Viewers Like You? by Laurie Ouellette

When our associate editor’s sister writes a book, we can’t help but think you should buy it. Especially if that book was the successful and superhip result of a Ph.D. dissertation on the unlikely subject of contemporary television programming and viewing. In Viewers Like You?, Laurie Ouellette finally explains why, despite knowing better, we vegged out in front of white-bread shows like The Price is Right and Love Boat instead of the plentiful whole wheat “educational programming” just a channel away on PBS. Viewers Like You? traces the history of public broadcasting in the U.S., and argues that public TV’s rejection of popular culture has cut the legs off its capacity to appeal to the public it purports to serve. Ouellette explores history and cultural theory to reveal that PBS programmers consistently miss the mark on the needs and interests of the public, mostly because they rely on pat cultural assumptions steeped in the politics of class, gender, and race. Ouellette is an assistant professor of media studies at Queens College, and is currently working on an anthology about reality TV.


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