ABSTRACT

Research in the field of media industry studies has shown that culture is embedded in a politically charged environment. In the writers' room, what might appear to outsiders as an unstructured free-for-all conversation is actually highly structured by professional norms and expectations and complicated by personal agendas. Sexist and racist jokes and conversations, tolerated for the sake of creativity and the free flow of ideas, can easily foster an atmosphere that women and racial or ethnic minorities experience as hostile. In recent years, however, more women have entered the field and risen to positions of authority in the writers' room. This has changed the dynamic on many television series. Because the relationship among writers is simultaneously one of cooperation and competition, some writers try to plug their own ideas by tearing down the ideas of others - all in an effort to make themselves look better.