIGN/704189952/ Winner's tribe put the millions in Million's Poet] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423212146/http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20100419%2FFOREIGN%2F704189952%2F |date=April 23, 2010 }}, James Calderwood, ''[[The National (Abu Dhabi)|The National]]'', April 19, 2010</ref> partly because it was able to combine the excitement of reality television with a traditional, culturally relevant topic.<ref>[http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0407/Move-over-American-Idol-Hissa-Hilal-in-finals-of-Arab-reality-TV-poetry-contest Move over American Idol: Hissa Hilal in finals of Arab reality TV poetry contest] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515160945/http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0407/Move-over-American-Idol-Hissa-Hilal-in-finals-of-Arab-reality-TV-poetry-contest |date=May 15, 2010 }}, Kristen Chick, ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]'', April 7, 2010</ref> In April 2010, however, the show also became a subject of political controversy, when [[Hissa Hilal]], a 43-year-old female [[Saudi people|Saudi]] competitor, read out a poem criticizing her country's Muslim clerics.<ref>Hassan, Hassan (March 19, 2010). [http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/millions-poet-finalist-defies-death-threats "Million's Poet finalist defies death threats"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629135945/http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/millions-poet-finalist-defies-death-threats |date=June 29, 2017 }}. ''[[The National (Abu Dhabi)|The National]]''</ref> Both critics and the public reacted favorably to Hilal's poetry; she received the highest scores from the judges throughout the competition and came in third place overall.<ref name="Winner's tribe"/>

In [[India]], in the summer of 2007, coverage of the third season of ''[[Indian Idol]]'' focused on the breaking down of cultural and socioeconomic barriers as the public rallied around the show's top two contestants.<ref name="Reality TV and Participatory Culture in India"/>

The [[China|Chinese]] singing competition ''[[Super Girl (TV series)|Super Girl]]'' (a local imitation of ''Pop Idol'') has similarly been cited{{by whom|date=October 2017}} for its political and cultural impact.<ref name="Becoming Extra-Ordinary">{{cite journal|last= Li Cui|author2= Francis L. F. Lee|title= Becoming Extra-Ordinary: Negotiation of Media Power in the Case of "Super Girls' Voice" in China|journal= Popular Communication|year= 2010|volume= 8|issue= 4|pages= 256–272|doi= 10.1080/15405702.2010.512829|s2cid= 144259958}}</ref> After the finale of the show's 2005 season drew an audience of around 400&nbsp;million people, and eight million [[text-message]] votes, the state-run English-language newspaper ''[[Beijing Today]]'' ran the front-page headline: "Is Super Girl a Force for Democracy?"<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=4382469 |title= Democracy Idol |newspaper= The Economist |date= September 8, 2005 |access-date= July 11, 2006 |archive-date= February 24, 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070224095021/http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=4382469 |url-status= live }}</ref> The Chinese government criticized the show, citing both its democratic nature and its excessive vulgarity, or "worldliness",<ref>{{Cite news |url= http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article560126.ece |title= TV talent contest 'too democratic' for China's censors |first= Jane |last= Macartney |work= The Times |date= August 29, 2005 |location= London |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070208102958/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article560126.ece |archive-date= February 8, 2007 |df= mdy-all }}</ref> and in 2006 banned it outright.<ref>{{Cite press release |title= Footage from banned Chinese "Pop Idol" receives Cambridge premiere |publisher= University of Cambridge |date= July 5, 2007 |url= http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/dp/2007070501 |access-date= July 29, 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080303023254/http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/dp/2007070501 |archive-date= March 3, 2008 |url-status= dead |df= mdy-all }}</ref> It was later reintroduced{{by whom|date=October 2017}} in 2009, before being banned again in 2011. ''Super Girl'' has also been criticized by non-government commentators for creating seemingly impossible ideals that may be harmful to Chinese youth.<ref name="Becoming Extra-Ordinary"/>

In [[Indonesia]], reality television shows have surpassed soap operas as the most-watched broadcast programs.<ref name="Indonesia">{{cite news|last= Onishi|first= Norimitsu|title= Indonesia goes wild for American-style reality TV in a nation where income varies widely, shows offer a look at how others live|newspaper= International Herald Tribune|date= May 25, 2009}}</ref> One popular program, ''Jika Aku Menjadi'' ("If I Were"), follows young, middle-class people as they are temporarily placed into lower-class life, where they learn to appreciate their circumstances back home by experiencing daily life for the less fortunate.<ref name="Indonesia"/> Critics have claimed that this and similar programs in Indonesia reinforce traditionally Western ideals of [[materialism]] and [[consumerism]].<ref name="Indonesia"/> However, Eko Nugroho, reality-show producer and president of Dreamlight World Media, insists that these reality shows are not promoting American lifestyles but rather reaching people through their universal desires.<ref name="Indonesia"/>

Reality television has also received criticism in Britain and the United States for its [[ideological]] relationship with [[surveillance societies]] and consumerism. Writing in ''The New York Times'' in 2012, author Mark Andrejevic characterised the role of reality television in a post-9/11 society as the normalisation of surveillance in participatory monitoring, the "logic of the emerging surveillance economy", and in the promise of a societal self-image that is contrived.<ref name=andrejevic1>[https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/10/21/are-reality-shows-worse-than-other-tv/reality-tv-is-about-surveillance "Reality TV is About Surveillance"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215013952/http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/10/21/are-reality-shows-worse-than-other-tv/reality-tv-is-about-surveillance |date=February 15, 2017 }}; Mark Adrejevic, ''The New York Times'', October 21, 2012</ref> An [[London School of Economics|LSE]] paper by Nick Couldry associates reality television with [[neoliberalism]], condemning the ritualised enactment and consumption of what must be legitimised for the society it serves.<ref name=couldry1>[http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/52405/1/Couldry_Reality_TV_secret_theater_2008.pdf "Reality TV, Or The Secret Theatre of Neoliberalism"], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111112243/http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/52405/1/Couldry_Reality_TV_secret_theater_2008.pdf |date=November 11, 2016 }}; Nick Couldry, in ''Review of education, pedagogy, and cultural studies'', 2008</ref>