From 1991 to 1996 these individuals collectively wrote some three and a half million words on television, their lives, and the relationship between the two. With the benefit of one of the most substantial and rich sets of sociological data ever collected, Gauntlett and Hill are able to explore a broad range of the most fundamental questions in media and cultural studies, as well as opening up entirely new avenues and areas of debate.
TV Living focuses on issues of gender, identity, new technologies and life change.
The study reveals further new findings with regard to the elderly audience, and what people think to sex and violence on television. The longitudinal study is able to follow changes as audiences approach the new media age of the 21st century, and go through various life transitions of their own. For the first time, audiences from all over Britain reflect candidly on their television viewing. We see that television may be the most popular leisure activity, but everyday life is more powerful than the media. This clear and engaging book, based on the kind of substantial qualitative data set which cultural studies frequently calls for but rarely has access to, presents an exciting, literate and thoughtful picture of the complex and fascinating relationship between mass media and people s lives today .