by Christopher Cook

Created on: February 02, 2010

Television is a youth driven market. Society tends to center itself around those who are going to run it in the future. Youths' fill the role of the test drivers in society, and in no way is this reflected more than on the small screen. Television has changed dramatically since the "Father Knows Best" era. We were use to being fed sacchrine from a moral viewpoint of what society should be. The general public was given an unrealistic and boring image to strive for. Oh, how the times have changed! Today's youths are given an image to live down to. The despondency of today's youths is reflected in television programming. The impaction is far reaching in every form of broadcast; from the rise of the reality show, to more tawdry news programming, to series which make their transition from the small screen to the large.

It makes sense that the reality series has gained in popularity. If you look at television programming from the mindset of a youth driven society, one must comtemplatethe question, Where do youths spend a large portion of their time? The answer is really quite simple, surfing the worldwide web, or more specifically on sites such as myspace.com or facebook.com. The youths are able to live their lives through digital media, in a way which allows them to say what they want without having any direct personal human contact. In this world everyone can be a cool trendsetter. Everyone can be more unabashed. Hence, the rise of the shameless reality series, which has become a staple of modern programming. The rise of reality TV is not coincidental, because it mimics what youths see in their own digital world. In this world, a youth can be just as mouthy as new York (from reality show "I Love New York"), or as seemingly ditzy and vacant as Paris Hilton. Reality yelevision is just as make believe as the digital world is for youths.However, there is a cost of living in an unreal reality, especially when the line between what is real and make believe become skewed.

News programming has taken a step back in reporting what is fundamental to society. Instead, it has become more focused on youth orientated news stories. The paparazzi has never previously been given the credo it receives now. It's a little reprehensible when once "respectable" news programs go on "Britney watch" in response to the vapid starlet's personal breakdown. It shows the importance of certain iconic figures to this generation of youth.There is something about this youth driven

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