Creating Television: Conversations With the People Behind 50 Years of American TV
A Volume in LEA's Communication Series, © Copyright 2004

Robert Kubey (kubey@scils.rutgers.edu)
Director, Center for Media Studies (www.mediastudies.rutgers.edu)
Professor, Dept of Journalism & Media Studies, Rutgers University

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Press Materials for Writers, Reporters, and Media Outlets

• Press Release
• Story Ideas
• About the Author

For Reporters and Writers: Quotations and Page Numbers from the Book that Answer Each of the Following Questions:

• Has the Television Industry Changed for Better or Worse Over The Last Decade?
  (bottom line pressures and profits have increased, vertical integration, the financial-syndicate rule)
• How Does A Creator's Personal Style And Vision Survive In Television?
• Has the Attention Span Of The American Public Grown Shorter?
• Why Do Some Television Programs Turn Out Badly?
  (some executives distracted and inexperienced, talent pool is spread thin across many networks, too many non-writers producing shows)
• What's It Like Being A Celebrity?
  (loving the power and rewards, the myth and addiction of celebrity, isolates you, no one is prepared for success, on being a sexual trophy)
• Does Having A Great Deal Of Money Make You Happy?
  (buys comfort and freedom but not happiness, I would hate myself now)
• What about Television's Influence On The Culture?
  (TV's sins, remarkable increase in pure quality)
• How Has the Audience Changed?
  (smarter and more sophisticated than ever, live audiences in the theater behave badly)