MEDIA CONTACT: Katie Neal, 336-758-6141, [email protected]
Wake Forest University Media Experts Available to Talk TV Sweeps: Do They Still Matter?
Newswise — (Winston-Salem, N.C. – October 28, 2011) – This week, Ruth Madoff publicly admitted in an exclusive interview on 60 Minutes that she and husband Bernard attempted suicide after his Ponzi scheme was revealed. The Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Melissa Gorga sported a fat suit in Times Square on Entertainment Tonight in an attempt at tolerance for overweight Americans. Dancing with the Stars’ Maksim Chmerkovskiy mouthed off to judge Len Goodman on live TV and later expressed “no regrets," building anticipation for next week’s episode. Meanwhile, local affiliates nationwide are promoting the heck out of hidden dangers and hidden cameras.
Some say the November TV sweeps period has come out swinging, but do ratings periods really matter anymore? Is measurement even possible anymore? And how does sensationalism play into the ever-changing media world?
Experts from Wake Forest University (www.wfu.edu) are available to weigh in from the industry and viewer perspectives:
• Justin Catanoso, Director of the Journalism Program, cautions that sensational journalism cheapens and devalues the work of all serious journalism, leaving viewers even more cynical and untrusting. “We are seeing this already, of course, as cynics attack the credibility of The New York Times as just another publication with a point of view,” he says. “When we find we can't, or won't, trust any media, our democracy is in peril.”
Catanoso is former executive editor of The Business Journal, which he helped found in 1998 to cover business and economic issues in the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina. He received a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a Science in Society Journalism Award for his investigative reporting into fraud in the tobacco industry. His work has been featured in The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Los Angeles Times, and on National Public Radio.
• Mary Dalton, Associate Professor of Communication and Co-director of the Documentary Film Program says the dramatically changing media landscape makes measurement more challenging than ever, especially considering on-demand, DVR and online content are not currently factored into Nielsen ratings. “With so many choices for programming and so many ways to access it, the pie has been cut into smaller and smaller slivers that arrive through more and more delivery systems. Figuring out who's ordering the pie, which flavors they are ordering, who's actually eating the pie, and how much remains on the plate is increasingly difficult,” she says.
Mary Dalton has commented on television, movies, Hollywood trends and pop culture for USA Today, the Associated Press, Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, among many other media outlets. She can put new TV shows in perspective and provide insightful comments about the latest feature films. In addition to having written and directed eight documentaries, she is the author of The Sitcom Reader: America Viewed and Skewed, Teacher TV: Sixty Years of Teachers on Television, and The Hollywood Curriculum: Teachers in the Movies.
About Wake Forest UniversityWake Forest University combines the best traditions of a small liberal arts college with the resources of a large research university. Founded in 1834, the school is located in Winston-Salem, N.C. The University’s graduate school of arts and sciences, divinity school, and nationally ranked schools of law, medicine and business enrich our intellectual environment. Learn more about Wake Forest University at www.wfu.edu.
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