MEDIA: TV PROGRAMS IN THE U.S.A. AND ITALY

 

 
This wiki-page deals with some TV programs which reach a very large audience in the U.S.A and Italy and tries to point out their most relevant differences and similarities.
Somehow the aim of these brief paragraphs is to see how real life is reported by news, represented by fictions and showed in reality TV shows.
The first paragraph is about news: the focus is set on how the news are presented in the U.S. and in Italy and also, in which way the broadcasts are effective in the media scene, especially in the U.S.A..

The second paragraph is about shows for young adults and in particular, about the TV drama The Sopranos.

The last paragraph is about reality TV shows, seen as a product of cultural globalization: as such, they are dealt as a genre which is really alike despite the geographical distance between the U.S.A. and Italy.

 

 

  1. NEWS
    1. IN THE USA 
    2.  IN ITALY
    3. COMPARISON 
  2. SHOWS FOR YOUNG ADULTS 
    1. IN THE USA
    2. IN ITALY
    3. COMPARISON
  3. SHOWS FOR YOUNG ADULTS: THE SOPRANOS 
    1. NEGLI STATI UNITI
    2. IN ITALIA
    3. CONFRONTO
  4. REALITY TV SHOWS

 

 

 

 

NEWS

 

IN THE USA 

The American news channel [1] ( Central News Network ) was broadcasted for the first time  on June 1, 1980. Since then, people can watch and listen to the latest news 24 hours a day. There are several web sites, specialized closed-circuit networks and two radio networks. The headquarters of the CNN studios are in Atlanta, USA (see picture below).

 

The reports are on news and sports regarding the U.S., as well as world news. In terms of political orientation CNN is rather neutral.

 

CNN is famous for their BREAKING NEWS which are broadcasted instantly when there's something very important to announce. So it was CNN  to report as one of the first channels on the 9/11 attacks and the gulf war in 1991.

 

As far as this last one is concerned CNN had a very special position during this war. It was the first time that  events of a war were  to be presented  so simultaneously in time throughout the whole war.  Many of  CNN's  reporters  stayed  in Baghdad  during the period of the war and  so  almost  every  arrival  of  new rackets  was  transmitted  immediately  on  the  channel. CNN reporters were the only ones who were able to communicate outside Iraq during the first hours of the American bombing campaign including live reports from the al-Rashid Hotel n Baghdad During the gulf war  the term CNN  EFFECT  was invented by officials at the Pentagon  "to  describe  the perceived impact of real time  24 hour  news  coverage  on the  decision-making process of the American government."[2] The reporters were said to be receiving information from the government to be at the right place in the right time in order to transmit the information immediately.  One reason for this so-called CNN effect is the extensive use of affiliated reporters who are at the face of what is happening and therefore, are often very much affected of the events they're supposed to report on. Caused by this effect many Middle Eastern nations say that CNN International reports news from an pro-American point of view, whereas Americans often have the opposite opinion that is CNN being "liberal" or "anti-American".     

 

During and after the end of the gulf war several voices came up claiming that the gulf war did not take place and that everything was sort of put on stage with the help of CNN. Of course, those people could not prove their theory  and  no  similar  evidences  were  found ever.  It  probably  might  have been the impact the presentation of the war had on people that led some journalists towards this kind of theories. The very close and simultaneous reporting made by CNN was something completely new for viewers and journalists.

 

 

                                                    

 

breaking news on September 11, 2001                                                                                                          CNN headquarters, Atlanta, U.S.

 

 

                                          

 

FOX NEWS CHANNEL

 

Another important news channel in the U.S. is FOX NEWS, which was broadcasted for the first time on October 7, 1996. According to its creator Rupert Murdoch the market for news lacked of fairness and balance, which is why he founded the fox news channel. The studios are located in New York City.

 

Fox news, too, has always been focusing on visual presentation. In order to catch the viewer's attention the graphics are always very colorful and "attention grabbing" and, they also make use of on-screen text summarizing of what has been said. In this way the viewer gets all the important facts of the report even on a visual basis.

 

Just like CNN, the Fox News Channel interrupts the regular  programming by "Fox News Alert" in order to announce important breaking news. As far as the political orientation is concerned FoxNews is undoubtedly right-wing oriented. It has often been critized that the channel takes side with the Bush government in a very strong and obvious way. During this year's election campaign of left-wing candidate Barack Obama the Fox News Channel was said to have been manipulating his campaign negatively. 

 

As a matter of fact there are several websites which contain anti - FoxNews publicity, such as: foxattacks and outfoxed

 

However, during the Iraq conflict Fox News gained a 300 percent increase in viewership. There were about 3.3 million viewers daily. In 2007, FoxNews was the most viewed cable news channel in the U.S.

 

 

 IN ITALY

 

 

Mediaset, which includes Canale 5, Italia 1 and Rete 4,  was the first group in the Italian media scene that broadcasted the same programme in each region. Before Mediaset the programme used to be different for each region and viewers in Rome, for example, did not watch the same programme as people did in Milan. Mediaset was founded in Milan, in 1978. The Italian viewers enjoyed this new kind of television, which broadcasted American shows, as well. Mediaset and the public service broadcasting institutions RAI and La Sette were the only channels which provided the same programm nationwide.

 

The founder of Mediaset, Silvio Berlusconi, controls 70 percent of the Italian media scene.

 

As far as news are concerned the three channels have different broadcasts but they do not differ in their presentation. Tg5 (telegiornale 5) of Canale 5 is the most viewed news broadcast after TG1 of RAI1. It was on air for the first time on January 13, 1992. The reports tend to be right-wing oriented as Silvio Berlusconi is the former and now again president of Italy's government.

 

Canale 5 is not a pure News Channel but, the news go on air regularly seven times a day which are:  Prima Pagina; every 15 minutes from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.

                                                                                                                                                                TG5 Mattina; at 8 a.m.with a duration of 35 minutes,

                                                                                                                                                                TG5 Flash; which is only about 3 minutes at 10 a.m.,

                                                                                                                                                                TG5 Giorno; on air at 1 p.m. with a duration of 30

                                                                                                                                                                minutes;

                                                                                                                                                                TG5 Pomeriggio;  broadcasted at 5 p.m., duration of 5

                                                                                                                                                                minutes;

                                                                                                                                                                TG5 Sera; main edition, on air at 8 p.m. for 30 minutes;

                                                                                                                                                                TG5 Notte; broadcasted usually at 1 a.m. for 30

                                                                                                                                                                minutes.

 

The news reports are usually divided into news from Italy and then there are reports on international news, as well. The news are presented by one person and there are several connection to the correspondents' reports according to the countries. In second place, there can also be news on Sports or celebrities.

 

 

 

COMPARISON 

In Italy there is no pure cable news channel like CNN or FoxNews. However, on Canale 5 there are from 155 to 175 minutes of news broadcasts every day, which is a sizable amount of time.

 

The main differences exist in their presentations. While the presenters in America are often in couples, as you can see in the picture above, and the presentation, therefore, seems to be rather loose, in Italy the presenting is perceived more seriously. Moreover, there are no attention-grabbing means, like text summarizing etc.

 

One very big difference between the two countries is that Italy's TV Channels do not own helicopters in order to film events on the instant, like car chases. So an Italian viewer is not  familiar with reports of a pursuit of a criminal by the police, which is increasingly captured on film from the media. Many of those pursuits are broadcasted live on TV and some news websites put those videos online, for example, cbs news.

 

 

SHOWS FOR YOUNG ADULTS 

 

IN THE USA

Nowadays American serial dramas for young people are famous worldwide.
We can briefly sum them up by saying they are TV shows composed by a series of episodes, which develop a main plot studded with many other minor occurrences/events. Every single episode can be seen as a complete one, with a beginning and a conclusion. Obviously it adds something more useful for the whole comprehension of the serial drama, by revealing new elements to the previous episodes, but we can say they are not as fundamental as they could be.        
There are many different types of serial dramas, depending on their characters, the plot and the topics they analyze. We can find:
·         Situation comedies (sit-com)       ex.: Friends, Desperate Housewives, The Nanny
·         Dramas                                        ex.:, Beverly Hills 90210; The O.C., Dawson’s Creek
·         Action/adventure dramas            ex.: Batman, Buffy, Smallville, X-Files, Lost
·         Science-fiction dramas                 ex.: Star Trek, Roswell, Charmed
·         Detective dramas                         ex.: Murder, she wrote; Law and Order; C.S.I
Programmazione (orario, canali)
 Many of the serial dramas listed above have as central topic young people and their problems, such as friendship, love, racism, overuse of drugs and alcohol, typical young people diseases (anorexia, bulimia, etc.), violence, infidelity, passions, pains, death, homosexuality and school.

IN ITALY

 

Italian television is nowadays invaded by TV fictions.
We can briefly sum them up by saying they are TV shows characterized by a serial development, in the sense that it’s divided into parts which are broadcasted in different days of the week.  Every part is obviously the continuation of the previous one, because a fiction doesn’t normally develop in different seasons, but it ends in the space of short time, that can be two days or more than a week.
We can divide them in two big currents based on their aim:
·         TV fictions for a pure entertainment ex.: Un medico in famiglia; I Cesaroni; I liceali; Carabinieri; Un ciclone in famiglia;
·         TV fictions who try to develop a cultural knowledge on the audience by showing important episodes or by telling the lives of famous personalities of our country or even by broadcasting important literary successes ex.: Papa Giovanni; Padre Pio; Guerra e Pace; Pompei
As far as their programming is concerned they are broadcasted in the two main Italian TV channels, that are Rai Uno and Canale 5, which are always in fight in order to achieve the audience. They are always broadcasted as a “prima serata”, that is as the first program to be seen after dinner, but we can usually watch them in the afternoon or late at night when they are re-running. We usually find ourselves in the situation to choose between one or the other channel, because it’s possible in the same night to find the broadcasting of two different fictions.
Many of the fictions listed above have as central unity the family with its problems, such as marriage, children education, love, infidelity, crime news, law reports, school and religious feelings.

COMPARISON

 

Most of the new serial dramas and fictions are settled no longer in private houses, but more and more in different locations, such as police stations, hospitals, etc. But as the American series seem to use more modern means and situations to deal with the current events, Italian TV fictions always tend to present a more reassuring society. Watching American serial dramas we usually face harsh and extreme scenes, such as murders, surgeries or explicit sex scenes, whereas watching Italian TV fictions we can be sure that everything about this will be cunningly hidden in order to let it see to everyone. So that we are allowed to see only the truth and the good in every actions performed by fearless policemen, embarrassed lovers or professional surgeons. To sum up American serial dramas are the mirror of the contemporary society, with its intriguing and realistic scenes, whereas Italia TV fictions still tend to hide something and to emphasize the good values of a society passed by this time.
As far as the characters are concerned American serial dramas dare the most presenting original personalities, such as career women, homosexuals and lesbians who really distance from the exemplary mothers of Italian TV fictions. Moreover, as to show its deep roots into Catholicism and tradition Italian TV fictions present original characters such as pious saints, charitable priests or fathers and grandfathers working as the cohesive element of the family in order to describe the typical patriarchal structure of Italian society.
The great success of serial dramas and TV fictions is due to the modern social and cultural contest where we live. Nowadays reality shows and TV film are going towards a crisis. A big amount of events bring people to a common sense of worry and uneasiness. The need of new heroes and the preference of real situations with their problems, fears and hopes bring us to develop a passion for this kind of TV shows.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SHOWS FOR YOUNG ADULTS: THE SOPRANOS 

 

La serie di HBO, Le Soprani era creata da David Chase. Le Soprani originalmente era trasmessa negli Stati Uniti sulla network cavo di premio dal 10 gennaio, 1999 al 10 giugno, 2007. Durante questo periodo di tempo, Le Soprani ha aerato 86 episodi a totale sommare 6 stagioni. Poiché il premiering su HBO, la mostra è stata trasmessa a molte network nelle dozzine di paesi. Negli Stati Uniti, Le Soprani è celebrata "il caposaldo di televisione che lascia di altri caposaldi nella polvere" (Le Soprani, 2008). Comunque in Italia, i critici pretendono che Le Soprani è "non così molta una veduta antiquata, ma un'approssimazione americana di cultura italiana che è dimostrato un atteggiamento negativo per gli spettatori italiani" (Le Soprani, 2008). Le differenze in come gli Italiani e i Americani osserva Le Soprani è un esempio eccellente di come i mezzi di comunicazione in Italia e gli Stati Uniti paragonano e differiscono.
 
http://www.elviscostello.info/disc/official/misc/sopranos.jpg

Le Soprani è della vita di un Capo di mafia, Tony Soprano. La serie di televisione cattura la vita della Tony Soprano come un Underboss della famiglia crimine di DiMeo e come il padre della famiglia di Soprano. La trama di Le Soprani inizia quando Tony inizia a soffrire dalla depressione e dalle esperienze attaché di panico. Le depressione e attaché panico del Tony derivano da un'infanzia difficile e uni anni di tensione sopra le sue attività affair di criminali. Tony cerca un tipo di trattamento che può aiutare la liberazione i suoi confinati emozioni. Tony vede una psicanalisi, Dott. Jennifer Melfi.  La vita di Tony è già complicata, ma teso tra lui, la sua moglie, e due bambini fanno esso peggiore. I temi psicologici, filosofici, sociali, e politici corrono rampante in ogni episodio della serie di televisione.

 

NEGLI STATI UNITI

 

 Negli Stati Uniti, la serie di David Chase è stata descritta da Americani come "uno della più grande serie di televisione di tutto volta" (Le Soprani, 2008). Gli Americani trovano Le Soprani irresistibili perché la mostra è una storia di esseri umano e loro viveri che è raro nella cultura Americana (Le Soprani, 2008). I riferimenti di cultura pop Americani erano bilanciati e erano fatti più intenso dalle maniere distinte in cui i caratteri sulle Soprani è animato gli esseri umano come multi-dimensionali. Per esempio il carattere principale, Tony Soprano era l'individuo nella mostra che è non piacciono i cliché standard del genere di gangster e sé è ritratto come il padre devoto e un uomo profondamente disturbato. Tony Soprano ha mostrato un uomo nel tormento psicologico di chi sogni e paure l'hanno stregata lui.

IN ITALIA

 

Le Soprani non era un successo enorme in Italia a causa del dramma aggressivo, la lingua adulta, e la violenza estrema. In Italia, gli italiani credono “familismo amorale." Familismo amorale significa la famiglia rimpiazza tutto. Familismo amorale è evidente ovunque nell’Italia: nel governo, le scuole, e anche quando trovare un lavoro. La maggior parte di problemi dell'Italia provengono dalla famiglia. Quindi, guardare Le Soprani sulla TV non eccita l'italiano medio. Nelle Soprani, Tony e i suoi antenati dell'equipaggio vengono da Napoli esterno e usano uno slang di New Jersey. La lingua adulta nelle Soprani è volgare e farebbe la maggior parte di italiani rabbrividiscono. Il critico di TV italiano, Halo Moscati descrive la lingua nelle Soprani come "una lingua dimenticata che parlano. Loro punto di vista di Italia e la cultura italiana è un nostalgico un, l'Italia del 30s e 40s, la terra dei loro nonni" (Le Soprani, 2008). Quando gli italiani vedono Le Soprani pensano, "lo zio d’America" (Le Soprani, 2008). Lo zio d’America riferimento al cliched l'immigrante italiano che trova una vita migliore in America, soltanto ritornare la casa per le visite, le tasche si gonfiando con i contanti, trovare un paese straniero e relazioni distanti (Le Soprani, 2008).

David Chase ha creduto che la scenografia di Mafia delle Soprani permetterebbe lui esplorare altri temi come l'identità Italiano-Americano e la natura di violenza. Sei anni fa, Le Soprani ha fallito. Il fallimento della mostra era molta imprevisto perché Italia è un paese dove TV americane importare. La serie di dramma di televisione fallita perché di dramma aggressivo, la lingua adulta, la violenza estrema e a causa la mancanza di David Chase conoscenza sull'identità italiano-americano.

Un Italiano-Americano è Americano di discendenza italiana o la cittadinanza doppia. Un individuo che è Italiano-Americano è qualcuno nato negli Stati Uniti o chi è immigrato agli Stati Uniti è di eredità italiano. Oggi nelle mente di molte americane, lo stereotipo tipico di un Italiano-Americano è qualcuno coinvolte nella criminalità organizzata e New York (Le Soprani, 2008). Lo Zogby l'indagine Internazionale (2008) ha rivelato che “78% di adolescenti invecchia 13 a 18 associano Italiano-Americani con l'attività criminale” (Le Soprani, 2008). Una maggioranza degli attori sulle Soprani sono italiano-americano. David Chase è Italiano-Americano il suo cognome originale è DeCesare. Molte persone nel mondo di televisione hanno creduto che Le Soprani sarebbero più di successo in Italia poi gli Stati Uniti perché molte mostre televisione che falliscono negli Stati Uniti sono dei successi enormi all'estero.

CONFRONTO

Il dramma aggressivo, la lingua adulta, e la violenza estrema nelle Soprani sono le differenze che ha regolato Italiani e Americani a prescindere da l'un l'altro. Gli Americani non piacciono Le Soprani perché amiamo l'azione, la lingua volgari e la violenza. Gli Italiani non piacciono Le Soprani perché trovano la lingua volgare disgustosa e conoscenza di David Chase dell'identità Italiano-Americano ha danneggiato. Le differenze in come Americani osservano Le Soprani paragonate a come Italiani osservano la mostra è un esempio ovvio di come i mezzi di comunicazione in Italia e gli Stati Uniti paragonano e differiscono.

REALITY TV SHOWS

                                                                                                                                                                                                          

 

 

Reality TV show is a TV genre which represents well what can be called a product of cultural globalization. As such, it is interesting to analyze those elements which make this TV genre so popular and alike both in Italy and in America.
Reality TV show is a relatively new genre of TV programming in which “real” people (and not professional actors) are put into game-show-style situation while being filmed 24 hours a day.
The first format of this kind, the Big Brother (created by the Dutch media tycoon John de Mol Produkties) went on air in 1999 in Netherlands and since then, reality shows have become one of the most widespread phenomenon all round the world.
At the beginning of the 21st century, both in American and Italy, people seemed to be bored by the traditional soaps, sitcoms, quiz shows and dramas. So, reality TV shows represented a newness and from the very beginning, viewers have got completely hooked on them.
So far, reality TV shows about sports, relationship, cooking, car repair… have gone on air giving life to sub-genres labeled, from time to time, as game shows (such as Millionaire/Chi vuol essere milionario, The Survivor), celebrity realities (such as The Osbournes), self-improvement shows (The Swan/Il Brutto Anatroccolo), shows with hidden cameras (The Big Brother/Il Grande Fratello; Candid Camera), talent-shows (American Idol; Amici; Dancing with the Stars/Ballando con le Stelle) and so forth ([3]). Anyway, the common aspect is that they have a competitive nature in which there are always winners and losers.
Scholars of different fields (psychologists, sociologists, mass-media experts…) have tried to understand the reasons underlying such a phenomenon.
Experts have find out that audiences identify very much with the ordinary people who take part in the shows and are fascinated by the immediate fame achieved.
They stated that the typical “attitude […] of the regular viewers of reality television […] is the desire for status. […] The desire for status is just a means to get attention. And more attention increases one’s sense of importance”. Reality TV allows people “to fantasize about gaining status through automatic fame”. In other words, “the message of reality television is that ordinary people can become important […] and the secret thrill of many of those viewers is the thought that perhaps next time, the new celebrities might be them” ([4]).
Another reason why reality TV shows are so popular is that viewers are quite simply nosey and voyeuristic. People “enjoy watching the relationships of the contestants revealed and the chance to observe human behavior and interaction from a safe distance. What’s more, there’s often the possibility of affecting the result with a phone call” ([5]).
Moreover, technology has offered the opportunity to watch these TV programs not only on TV but also on the Internet and with DTV, Wap and Gprs.
In America and in Italy there are more or less the same formats, that is, the same reality shows but whose titles are translated into the two different languages and whose participants are respectively American and Italian.
The reason of such a similarity could be explained by the fact that in recent years, there has been a wide distribution of program formats.
“The use of program formats began as a form of  ‘polite plagiarism’, but by the 1970s production companies entered into formal licensing agreements with the originators of a particular format” ([6]). 
Essentially, program formats are “programming ideas, not finished products […]. While formats may carry certain recognizable elements, the content is always nationalized, adapted for different national markets and cultures” ([7]). For certain formats (especially those based on voyeurism) seemed to have universal appeal but there were others that certainly showed distinct cultural adaptation ([8]).
They are a “cheap alternative to other programming: no scriptwriter is required, nor paid actors or complex sets…compare this with the millions per episode required to produce a sitcom such as Friends but Reality TV is a big money maker for the television networks” ([9]).
“Like them or loathe them reality TV shows are big business. For the television companies they are a sure-fire way to boost the ratings and pull in the advertisers” ([10]).
During the years, reality shows have arisen many criticisms for different reasons.
Critics argue “reality” programming has little in common with reality. Since there are previous editions of most reality shows, as a matter of fact viewers know what the shows are like and they know what to expect: this is the reason why participants behave unnaturally and act as they were actors.
Many state that “as viewers grow bored with the genre, the stakes will need to be raised”.
For the sake of ratings, participants are put in increasingly greater physical and emotional peril and can be harmed physically performing various stunts or humiliated and emotionally abused when they fail to win in order for viewers to stay” ([11]).
 Reality TV shows often glorifying superficial characteristics set a poor example and expose to distorted values teenagers whom the shows are especially popular ([12]).
Until a decade ago, to become famous, in general a person had to be good at something: acting, reporting the news playing a sport, whatever: now it is possible to get on TV without no particular talent. As Andy Warhol said, the time in which “everyone will be famous for 15 minutes” seems to be come.
As far as it seems, there is a little change in taste in that people begin to dismiss this TV genre and tend to prefer fictions and sit-coms again, such as Lost or Desperate Housewives.

 

 

 

See also

 

 

 

 

 

 

Footnotes

  1. http://www.cnn.com/ ▲
  2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnn#The_CNN_effect ▲
  3. http://instructors.cwrl.utexas.edu/freeman/?q=ASPage5 ▲
  4. http://psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=20010901-000029&page=1 ▲
  5. http://www.education.theage.com.au/pagedetail.asp?intpageid=64&strsection=students&intsectionid=0 ▲
  6. http://www.education.theage.com.au/pagedetail.asp?intpageid=64&strsection=students&intsectionid=0 ▲
  7. http://www.education.theage.com.au/pagedetail.asp?intpageid=64&strsection=students&intsectionid=0 ▲
  8. http://www.education.theage.com.au/pagedetail.asp?intpageid=64&strsection=students&intsectionid=0 ▲
  9. http://www.education.theage.com.au/pagedetail.asp?intpageid=64&strsection=students&intsectionid=0 ▲
  10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6519209.stm ▲
  11. http://www.enotes.com/reality-tv-article/ ▲
  12. http://www.enotes.com/reality-tv-article/ ▲


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    giovanna sperotto:Hi Roby and Giovanna, I just talked to Sarah and she explained everything to me. There won't be no presentation but each of us will develop a topic and Anne will choose one. I thought we could make the comparison together. Caroline
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