Maken, kraken of doodzwijgen

Celebrities inspire and are role models. Not every one can become famous, several aspects have to exist. Besides intrinsic qualities and charisma, the role of the media is essential: without media a celebrity can not exist. Therefore it is relevant to find out why media cover a certain person, but also how they cover celebrities. RTL Boulevard is the Dutch television show which evolves around celebrities with the highest viewing rates. The way the journalists from RTL Boulevard portrait celebrities, is important for the way the audience look at celebrities. Therefore the research topic: HOW DO THE PROGRAM MAKERS OF RTL BOULEVARD PRODUCE CELEBRITIES? 1. What kind of television program is RTL Boulevard and what does the program look like? 2. In what way do the program makers of RTL Boulevard look at their competitors in terms of selecting and producing celebrities? 3. How do the program makers of RTL Boulevard select their news? 4. Can we distinguish criteria on the basis of what program makers of RTL Boulevard select a celebrity? 5. In what way do the program makers of RTL Boulevard keep in mind their boundaries as far as producing an item? The answering of the research question and the sub questions is done by analysing the manual of RTL Boulevard (de Boulevardbijbel) and a participation research at the editorial staff of RTL Boulevard. Furthermore seven media workers of the editorial staff are questioned. Finally, I’ve done an analysis of a public row: Georgina Gate. RTL Boulevard broadcast a clip on March 30, 2008 of actress Georgina Verbaan kissing with an unknown man. Verbaan is in a relationship with fellow celebrity Jort Kelder. For its existing, RTL Boulevard depends on news about celebrities. RTL Boulevard used to be unique, but nowadays the program competes not only with direct competitor Shownieuws, but with several media. The media landscape is changing, which means RTL Boulevard has to select different items and be more original in the productions of the items. Compared to the selection of other news programs the focus of RTL Boulevard is more on to elite persons and countries. RTL Boulevard will select news faster, even if it exist on the other side of the world. In celebrity journalism Hollywood is even more interesting. News has to be up-to-the-minute; the person in which the news evolves has to be known. Known with someone who’s famous is also an option, but in that case something special has to happen. A lot of news is picked up within the network of the editorial staff. The chance of news becoming a small item (a nieuwtje or a flash) is big. A celebrity can appear in those items even without actually having a talent or certain profession, as long as the item is entertaining. In the longer items (a reportage or cover) only big names exist. And big means having a certain value which grows when having more narrative elements in your life. A celebrity can achieve an A-status when he has known drama or success in his life. Talent or charisma will work too; a combination of these factors will enlarge the chance of selection even more. After the selection of news, the question remains how this news is produced. A reportage or cover is made out of selected quotes, images of the celebrities, background music and the voice-overs written by the editors. These lyrics are always sharp and ironic and will not always flatter a celebrity. For example: the item of Georgina Verbaan cheating on her boyfriend. The clip embodies different emotions: right/wrong, love, sex, hurt, conflict, and so on. The program makers accentuate these emotions in their editing, in the voice-over text, but also in the chat afterwards. A celebrity has to rely on what has been said by the experts on the show. The entertainment expert admits he always says what comes up in his mind, without thinking about the consequences. On the contrary, the royalty expert always thinks about he would react being in the position of the celebrity, before sharing it on television. The conflicting opinions of the experts and the presenter can lead to a discussion, which leaves the viewer creating his own opinion. According to research, this form is widely appreciated by the audience. For the celebrity being portrait in RTL Boulevard works both ways. One the one hand they get the publicity they need in a very well seen television program. On the other hand, they have to depend on what’s been said and done by the editorial staff of RTL Boulevard. Whether an item is selected and the way it is produced, depends on the journalistic boundaries of the editorial staff of RTL Boulevard. RTL Boulevard is in their eyes the platform to bring celebrity news. And by that they mean: all celebrity news. With the selection and production of items, the program makers of RTL Boulevard choose conscious, but also unconscious, whether to make, break or ignore a celebrity.