I have my Introduction to Critical Media Studies students read “Consuming Race on Nickelodeon” by Sarah Banet-Weiser from her book Kids Rule!: Nickelodeon and Consumer Citizenship. This reading is part of a broader unit that focuses on media culture, representation, and identity. We spend a class period working through the chapter, and, at the end of the period, I assign the following Television Pitch assignment. Basically, I want to bring Banet-Weiser’s idea of racial ambivalence and her overarching argument to life by having students try to envision representations of race and difference that would simultaneously take into account Banet-Weiser’s critiques but also conform to commercial imperatives and the network’s brand. I come to class on our next meeting playing the part of an executive who’s looking to green-light a couple of new projects that will improve the network’s representations of diversity. After each group pitches their show, I, still playing the part of the Nick exec, ask several tough questions about their show idea that test their understanding of Banet-Weiser’s article.
Television Pitches
Given what you’ve learned about media culture, media culture’s history of representing social identities, and, most importantly, Sarah Banet-Weiser’s specific critiques of Nickelodeon and its approach to diversity, develop a pitch for a new kid television program that is both educational and responsible in its handling of historically marginalized social identities/cultures. Your concept must represent an attempt to better the network’s popular representations of difference by taking into consideration Banet-Weiser’s arguments about race, consumption, and the Nickelodeon brand. When developing your pitch, be sure to spend some time with the Nickelodeon website, as your group will need to make a compelling and convincing argument about where, how, and why your program will fit into the network’s existing repertoire of shows, as well as its broader brand identity. Groups will pitch their shows to me, a Nick exec who, on the one hand, has read Sarah Banet-Weiser’s work and sincerely wants to improve the company’s representations, and, on the other hand, has to work within a media culture where commercial imperatives and the bottom line ultimately matter most.
Your pitch should be polished and professional. It must include:
- The concept (including title, main characters, purpose/aim, target audience, description of the pilot episode, etc.)
- An argument about why your concept both fits in with and improves upon existing programming
- An argument about why your concept will work for Nickelodeon, its empowering kids brand, and its bottom line (i.e., how/why the show will sell to advertisers)
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