The Influence Of Mark Burnett
Survivor, The Apprentice, Shark Tank, The Voice, and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader- these are all television series produced by television mogul Mark Burnett. But Burnett was not only a successful producer. He changed the history of television, and provides opportunities for thousands of diverse Americans. Also, Burnett assists in fighting stereotypes, and is encouraging to many of his viewers. Plus, he has raised awareness for numerous issues. Television producer, magnate, and CEO Mark Burnett has had a major impact on media and is very influential to millions of people.
Mark Burnett is the father of reality television, and made history by producing his non-scripted shows. Washington Post writer Tom Shales explained that Burnett “brought …show more content…
TV into a new age” of non scripted, competitive reality television (Shales). Television as everybody knew it was changed after the Survivor: Borneo pilot in May of 2000, Burnett’s first successful program. When Burnett pitched his idea to CBS and persuaded the network to let him experiment with this new concept of television, reality television was still new, and not nearly as popular dramas and soap operas. This fresh idea of non scripted television exploded all over every channel, all because Burnett set that trend in motion. After his initial pitch for Survivor, Burnett went on to produce very popular series, for example The Voice, Expedition Impossible, Shark Tank, and many other scriptless experiments that have never been done before. By creating and producing his first competitive reality show, Survivor, Burnett started a revolution in television, proving his significant impact in media.
Along with changing television as everybody knew it, Burnett also provides many Americans with unique opportunities. By appearing on Burnett’s shows such as The Voice or Shark Tank, it is easy to make it big due to the exposure from the show (Griswold). An example of being springboarded by one of Burnett’s shows is Proof Eyewear. When this fashion company made an appearance on Shark Tank, they were not doing the best they could with sales. However, being on the show gave Proof Eyewear the exposure that they needed in order to turn the business around and be successful. Without Burnett and his shows, the fashion company would have never gotten that kind of exposure. Also, contestants that perform and compete on The Voice get to experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The singers get to work with celebrity coaches who provide their advice and wisdom to help singers make it big, along with supplying exposure and management skills for the aspiring performers. All the contestants that appear on Burnett’s shows are provided with the opportunities to change their lives for the better.
In addition, Mark Burnett helps abolish numerous negative stereotypes. All the contestants on television series that Burnett produce are all very diverse. Mark Burnett explained that he is “really done with negative things, the tearing-down of people and negative stereotypes” (Zwecker). Burnett’s first mission in order to achieve his goals of
Dursin 3 diminishing negative stereotypes was his thirteenth season of Survivor, filmed in the Cook Islands, which aired in 2006. Burnett divided up the cast by race. Each race had its own
“tribe”, competing with the other tribes. This was seen as a horrible social experiment, and was thought of as embracing negative stereotypes. Because advertisers were horrified, they canceled all deals with Burnett and he lost money. However, there was no clear difference between the different tribes of races. The African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, and Caucasians all proved to be strong, smart, and great competitors, with no particular tribe being especially weak or strong. By segregating the cast, Burnett ended up abolishing many negative stereotypes relating to different races. In addition to racial stereotypes, Burnett wanted to abolish negative stereotypes about gay people. The very first gay man that Burnett cast on Survivor was not what most people in the year 2000 thought was the “stereotypical gay man.” This man was named Richard Hatch, and he ended up winning the competition and the million dollars. Hatch wasn’t feminine, weak, and skinny, and by casting him, Burnett proved to every viewer that not every gay man is the same stereotypically feminine person. Burnett went on to cast numerous gay contestants on all of his shows to further his mission of getting rid of stereotypes. Burnett showed all of his millions of viewers that negative stereotypes are usually not true and should be diminished.
Mark Burnett’s television company, United Artists Media Group, has been very encouraging to all viewers aspiring to do something great.
Burnett’s show, Survivor, encourages many viewers to be active. For example, after Chad Crittenden lost his foot, he did not want to do anything exercise-related, as it challenged him and made him upset about his unfortunate condition. However, because of his desire to be cast on Survivor, Crittenden began training. He even ran a triathlon once he was cancer-free to further his training (Chad Crittenden). Moreover, Burnett’s television series Shark is very educating and inspiring. Aspiring entrepreneurs can learn a lot from Shark Tank, such as tips about royalties and equity, ways to being a successful business, and how to create an inventive product that people would actually be willing to pay money for. The show influences many viewers to begin working on a great idea to pitch to the “sharks.” Additionally, The Voicee encourages wannabe singers and musicians to audition in order to get a celebrity vocal coach to make them better performers. What all these series have in common is that they inspire and encourage viewers to do something great to make a change in their own life, as well as the lives of
others.
Besides being an inspiration, Mark Burnett, through his projects, raises awareness for numerous issues including sexually transmitted infections and unfair pay. After revealing his HIV positive status on The Voice, Jamar Rojers started a wave of awareness on education throughout The Voice viewers (Anderson). Because Rojers uncovered his infection, The Black AIDS Institute receives a comparatively large amount of donations from those supporting Rojers and other people suffering from the same or similar infections. Another example of Mark Burnett spreading awareness was when Burnett donated fifty thousand dollars to self-proclaimed struggling lunch lady Denise Martin in 2007. When Burnett went about this act of kindness, viewers and fans of Burnett began thinking. Women and men working in schools are often undervalued and underpaid, especially lunch staff and janitors. Numerous schools across the country began to raise the salaries of those who are paid less that are working for the schools, all because Burnett wrote one check to a lunch lady. These examples both prove Burnett’s influence to raise awareness for issues.
As a television producer, Mark Burnett is very influential man, and has impacted media greatly. Burnett helps to raise awareness for numerous issues and topics, as well as encourages viewers to do something great. Also, Burnett assists in fighting negative stereotypes in addition to supplying and providing opportunities for Americans across the nation. Mark’s Burnett’s greatest influence is his influence on television, as he changed the meaning of “popular TV” in the year 2000. When Burnett was asked what rule he follows to be successful, he simply stated, “Try to go above, beyond, and then further” (Mark Burnett Biography).
Mark Burnett is the father of reality television, and made history by producing his non-scripted shows. Washington Post writer Tom Shales explained that Burnett “brought …show more content…
TV into a new age” of non scripted, competitive reality television (Shales). Television as everybody knew it was changed after the Survivor: Borneo pilot in May of 2000, Burnett’s first successful program. When Burnett pitched his idea to CBS and persuaded the network to let him experiment with this new concept of television, reality television was still new, and not nearly as popular dramas and soap operas. This fresh idea of non scripted television exploded all over every channel, all because Burnett set that trend in motion. After his initial pitch for Survivor, Burnett went on to produce very popular series, for example The Voice, Expedition Impossible, Shark Tank, and many other scriptless experiments that have never been done before. By creating and producing his first competitive reality show, Survivor, Burnett started a revolution in television, proving his significant impact in media.
Along with changing television as everybody knew it, Burnett also provides many Americans with unique opportunities. By appearing on Burnett’s shows such as The Voice or Shark Tank, it is easy to make it big due to the exposure from the show (Griswold). An example of being springboarded by one of Burnett’s shows is Proof Eyewear. When this fashion company made an appearance on Shark Tank, they were not doing the best they could with sales. However, being on the show gave Proof Eyewear the exposure that they needed in order to turn the business around and be successful. Without Burnett and his shows, the fashion company would have never gotten that kind of exposure. Also, contestants that perform and compete on The Voice get to experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The singers get to work with celebrity coaches who provide their advice and wisdom to help singers make it big, along with supplying exposure and management skills for the aspiring performers. All the contestants that appear on Burnett’s shows are provided with the opportunities to change their lives for the better.
In addition, Mark Burnett helps abolish numerous negative stereotypes. All the contestants on television series that Burnett produce are all very diverse. Mark Burnett explained that he is “really done with negative things, the tearing-down of people and negative stereotypes” (Zwecker). Burnett’s first mission in order to achieve his goals of
Dursin 3 diminishing negative stereotypes was his thirteenth season of Survivor, filmed in the Cook Islands, which aired in 2006. Burnett divided up the cast by race. Each race had its own
“tribe”, competing with the other tribes. This was seen as a horrible social experiment, and was thought of as embracing negative stereotypes. Because advertisers were horrified, they canceled all deals with Burnett and he lost money. However, there was no clear difference between the different tribes of races. The African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, and Caucasians all proved to be strong, smart, and great competitors, with no particular tribe being especially weak or strong. By segregating the cast, Burnett ended up abolishing many negative stereotypes relating to different races. In addition to racial stereotypes, Burnett wanted to abolish negative stereotypes about gay people. The very first gay man that Burnett cast on Survivor was not what most people in the year 2000 thought was the “stereotypical gay man.” This man was named Richard Hatch, and he ended up winning the competition and the million dollars. Hatch wasn’t feminine, weak, and skinny, and by casting him, Burnett proved to every viewer that not every gay man is the same stereotypically feminine person. Burnett went on to cast numerous gay contestants on all of his shows to further his mission of getting rid of stereotypes. Burnett showed all of his millions of viewers that negative stereotypes are usually not true and should be diminished.
Mark Burnett’s television company, United Artists Media Group, has been very encouraging to all viewers aspiring to do something great.
Burnett’s show, Survivor, encourages many viewers to be active. For example, after Chad Crittenden lost his foot, he did not want to do anything exercise-related, as it challenged him and made him upset about his unfortunate condition. However, because of his desire to be cast on Survivor, Crittenden began training. He even ran a triathlon once he was cancer-free to further his training (Chad Crittenden). Moreover, Burnett’s television series Shark is very educating and inspiring. Aspiring entrepreneurs can learn a lot from Shark Tank, such as tips about royalties and equity, ways to being a successful business, and how to create an inventive product that people would actually be willing to pay money for. The show influences many viewers to begin working on a great idea to pitch to the “sharks.” Additionally, The Voicee encourages wannabe singers and musicians to audition in order to get a celebrity vocal coach to make them better performers. What all these series have in common is that they inspire and encourage viewers to do something great to make a change in their own life, as well as the lives of
others.
Besides being an inspiration, Mark Burnett, through his projects, raises awareness for numerous issues including sexually transmitted infections and unfair pay. After revealing his HIV positive status on The Voice, Jamar Rojers started a wave of awareness on education throughout The Voice viewers (Anderson). Because Rojers uncovered his infection, The Black AIDS Institute receives a comparatively large amount of donations from those supporting Rojers and other people suffering from the same or similar infections. Another example of Mark Burnett spreading awareness was when Burnett donated fifty thousand dollars to self-proclaimed struggling lunch lady Denise Martin in 2007. When Burnett went about this act of kindness, viewers and fans of Burnett began thinking. Women and men working in schools are often undervalued and underpaid, especially lunch staff and janitors. Numerous schools across the country began to raise the salaries of those who are paid less that are working for the schools, all because Burnett wrote one check to a lunch lady. These examples both prove Burnett’s influence to raise awareness for issues.
As a television producer, Mark Burnett is very influential man, and has impacted media greatly. Burnett helps to raise awareness for numerous issues and topics, as well as encourages viewers to do something great. Also, Burnett assists in fighting negative stereotypes in addition to supplying and providing opportunities for Americans across the nation. Mark’s Burnett’s greatest influence is his influence on television, as he changed the meaning of “popular TV” in the year 2000. When Burnett was asked what rule he follows to be successful, he simply stated, “Try to go above, beyond, and then further” (Mark Burnett Biography).