Media and the ethics of 'reality' construction

This article argues that we have neglected the ethical implications of the recent explosion in reality TV, and indeed that some writing about reality TV has diverted our attention from those issues through excessive attention to the myth that reality TV is socially compulsive. In contrast this article moves towards a framework for thinking about reality TV as a social process, that draws on ethical thought (originally derived from Aristotle) rather than the deontological tradition of moral philosophy derived from Kant, while specifically drawing on the insights of Andrejevic's work on the links between reality TV and surveillance.