Can reality TV shows help lead the way for inclusivity?

Can reality TV shows help lead the way for inclusivity? Getty Phillip Sheppard competed on Survivor in 2011 and 2013, and is part of a black alumni group that's pushed for better representation on the US programme ‘Not just who is represented, but how’ In November, a few months after Survivor’s black alums raised their concerns, programme-maker US network CBS announced a goal to ensure 50% of all casts in its unscripted shows are Black and Indigenous People of Colour. Real Housewives of Atlanta, which features a majority black cast and is one of Bravo TV’s most popular series, has long faced accusations of racialised stereotyping in its production and presentation. Getty Kandi Burruss of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, a programme criticised as being problematic in the past, has spoken out on issues like Black Lives Matter in 2020 “There’s this kind of certain obsession within reality TV about nouveau riche women, and then particularly nouveau riche black women… There’s something the public enjoys about looking at black women who are successful… and making fun of them … and that’s something that has been historically true in our country,” she says. Lindemann specifically references Bravo TV shows and the Housewives franchise, but also points to American network VH1’s Love & Hip Hop franchise, focusing on the lives of a majority black cast in the music industry.