Mediated Voyeurism and the Guilty Pleasure of Consuming Reality Television

Media commentators have frequently argued that the rising popularity of reality programs stems from the show's ability to accommodate television viewers' voyeuristic needs. However, extant literature provides inconsistent evidence regarding the relationship between voyeurism and consumption of reality programs. This article expands on work by Baruh (2009) Baruh, L. 2009. Publicized intimacies on reality television: An analysis of voyeuristic content and its contribution to the appeal of reality programming. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 53: 190–210. doi:10.1080/08838150902907678[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] showing that voyeurism and social comparison tendency were positively associated with consumption of reality programming. After controlling for viewer demographics and hours of television viewing, multivariate analyses in this article indicate that there exists a positive relationship between voyeurism and consumption of reality programming, whereas social comparison tendency is no longer significantly related to reality programming consumption. Furthermore, bootstrap analysis indicates that the relationship between voyeurism and consumption of reality programs is mediated by a tendency to engage in voyeuristic uses of television. In contrast to consumption of reality programming, analyses indicate that trait voyeurism is negatively related to the consumption of fictional programming. On the other hand, social comparison and voyeuristic uses of television were found to be positively related to fictional programming consumption.     

Audience surveillance and the right to anonymous reading in interactive media

The proliferation of interactive media has provided corporations with an unprecedented ability to collect information about individuals’ media consumption habits. This ability of corporations is often reinforced by the rhetoric of “consumer sovereignty,” whereby individuals are misled into entrusting a considerable amount of information about their daily activities in exchange for increased convenience. The purpose of this paper is to explain the ways in which the information that individuals reveal to content and technology providers is subject to the scrutiny of external constituencies. More importantly, this paper, through an analysis of legal precedents, will demonstrate that the right to read anonymously is an important corollary of freedom of speech and that the ability of corporations to share information about individuals’ media consumption habits threatens this right. His research interests include privacy, digital rights management systems, and tensions that exist between privacy rights of individuals and intellectual property. An earlier version of this article was presented at the America: Visions and Divisions Conference, Austin 2003. The author would like to thank Oscar H. Gandy and Daniel P. Hillyard for his close reading of this article and helpful suggestions.     

Beyond a Paycheck: The Influence of Workforce Participation on Women’s Cancer Screening in Turkey

The present study investigates the influence of workforce participation on women’s cancer screening behaviors in Turkey. In cultures with predominantly Muslim populations like Turkey, emphasis is typically placed on a woman’s traditional role as a child bearer. Although the impact of workforce participation on women’s welfare has been studied in various contexts, the relationship between workforce participation and health protective behavior has received scant attention. Using quantitative data from a survey of women aged 40 and above from 33 urban cities in Turkey (N?=?483), we examine the influence of workforce participation on breast and cervical cancer screening behaviors. Homemakers were less likely than working/retired women to be up-to-date on screenings. Women with lower income and education screened less; however, workforce participation seemed to have a positive effect on screening among these women. Additionally, working/retired women and homemakers differed from each other in terms of their perceptions regarding their risk of developing cancer (perceived susceptibility). In addition, both perceived susceptibility and women's perceptions regarding their ability to get cancer screening (self-efficacy) were significant predictors of intention to engage in screening in future. In Turkey, homemakers are in a vulnerable position due to lower rates of cancer screening. Furthermore, targeting homemakers for interventions may be easier than trying to identify other low screening groups of women such as those with lower education or income. Interventions raising perceptions of susceptibility to cancer, possibly by targeting neighborhoods during working hours, could be useful in increasing screening rates at risk women.