My 'education' in reality TV

I don't know what she would have said if she knew the college reporter covering the event was part of that vast right-wing conspiracy, from which we derive, of course, the big media corporations who work day and night to desecrate all that feminism has given us.

I attended last Thursday, on assignment by the paper, a lecture on reality TV and the negative affects it has on society and images of women (oh, and men too), by the feminist media critic, Jennifer Pozner. Now, to be sure, I agree that reality TV is anything but wholesome. But that certainly didn't improve the esteem I which I hold the lecture.

She spoke under the assumption that only feminists could agree with her assessment that reality TV is unwholesome, and therefore, she also assumed that there couldn't be any conservatives in the group. Now, I don't know whether I was the only conservative or not, but that doesn't excuse her ridiculous opening comments, in which she thanked all of us for taking time out from our busy inauguration protest schedules to come hear her lecture.

Granted, I am not your typical college student in that I saw more reality TV in her lecture examples than I have seen in my life. I wonder if she would have believed me if I had ventured to open my interview with that piece of information. No matter, though. If it wasn't big media corporations at fault, it was deregulation, or perhaps the Bush Administration--can't let them off the hook, you know. I won't go into the details of the lection--not unless I can get paid for the advertising space from her PR firm.

The next day she also led a workshop for activists. It was simply a class on how to handle the media... You know, how to keep from shouting into the phone even if the reporter deserves it; how to frame your information so the reporter won't feel spun (no joke). If you want to know more, visit her organization's site