Abstract
The paradox of mediated authenticity is that although we base most of our knowledge about our society and the world in which we live on mediated representations of reality, we remain well aware that the media are constructed, manipulated, and even faked. (p. 1)
The opening sentence in the Introduction to Gunn Enli’s book on mediated authenticity succinctly summarises the main focus of her book. Enli defines mediated authenticity as a social construction, which ‘traffics in representations of reality’ (p. 1). She argues that mediated authenticity is ‘achieved through production techniques and authenticity illusions, which range from minor adjustments such as lighting and sound effects to drastic post-production editing and photoshopping’ (p. 1). In her view, authenticity encompasses three primary subcategories – trustworthiness, originality and spontaneity. Enli attempts to build a theory of mediated authenticity, which includes three main components: authenticity illusions, the authenticity contract and authenticity scandals/puzzles. Given that mediated communication is meant to encompass ‘representations of reality’, Enli argues that it works by creating ‘illusions of authenticity’ (p. 14). The authenticity contract, on the other hand, involves a mutual tacit understanding between producers, audiences and regulatory authorities about the norms and conventions of mediated communication. At times, ‘the agreement collapses’ (p. 18) and miscommunication in the form of authenticity scandals or authenticity puzzles occurs. Enli operationalises the term authenticity scandal in a reasonably open-ended way to encompass anything from deliberate deception by media producers for economic profit to the introduction of novel production techniques that audiences are unprepared for. The authenticity puzzle, on the other hand, involves an invitation for the audience to solve a puzzle, namely ‘to identify and separate the authentic elements from the fake elements, and thus engage in meaning production, but also in a kind of media criticism’ (p. 18). The book is split into five substantive chapters, each of which presents a case study of an authenticity scandal or an authenticity puzzle. The first case study is the American radio drama The War of the Worlds, which became famous in 1938 when lots of listeners allegedly believed that an alien invasion was taking place. The second case study is a scandal from the 1950s involving the US The Quiz Show in which the producers were accused of manipulating the competitions. The third case study explores the success of Britain’s Got Talent participant Susan Boyle by conceptualising reality TV as authenticity puzzles. The fourth case study includes three fake blogs – first, ‘Living Colours’ – the hoax blog of Kaycee Nicole revolving around a fake high school student’s battle with leukaemia; second, ‘lonelygirl15’ – the fake YouTube video blog again of a fictitious teenager, and ‘A Gay Girl in Damascus’ – the hoax blog of a lesbian in Damascus. The final case study is Barack Obama’s election campaigns, which Enli uses as examples of authenticity puzzles. The concluding chapter then attempts to develop a theory of mediated authenticity, which is built upon the three key concepts of authenticity illusions, authenticity contract and authenticity scandals/puzzles. Enli wraps up the book by arguing that seven markers distinguish mediated authenticity – predictability, spontaneity, immediacy, confessions, ordinariness, ambivalence and imperfection. Her book provides an interesting insight into authenticity as a process and the relationship between media and ‘reality’.