0/5

When Reality spoils the media

In Reality TV even the best media-trained contestant can accidentally trigger a Spoiler. So is it fair game for media to publish it?

This week there has been an awful lot of talk about Spoilers.

Newspapers, websites and rival networks have given away key moments from the Lost finale, published the winner of Celebrity Apprentice, and revealed the winner of Survivor.

In the modern television landscape there are always cracks in the system that remind us it’s an imperfect world we live in.

It’s also imperfect in television Production too.

Reality shows that are shooting well in advance ask an awful lot of their contestants in order to keep their secrets quiet until an episode has aired.

When TV Tonight spoke to My Kitchen Rules contestants and judges mid-season they were very mindful not to give away the winner, or indicate if they had been eliminated from the show. They weren’t even allowed to divulge details to their friends. But being respectful to both the individual and the show, there are lines media know not to cross.

MasterChef Australia also treads a dangerous  line in its advance production shoots when contestants are offered up for media interviews.

An inadvertent answer to a seemingly-harmless question by even the best media-trained contestant can accidentally lead to a potential show Spoiler. In any on-the-record interview it would be fair game to publish. So it’s a bit rich for a network to then ask for an entire story angle to be dropped and for quotes to be withheld.

Management of MasterChef secrets and timelines has resulted in fallout before.

Last year the Daily Telegraph infamously published that Poh Ling Yeow had won the 2009 series complete with authentic quotes about her win being “a surreal feeling.” In an effort to retain its secrecy but meet print deadlines, TEN had offered up two contestant interviews to the newspaper, only one of which would ultimately prove true. An online editor ran the wrong story before it was swiftly replaced.

How Survivor gets its players to keep their secrets is one of television’s great success stories. The Amazing Race is also kept under wraps until its episodes air.

Television drama interviews with professional actors know where to draw the line on Spoilers.

In Reality, where there is no line in the sand between a person’s real life and a fictional character the risk of a Spoiler is magnified.

MasterChef‘s orchestration of contestants is one of the most suspectible to this flaw.

By and large most media are agreeable to publicist requests to hold off stories closer to an episode’s airdate and to observe embargos. But at the same time media need to be given room to chat freely with Reality contestants when they are on the record.

The bottom line is Trust.

Trust in the people competing with all their heart and soul, trust in the audience and trust that media are not out to upset the game.

But then Reality as a genre has always been about one thing: manipulation.

18 Responses

  1. Season 20 of Survivor was a special event season with returning castaways which is why it was so heavily spoilt. To my knowledge, it was the first season to be completely and correctly spoilt. Regular seasons usually do not get the boot list 100% correct, even Samoa had many blanks throughout the season especially before the merge.

  2. @Rosie and @L – I take it back, you are correct. Jenna left to see her mum before she passed away and Sue left because she is a crazy person who thought Richard had abused her with his nakedness. And then there have been the medical evacuations. Osten was the only one to lay his torch down at Tribal Council and give up. My mistake.

    Still out of 301 contestants to take part in Survivor, not many have walked away.

  3. One would assume that judging by that middle paragraph, and also by the picture accompanying the article, that you had a great Masterchef story, and one where a contestant dropped a big bomb….

    But when Channel 10 asked you to drop the story, you did so… even though you had the right to publish it.

    Channel 10 owe you a beer I reckon.

  4. Andrew B…not sure which Masterchef you are watching…only 1 contestant has left of their own free will – the first one in Week 1.
    That’s manipulation right there!

  5. Um @Lisa, Rosie is correct. I can at least name Jenna and Sue in All-Stars and also Kathy in FvF. Someone also left in Fiji literally just before the season started which is why they had 19 people that season. Not to mention there have been heaps of medi-evacs too.

    But also with Survivor, there are forums out there with people dedicated to finding spoilers. And the last two seasons was probably the most spoiled seasons in history (eg. complete and correct boot lists were posted) Its just the mainstream media don’t pick these up.

  6. Survivor and Amazing Race doesn’t allow contestants to talk to media before they are eliminated, which was the point of the article. MasterChef does and it bites them in the bum when they can’t control what people say. The show shouldn’t expect media to make up for their mistakes…

  7. I beg to diifer about Survivor too. I knew the winner and the order of which they were all eliminated last year in September when they finished taping it, when it was leaked on the net as there are soo many spoiler websites you can find.

    Also found out the winner of Amazing Race as well, the same way.

  8. Um, @Rosie, I think you find that only one Survivor in its 20 season, US history has laid their torch down and walked out of the game. That would be Osten from season 7, Pearl Islands. All the other 300 contestants have been voted out or made it to the end.

  9. I was so upset when The Age ruined celebrity apprentice for me. I know that the person who won has been in the news but it really wrecks it. And they wonder why no one watches TV anymore!

  10. Andrew B, you must not watch Survivor too often, because there have been several contestants bow out over the years because they could not handle it.

  11. Here, here David. I agree with everything you said. What a shame that in the battle for tv ratings, scruples don’t seem to come into play… Boo hiss to Lisa & Karl for ruining the Lost finale for the fans!

  12. Hey David,

    While I totally agree that it’s about trust from all sides – for a publicist the nightmare scenario: you place your trust in a journalist to respect embargoes and deadlines and they break under pressure from an Editor who sees a scoop and a chance for the elusive ‘exclusive’ coverage. The next situation means, every other journo will try to break first and then it becomes a who can break first race.

    It’s a very tricky dance between many parties that requires mutual understanding of common goals, which often doesn’t occur.

    Cheers,
    FV

  13. I beg to differ with you about the Amazing Race, there are dedicated spolier websites out there that have members scan blogs, tweets, photos and you tube videos from people around the world to gather sitings of the contestants during on the race and at airports etc. Usually most of the route is known and the final 3 contestants get spoiled each season, before the episodes are even edited.

  14. on a side note, we had off filo pastry a fortnight ago, did anyone notice that on Monday night the ‘contestants’ flew QANTAS to Melbourne yet the first commercial was for VIRGIN flying Sydney to Melbourne with a Masterchef logo (in smoke)! Ambush or another boo boo my the producers?

  15. Hey David,

    I loved the article but I am not sure I would be as harsh as you and say the one thing that Reality TV about is manipulation.

    Yes they manipulate the editing and the audiences, but the genre also allows ordinary people to transform their lives. And it is the second most watch genre on TV after sport.

    In the US reality TV is taking over from the traditional soap operas.

    However I do agree with you regarding expecting non-media trained contestants to discuss the show without giving things away. But they should also tell them to keep off the social medial until the end of the show, as that is a dead give away as well that they have been eliminated.

  16. With Survivor and The Amazing Race, you never even see contestants leave the competition of their own free will because they cannot handle it. This year, on Masterchef, that has happened three times so far.

    This suggests to me, that contestants that take part in Survivor and Amazing Race must be bound by contracts that make sure they tow the line and offer severe penalties if they do not.

Leave a Reply