BU Research Blog

The Bournemouth Media School conference ‘Reality Television: Media Convergences and Narrative Futures’ has just finished, taking place between July 5-6.  Funded by the Media School’s Narrative Research Group, and drawing a wide range of international contributors, we were delighted with the outcomes.  Key note speakers Reader Deborah Jermyn (University of Roehampton) and Professor Helen Wood (DeMontfort University), offered great insight, respectively,  into aspects of (post) feminism, and the significance of labour use and exchange within the reality television genre.  Notably Helen Woods discussion on ‘precarious labour’, whilst identifying key contexts of gender performance within the the reality television programme ‘Georgie Shaw’, offered stimulating insight into aspects of commodity, and the objectification of male and  female sexual agency.  Also Nouredinne Miladi’s  (Qatar University) discussion of ‘Arab Idol’ offered great insight into the transgressive potential of factual television in considering the recent support for the Palestinian winner of the  ‘Arab Idol’ series.  In addition Anne Ganzert’s (University of Konstanz, Germany) examination of convergence and branding, foregrounding a case study on Kandi Burruss, was highly insightful.  Offering a new perspective on participatory audiences and examining the television phenomenon ‘Gogglebox’, Richard McCulloch’ of University of East Anglia considered new layers of audience identification and issues of celebrity.  Every paper was a delight, and generally there was a great sense of camaraderie in the conference cohort, stimulated by the social event in the evening, where the great sunny weather offered even more optimism.  Significantly the conference offered great benefits in the exchange of ideas, and this will be extended as the conference organisers Chris Pullen and Peri Bradley, are working on an edited collection focusing on the subject area.  Additionally it is intended that this will be the first of a series of annual conference  events on the study of reality television. Finally thanks again to Bronwen Thomas (of the NRG) not only for supporting us, but also for creating the Twitter feed #realitybu – this became a very engaging focal point, adding to both the academic and social benefit.