February 2nd, 2009 - Talk Show's

Chapter 30 of Media Literacy is titled "Buying and Selling Culture" and primarily discusses how talk shows influence consumption of any given item. The first example that came to mind is Oprah's annual program called, "Oprah's favorite things", here Oprah promotes and advertises numerous items claiming they are her fav's and gives one to each audience member. I can't help but recall that last Christmas while stressing out over what to buy my father this program gave me a moment of clarity. Oprah suggested the 6-part DVD called, "Planet Earth", claiming it was the one of the best documentaries out there and well... she was right, this was the perfect gift.
I think the catch is that we look at talk show hosts as more "real people" and not actors. We tend to believe what they are telling us because their shows do not seem scripted and they talk to us on such a personal level. You know I never watch and think, "Oh Oprah, she's just like a sleazy saleswoman".