NewYorker - Bourdieu

This article was pretty straight forward and said a lot of the things we are already aware of of the media and TV industry. The part I liked the best was "Such visibility [about being on TV] gives them greater status in their newspaper or journal. Any journalist who wants power or influence has to have a TV program." 331. The fact of the matter is, is that it is basically true. TV produces great exposure because it can reach millions of people at once, and it is instant. People can easily tune in, and usually if there is a TV show that is out, people have heard of it. They are more likely to hear of a show than to have heard of a title of an article in a newspaper/magazine. Also, nowadays with DVRs and TiVo, people are more able to watch more TV because they can record several shows, or record a program when they are not home and watch it later. Even channels show reruns if it gets such great ratings, that they will show it again.
Also, when we spoke about experts, the ones that make it to a talk show or news program, are going to get even more credibilty, and if they have a book out (which they probably do because that is usually the reason for getting on a show in the first place,) their sales will go up because of their exposure. I know of several books that were just ordinary books until Oprah exposed them on her show and made them part of her Book Club. Or even chefs who work for nice restaurants, once they get a segment with Ellen or Martha Stewart, their careers sky rocket. It's amazing how much influence celebrities can have over someone's career and credibility.
He also spoke about the power of television itself. TV is consumed by ratings and the audience's demands. That influences what gets shown - it's like a cycle. We want more blood and gory, we get more doctor/hospital shows. We want more crime and action, we get 24 and CSI. We feed off of other's depression and misfortune, because that is all we see on the news and in shows.