PBS chief Paula Kerger has been citing an interesting statistic in speeches around the country.
Quiz: What percentage of TV programming is in the reality show genre?
Ms. Kerger's answer: 56%!
Whew, that's a lotta reality shows, and it's a depressing figure, because so many of the shows play to the lowest common-denominator of the viewing public in an effort to capture a large audience.
PBS has nothing against reality. That's what its documentaries are all about. With context and quality storytelling.
I'm excited about the next PBS documentary by filmmaker Ken Burns, The Dust Bowl, coming this fall. The teaser says: "It was America's worst man-made ecological disaster...let Ken Burns take you inside the real Dust Bowl."
Check out the eerie photos at http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/
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