It's "scripted reality", a freshly minted genre, which has crossed reality TV with soap opera to create a format that uses dramatic structures and devices but whose subjects are "real people" rather than actors. Or, as the disclaimer at the start of every episode states: "This programme contains flash cars, big watches and false boobs. The tans you see might be fake but the people are all real although some of what they do has been set up purely for your entertainment."It seems to me that that some version of this approach is being attempted by ABC TV in its coverage of the Amanda Knox Case. In itself, there's nothing wrong with trying to make a coherent story out of the situation, except for the fact that the entire series is based on a very savage killing.
:: The piece excerpted above by Carole Cadwalladr
is quite thoughtful and well worth reading.
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