As a first stab at this, Richard Kilborn has been doing some work on docu-soaps. You could begin with his work. One starting piont would be: Kilborn, Richard, and John Izod (1997) An introduction to television documentary: confronting reality. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Some others you could begin with: Bondebjerg, Ib (1996) 'Public discourse/private fascination: hybridization in "true-life-story" genres'. Media, Culture and Society, 18: 27-45. Collins, Michael (1998), Tears'r'us. Guardian, pp. 12-13. Corner, John (1995) Television form and public address. London: Edward Arnold. Corner, John (1996) 'Editorial: changing forms of "actuality"'. Media, Culture and Society, 18: 5-9. Mapplebeck, Victoria (1997, October) 'The tabloid formula'. Dox: documentary film magazine, (13): 10-12. Stratton, Jon, and Ien Ang (1994) 'Sylvania Waters and the spectacular exploding family'. Screen, 35 (1): 1-21. All the best, P. -------------------------------------------- (Dr) Peter Hughes Department of Media Studies La Trobe University Bundoora VIC 3083 ph: +61 3 9479 3065 (w), fax: +61 3 9479 3638 (w) www.latrobe.edu.au/media Screening the past. An international, refereed electronic journal of visual media and history: www.latrobe.edu.au/www/screeningthepast ---- To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF Screen-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]