Graduate student researching why reality TV has overtaken the tube
Have you ever questioned the nature of reality television and why it has become so popular? Economics graduate student Christy Whitehead has, and she is collecting and analyzing data to show how the removal of the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules (Fin-Syn) — which were enacted in the ’70s by the Federal Communications Commission to prevent the big three television networks from owning or syndicating any of the nighttime programming they aired — might have caused a surge of reality programming in recent years.
“I’ve built a theoretical model that makes a prediction about how the removal of a specific syndication rule caused networks to increase game shows and reality programming,” Whitehead said.
Given that the average United States household watched television for 8 hours and 18 minutes a day from September 2007 to September 2008 (a record high), and 99 percent of Americans own at least one television,* research such as Whitehead’s could become a powerful tool for documenting modern American culture.
Within the next year, Whitehead will complete her thesis, and after, she plans to either go into the corporate sector or join academic life, options afforded by her choice of study.
“A degree in economics is just so versatile,” says Whitehead, a Fort Hill, S.C., native. “After all, economics is not just mathematical computations and numbers. It’s all about decision-making and incentives, consequences and outcomes.”
Whitehead’s love for economics is not new. She received an undergraduate degree in economics from Clemson. When she decided to go to graduate school, she found that nowhere was as welcoming and impressive as her alma mater.
Fortunately for Whitehead, her opinion of Clemson was strengthened once she returned to the College of Business and Behavioral Science. Professors who actively engage students in research activities and intellectual inquiry, who promote teamwork among students and who nurture leadership development energized and inspired her.
“Faculty are really supportive of students and encourage collaboration between peers,” she said. “At most other schools, the environment encourages students to be cutthroat and only out for themselves. At Clemson, students work together as a team, which enables us to learn a lot — not only from the faculty and the program, but from each other.”
* Source: A.C. Nielson Co.