Between garrulity and utility - the impact of talk shows

Abstract

This paper seeks to highlight the increasingly meaningful role that the television talk shows have acquired over the last few decades. In the West where the talk show featured first, it created a profound effect on the empowerment of women, amongst others. The shows provided women the opportunity to talk about their lives and their problems in public view. Another significant development of the process worth noting was the globalization of social issues like women and child rights, breast cancer, abortion, ill effects of narcotic drugs, human trafficking etc. This was possible on account of the highly presentational format of the talk shows that were telecast in several countries across many continents. Though not intended deliberately, such globalization helped facilitate networking of rights and advocacy groups of different cultures and countries. In order to delve into the different dimensions of the subject, two very popular media personalities and a top media executive of Bangladesh were interviewed. Their observations have facilitated the understanding of the progression of talk shows over the years. The talk shows are believed to provide what has been described as “infotainment” in the media lexicon. Efforts have been made in this article to gain insights by studying the different dimensions of such “infotainment” both locally and globally.