Admits our week eight workshop our class had a really interesting conversation on what traits are necessary to cultivate a likeable TV personality, considering Jamie Oliver as an example. As a class we could all identify and appreciate the key characteristics, such as being an everyday, down to Earth family man, that makes the TV chef so authentic and relatable. But yet what divided the class was whether or not a TV personality can, or should, be able to capitalise on their success to influence impending social issues.
Being someone who values personal wellbeing and health very highly, the work that Jamie Oliver has done (such as advocating for far healthier children’s food options, a tax on sugar etc) is what makes me like him so much. Yet the entire class didn’t necessarily agree, some taking the view that it is not up to a TV personality to impart their opinion on what, for instance, the general public should feed their children.
As I have written about in previous posts, the media (in various formats) can and should serve a purpose in advocating for a “cause” that the public might not otherwise know much about. Jamie Oliver has successfully done this in educating his audience on what healthy food constitutes which, I believe, adds to his success as an “advocate” of sorts (which I believe should be a component of working within the media).
