ABSTRACT
The study of non-fiction media has traditionally been based on documentary film and television, and television news and journalism. This chapter focuses on documentary film, television, and new media, and briefly addresses journalism and reality programming. It reviews the intellectual foundations of the inquiries into documentary and discusses the specific concerns and debates inspired by them. The chapter offers a case study investigating the relationship between documentary producers and their subjects and allies, and the innovations in distribution and exhibition of politically charged documentaries. The growing hybridity of forms in contemporary television is reflected in the increasingly shared concerns of critics and historians of non-fiction media. With the political polarization and attendant controversies about the control of media, truthfulness of news, and use of social media, scholars of non-fiction media have the opportunity to affect public discussion of crucial issues inspiring high levels of public visibility.
