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T
he British have introduced the world to two of its biggest reality television formats, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and Pop Idol, and continue to lead the way in finding more places to squeeze in cameras and dole out prize money. And who'd blame them? People, it seems, can't get enough of watching other people.Now, the findings of a YouGov survey for The Telegraph show a stunning, if perhaps inevitable, conclusion: More British youth have voted on television reality shows than are likely to vote at the next general election!
The survey focuses on 18 to 22 year olds, making up nearly a tenth of the electorate. Less than 42 percent think they will vote for any political party, but 46 percent have already voted for their favoured contestants in shows such as Big Brother and Pop Idol, the British version of Indian Idol!
This is bad news for all politicians, not to mention academicians. More than half the surveyed number don't know what a 'constituency' is, and almost the same number were clueless to a choice for best prime minister.
Perhaps the answer is simply to have a 'Who Wants To Win An Election?' or 'Pop Minister' show, and that'd help. Both ways, most likely.