Való Világ 7 sets new record with more than a hundred instances of swearing in one episode

The NMIA continues with its “barometer” service informing the interested public about elements of concern in the reality series

Published: 18 February 2015

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The National Media and Infocommunications Authority’s (NMIA) dedicated web page allows for monitoring, week by week, the amount of obscenity, nudity, sexuality, alcohol consumption and smoking depicted in each episode of the reality show Való Világ 7 (Real World 7), airing on RTL 2, a television channel subject to Romanian jurisdiction. The “barometer” for the extremely popular TV show aims primarily at protecting minors by capturing and illustrating any content of concern depicted on the show and its changes in connection with viewing trends, using methods beyond administrative investigations. Harmful patterns shown on the programme are analysed by employees of the Authority with quantitative methods that also allow for identifying trends.

The data service has been monitoring episodes of Való Világ 7 since the start of the series on 16 November 2014, focussing only on evening editions. The NMIA has been paying particular attention to reality shows ever since they first aired, as the high number of viewer complaints (40 official complaints has been received since November) and the experience of the Authority both show that the use of rude and obscene expressions, the depiction of sexuality and negative behavioural patterns, e.g. smoking and alcohol consumption, are more prevalent in these shows compared to other types of programmes Data so far processed by the NMIA reveal, among others, that participants in Való Világ 7 have cursed the most, on 102 occasions, on 3 February; within one episode, the number of scenes depicting smoking has reached as high as 48 (9 February), the depiction of alcohol consumption peaked at 36 (right on the day after the show’s premier), while sexuality and nudity were shown as often as 10 to 11 times per episode (e.g. 4 and 19 January, 2 and 5 February).

The unit of analysis used for study purposes is the scene depicting harmful behavioural patterns. Scenes are registered as many times as the programme-maker includes them in the summary episode. Figures published on a weekly basis are calculated by averaging the daily number of scenes (occurrences). From the types of controversial content, a different methodology is only applied for obscenity as it is easy to quantify the frequency of rude and obscene expressions. In this case, the unit of analysis is the number the occurrence of such words instead of the scene. Obscene expressions are rated on the basis of the criteria for existing age categories.

The depiction of sexuality and nudity is studied as one category due to their close correlation. For the depiction of sexuality, both its visual and verbal representation is taken into account, meaning that verbal references to sexuality or sexual activity are also included in the number of registered scenes. Another content of major concern is the depiction of alcohol consumption and smoking by the inhabitants of the villa. With regard to this category, scenes clearly showing smoking or alcohol consumption are registered.

The NMIA also documented the previous series of Való Világ as well as TV2’s ÖsszeEsküvők (Perfect Bride) show on a weekly basis; the relevant data are published on the NMIA’s web site. The Authority considers one of its most important duties to take action against media content potentially harmful to minors; that is why it also publishes studies concerning the experiences of its studies.