Bravo agreed to broadcast suicide prevention PSAs in the aftermath of the headline-making suicide of Russell Armstrong, the disintegration of whose marriage was brutally documented on Bravo's The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. But what reality television really needs is "a voluntary, industry-adopted ethics code," says Linda Holmes at NPR. Voyeuristic viewers will never stop hungering for the emotional warfare that reality TV supplies, so the least networks can do is create — and abide by — standards that limit the psychological toll these shows take on their participants. That could mean limiting alcohol consumption, instituting mandatory counseling, making contracts public, and requiring that contestants get a reasonable amount of sleep. Is it time for a reality TV code of ethics?
Yes. Industry-wide standards are a must: Reality show participants — rarely aware beforehand of what they're truly getting into — are at the mercy of producers, says Aidan Morgan at MamaPop. A code of ethics is necessary to protect them. And it could protect shows, too. As the genre becomes more popular and its stars more exploited, expect more tragedies like Armstrong's. "The television industry will start having to watch its back," and this code could help.
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