Thomas (2002) says of quality television: “A quality series enlightens, enriches challenges, involves, and confronts. It dares to take risks, it’s honest and illuminating and it appeals to the intellect and touches the emotions. It requires concentration and attention, and it provokes thought.”
Being Lara Bingle is a reality television program about celebrity fashion model and media sensation Lara Bingle. The style of the program is observational as it gives its viewers an inside scoop of the celebrity models personal life with particular focus on her nude photo scandal, luxury apartment, expensive shopping sprees and her extensive social circle. On the other end of the spectrum is the highly rated current affairs program 60 Minutes. The reality television program Being Lara Bingle incorporates stereotypical representations of Lara Bingle to increase the show’s ratings and popularity. Representations are usually used in reality television shows to broadcast the truth. However, in Being Lara Bingle Lara is portrayed as living the stereotypical celebrity life in her luxury Bondi apartment, which is not actually hers. The $8 million beachfront Bondi apartment was actually rented by producers for $4500 per week. The producers have represented stereotypical celebrity model living as all celebrities do, in style. The television program 60 minutes also incorporates representations through the use of codes and conventions, discourses, framing and narrative analysis. The show delivers real life experiences through the eyes of those involved. It is completely opposite to Being Lara Bingle as the stories told are actual facts from real life events that have occurred. No luxury apartments were hired to enhance ratings and no oversimplified or clichéd images are used. 60 minutes uses codes and conventions including archive footage, interviews and narration that are repeated so that the representation will appear natural or normal. 60 minutes stories are enhanced by set designs, camera angles, shot types, lighting and background music. 60 minutes is a quality television program as it has non-biased, concise and truthful representations of a story. In terms of television audiences they are usually located in the private space of a home or the car. …show more content…
Audiences are spectators or listeners assembled at a performance, or attracted by a radio or television program (Stewart and Kowaltzke, 2008, p.147). The audience for Being Lara Bingle are people who are celebrity obsessed or obsessed with fame. People are attracted to the television series as it promises and exclusive inside scoop of Lara’s life. However, they are actually being conned by the producers who are over-exaggerating her life to make it more appealing to audiences and increase the show’s ratings. On the other hand, 60 minutes is one of the most highly rated shows on channel nine as the advertisements of stories are attractive and engaging therefore pulling in people to watch the program. 60 minutes have higher ratings than Being Lara Bingle because people are more interested in the factual current affairs stories that discuss uprising issues in our society. Institutions refer to what channel the program is played on. In contrasting Being Lara Bingle with 60 minutes the major difference is the duration that the shows are aired for. 60 minutes is an hour length program which is played on channel nine every Sunday night. 60 minutes has been the most successful program constantly appearing in the top ten shows for 23 seasons in a row (1977-2000). The program has won a total of 106 Emmy Awards more than any primetime show on any network. 60 minutes currently holds the record for the longest running program of any genre. Holding the record for the longest running show along with consistently high ratings 60 minutes is a series that “enlightens, enriches challenges, involves, and confronts,” (Thomas, 2002). The program Being Lara Bingle is aired on channel ten in the 8:00 pm–8:30