Civic themes do appear in some of today’s most-viewed entertainment TV programs in the United States—across networks, platforms, and genres. However, although  characters are often shown talking about contemporary civic and social issues (such as racism and the environment), they are rarely shown taking leadership and acting to solve civic problems in their communities. Given this imbalance, models of authentic and effective civic leadership and civic participation are not readily visible. In addition, although they show up infrequently as characters in entertainment TV, civic leaders onscreen are twice as likely to be shown engaging in illegal activities than working in policymaking. By far, the civic professionals we see the most are members of law enforcement and the criminal justice system—much more than politicians and non-elected government officials/civil servants. When elected officials and civil servants do show up as characters in entertainment TV, they are dramatically more likely to be White and men. And in today’s most-watched, top-rated entertainment TV programming for young adults (ages 18-34), registering to vote and voting are actions that are nearly  invisible, appearing in less than 1% of episodes. Voting messages are also nearly nonexistent.

But these findings also present opportunities: When characters or subjects do engage in civic conversations or actions, they do so across all genres of entertainment—from scripted drama to comedy to unscripted—which presents actionable ideas for entertainment engagement across programming types for the future. In other words, no one entertainment genre is better able to incorporate civic life and participation than another, from reality to scripted drama to comedy. And on-screen characters’ civic  conversations mirror topics of concern in the United States, from racial justice to mental health and more; popular culture is a reflection, in many ways, of contemporary civic dialogue.

On-screen characters in top-rated entertainment TV programs are much more likely to be seen talking about civic and social issues than taking action.

Executive Summary

Key Findings

 

CIVIC THEMES IN ENTERTAINMENT TV: CIVIC THEMES APPEAR IN NEARLY ONE-THIRD OF EPISODES, BUT AUTHENTIC PORTRAYALS OF CIVIC LEADERSHIP ARE LACKING.

Civic themes—that is, any appearance of civic conversations, ideas and actions—appear in about one-third (29%) of top-rated entertainment TV program episodes, across both scripted and unscripted genres. This reveals interest in these themes among show creators and audiences. However, authentic depictions of civic leadership and participation are largely missing from the most-watched entertainment TV portraits. Scripted drama and sit-coms portray civic themes more than all other entertainment TV genres (47% of civic themes occur in scripted drama, vs. 1-18% in all other genres, with scripted comedy in the number-two spot, portraying 18% of the civic themes in this listing of TV  programs.)

 

CIVIC PARTICIPATION: CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IS IN THE BACKGROUND, NOT THE FOREFRONT.

When civic actions show up in entertainment TV, they are more likely to occur briefly or in the background of the episode’s primary storyline. Civic participation generally does not drive storylines or narrative developments, appearing instead as a casual backdrop.

 

TALKING VS. DOING: CIVIC CONVERSATION IS PORTRAYED NEARLY THREE TIMES MORE THAN CIVIC ACTION.

On-screen characters in top-rated entertainment TV programs are much more likely to be seen talking about civic and social issues than taking action—in fact, they are nearly three times more likely to be in conversation about contemporary social and civic issues than engaging in behaviors about them. Informal conversations about social issues of public concern, public policy, or community needs are seen in 16% of episodes, dramatically more often than civic actions. Similarly, politicians, candidates for elected office, and civil servants tend to give public talks or attend public events, and are the least likely to be depicted as engaging in the legislative and public policymaking process itself.

 

CIVIC LEADERSHIP: LAW ENFORCEMENT DOMINATES PORTRAYALS OF CIVIC LEADERSHIP.

Elected officials, political candidates for elected office, and non-elected government officials/civil servants are portrayed far less than other civic professionals. Elected officials show up in 11% of episodes, civil servants/non-elected government officials show up in 8%, and political candidates show up in 2% of episodes. By contrast, law enforcement and criminal justice system professionals appear in four in ten (41%) episodes, while teachers appear in 13% of episodes. Law enforcement portrayals appear nearly four times more than elected public leaders, and five times more than civil servants.

 

OFFICIAL CORRUPTION: OFFICIAL CORRUPTION IS TWICE AS COMMON AS POLICYMAKING.

Elected officials, political candidates for elected office, and non-elected government officials/civil servants are twice as likely to be shown engaging in illegal activities than working in policymaking.

 

RACE AND GENDER IN CIVIC LEADERSHIP: WHITE MEN DOMINATE CIVIC LEADERSHIP PORTRAYALS.

When elected officials, political candidates for elected office, and non-elected government officials/civil servants are portrayed in entertainment TV, they are much more likely to be White (78% White,23% BIPOC) and identify as men (68% men, 32% women).

 

CIVIC ACTIONS: EVERYDAY PEOPLE ENGAGE ON SOCIAL ISSUES BUT INFREQUENTLY TAKE ACTION.

Most-watched entertainment TV show characters generally do not engage with politics in storylines, but instead with contemporary social issues. Although infrequent, the top-five civic activities in which everyday people engage are:

  1. organizing or attending events or giving talks/speeches on issues of public concern or public
    policy (6%),
  2. donating or volunteering to address issues of public concern or community needs (nearly 6%),
  3. boycotting a product or service or engaging in public protests or demonstrations (a little over3%),
  4. participating in nonpartisan get-out-the-vote activities or working the polls (nearly 3%), and
  5. organizing/attending events or giving talks/speeches (2%).

 

MOST DISCUSSED ISSUES: TOPICAL CONVERSATIONS REFLECT CONTEMPORARY PUBLIC DEBATE.

When they do discuss civic and social issues in entertainment TV episodes, characters are much more likely to discuss contemporary social issues than electoral politics or public institutions. Topical social issues in conversation reflect crucial and timely social justice topics in American life, with a focus on racial justice and racism, immigration, and gender violence.

 

PORTRAYALS OF VOTING: VOTING BEHAVIORS ARE RARELY PORTRAYED.

Entertainment TV characters engage in voting behaviors (both registration and voting) in less than 1% of top-rated entertainment TV programming; only five total characters (across 658 TV episodes) are shown registering to vote or voting.