All Shook Up

Chapter 5 of "All Shook Up" deals with the degregation of Rock of Roll. The issue of payola was largely responsible for its demise. However, despite an extreme court ruling, heavy investigations and neverending press coverage, I feel like payola was never really squashed. Today, payola has been overtaken by the mainstream media itself while the independants are left struggling. With the rise of monopolies, every facet of pop culture corrolates with a company's agenda. Ryan Seacrest, for instance, is not only the host of the popular TV program American Idol, he plays the winners songs on his LA radio station, has them as guests on his talk show and interviews them as an announcer on E!
Instead of hoaxs on quiz shows (page 145), our supposed "reality" TV shows are now ripe with scripts, blocking and sets. Perhaps "The Hills" is the most infamous example. "The Hills" attempts to depict the lives of the typical Laguna Beach wealthy Caucasian graduate. However, instead of actually filming the subject's life the episodes take on the same air as "Nanook of the North:" they cast romantic interest, set up fake apartments and employ them at fake jobs. Therefore, can "The Hills" really portray the average wealthy Caucasian or is it just feeding into the evergrowing mythological America?