We have yet another dispute over the
reality of reality television. You may or may not be familiar with the popular
A&E television show Storage Wars. In this hit “reality” show, optimistic
business people bid on the unknown contents of abandoned storage containers
with the hopes of making a profit on what they find inside. Sometimes they make
a good investment and hit big and sometimes they come up short. As it turns out,
the majority of the show including contents of storage units and interviews
with characters have been tampered with even though in a press conference the producers
denied that they used deceptive tactics in the filming of the show.
Now, the producers of the show are being
sued by one of the characters from the first three seasons for being fake. A
distraught David Hester claims that since he refused to let the producers “salt”
or falsely load his purchased storage containers with interesting finds he
seemed less competent than the other business people portrayed on the show. As
a result his business suffered and he was forced to close it down.
Hester is arguing that the tactics
of Storage Wars violates the
Communication Act of 1934, which prohibits “influencing, prearranging, or
predetermining outcomes” in “contests of knowledge, skill, or chance,”. This
seems like a legitimate claim since the title Storage Wars implies that it is
in fact a competition or contest but a judge ruled against a few parts of
Hester’s lawsuit because the show is under the protection of the 1st
amendment. “It is not commercial speech, but “expressive free speech” so it has
more latitude in what it does and says about itself.”
The show may not have initially
been meant for commercial use but the content portrayed by the show includes
real business owners and their real businesses. Even though the main purpose of the show is
entertainment, viewers can knowingly and unknowingly form opinions on the
people that they see in the show. Since the outcomes and scenes from the show
are fake they result in a false portrayal of these business people and
unfortunately as Hester claims, bad publicity for him.
Personally, I feel like Hester
would have a point if he had said something after the first season but he
continued to be a major character on the show for three seasons and only sued A&E
after his termination. If the shows portrayal of him was so detrimental to his
business then why didn’t he say something immediately?
Is it fair that David Hester’s
business had to suffer because of A&E’s quest for high ratings? Do you feel
like the law is interpreted properly in this case? Is David Hester to blame for
being part of the show for three years and not saying anything until now? Do
you think that reality television shows should be able to manipulate their
output to such an extent? How fake is too fake? Do you think the laws regarding
speech need to be altered to accommodate the changing times?
Full article here: http://www.salon.com/2013/03/13/protecting_reality_tvs_right_to_be_fake/
After reading the article and continuing to read your blog, I have to say I agree with you that these “reality” shows falsely portray the successes and failures of men and women which can lead to an image that he or her may not deserve. David Hester has a valid argument and reason to sue television show “Storage Wars” but his argument became invalid once he waited several seasons to report a complaint. If Hester tried suing the show after the producers started to prearrange the items in the storage rooms originally, he would have had a much better chance at making a statement. Although I did think he had a good point, he failed to sue the television show due to the first amendment and “expressive free speech.” Hester was a victim to the unreality of “reality” television shows which led to him not being as successful and possibly being portrayed with a poor image.
ReplyDeleteTyler: I agree with your point that it is not right that people receive portrayals that they do not deserve on these "reality" shows. This is amplified by the fact that the producers purposely meddled with the contents of the storage units in order to create more interesting and valuable finds, so that people are more interested in the show, rather than if all the units were filled with the typical worthless junk. However, I also agree that Hester should not have waited so long in taking any action, legal or otherwise, from when the producers started loading the storage units with items that were not originally in there. He should have immediately brought it up, possibly exposing the producers as cheats, and he possibly should have left the show, if he really felt that placing into the units these items that were not originally there. Overall, I feel that the producers are clearly in the wrong, while Hester, not necessarily in the wrong, did not handle things in a very smart manner.
DeleteI agree with the both of you. After reading this article, in addition to your blog, I still stand by the fact that reality television really pushes what they consider reality compared to what the viewer’s consider reality. I believe that it is not fair to the audience that they falsely portray these storages. Tampering with them and changing the contents is not fair and somewhat illegal. Because of this, David Hester’s public image was ruined along with his business. It is a little bit weird that he did not bring anything up to the media until now after being on the show for three years. Maybe there was some sort of plan behind this. Regardless, not only with Storage Wars but with all shows, the level of fakeness needs to go down. Reality shows are moving farther and farther away from actually reality, twisting people’s lives and perceptions in the process.
ReplyDeleteI am a strong advocate of free speech and all personal freedoms. However, the judge saying that “Storage Wars” is not commercial speech is absolutely absurd. The show airs on a major network and brings in additional money from the bids placed on the storage units. When anything brings in that much money, I personally would consider it to be commercial speech. I agree strongly that the show is guilty of fraud and false advertising. By “salting” these storage containers, over time they build up viewers’ and bidders’ hopes that there will be great things in these storage units. This false hope artificially inflates the demand for these storage units, and therefore draws in more bidders, who are willing to spend more money on these units. If a business utilized these same tactics, they would be investigated, convicted of fraud and shut down. Also, by advertising that the storage units are completely random makes them guilty of false advertising as well. This is where the commercial vs. expressive argument comes into effect and I believe they are guilty of false advertising. With all that said, I do not believe David Hester should win this lawsuit. He does not deserve any money because he was in no way negatively impacted by this. http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/2013/01/29/ae-hits-back-at-fired-storage-wars-stars-fraud-claims/ “Among other things, Plaintiff says that he participated in the very conduct he simultaneously claims was ‘fraudulent’ and ‘illegal,’ namely, the purported ‘salting’ of storage lockers with valuable items and the ‘scripting’ of some portions of the reality television program,” the documents assert. This statement from the article describes the hypocrisy displayed by Hester. Why should he be rewarded 3.75 million dollars for revealing a scandal that he was once involved in? Especially when he was happily involved until his termination from A&E. Hester’s intentions are fueled by personal drives rather than educating the public and victims of the fraud performed in “Storage Wars.”
ReplyDeleteThe conflict here involves two things, the fact that David Hester’s business was assumedly sabotaged, and the fact that he willingly participated in a show (that is also part of a business), that he is accusing of making him look incompetent at his craft. Normally I would say someone that purposely makes someone or his business look less than qualified at his profession should be reprimanded at the very least, but in this certain case, we realize that David Hester was a willing participant who stayed on the show for 3 seasons. Though I cannot be sure of the legality of his contract or when they started to "salt" lockers on the show, David Hester had due time in order to avoid or express this "business ending" conflict long before he took action. The show indeed might have spiced up the show to induce ratings, but possibly at the cost of someone’s financial security. I am not sure who is right in this, due to my lack of background and technical knowledge on the topic, but both parties did not properly address themselves as sound professionals. Reality television should have the freedom to produce the show to their liking, but without crossing a legal line.
ReplyDeleteReality television shows do falsely portray the characters and actors in the show. The producers of reality TV have a different view on what reality actually means. Reality is something real, like a hidden camera. Reality is not selling tampered storage containers and claiming that they were not touched. According to this article, the site claims that A&E does tamper with the garages. They also plant valuable objects in lockers, so that the buyers can not actually see what is inside. David Hester was a victim of reality television, and while he made a valid argument, he did wait too long to present his case. If he were to of said something within a reasonable time period, he may of won the case. It is a shame that his business was ruined due to something he could not control.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-05-23/the-reality-tv-dissident-dave-hester-of-storage-wars
http://i.perezhilton.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/storage-wars-dave-hester__oPt.jpg
ReplyDeleteI think the point of "context with explanation" is to contribute another article with some meaningful tie to this blog post, but I couldn't resist. This picture completely sums up my opinion of this entire "scandal." It seems so immature to have tried to sue the television show after having been on it for three seasons; as if it took three seasons to realize that the storage units had been tampered with. Almost all of the lockers have some sort of rare antique or expensive electronic. I work for a family friend's business, where we go through people's cluttered homes and organize them to where we can put on an estate sale. We rarely find anything worth as much money as they do throughout each locker. Almost all reality televisions are fixed for entertainment purposes, including storage wars. I agree with Matt that Dave Hester was a victim of reality television. It's just unfortunate that this victim was actually apart of the show.
David Hester is the only one claiming his business suffered. If he is such a self proclaimed businessman he should understand he is subject to contract with A&E. Almost all contracts have an added statement "Contract subject to change without given notice." Even in the Marine Corps, my contract has changed so many times, but I am in no place to take legal action against the Marine Corps because I signed myself over. Mr. Hester has done the same, and although he feels he has been wronged, he would not have had publicity on such a large scale if he had not signed with A&E. Of course Dave Hester is to blame for his own problems, now he is an enemy to a corporate powerhouse...
ReplyDeleteDavid Hester signed up to be a part of “Storage Wars” so he should not be blaming A&E for his failed business because he should have thought of the consequences beforehand. In a lot of reality shows producers tamper with the actual reality of it because they want it to be as entertaining as possible. Entertainment means viewers and viewers means money, and that is a producer’s aim. I do not think the law really can be put into context in this type of situation because I mean it is a reality television show. A lot of reality television shows are somewhat false and there have been multiple reported cases of this so I do not understand why people continue to take them seriously and why people act so surprised when the producers are called out on it. Hester is definitely the one to blame for his failed business because there is no way he was oblivious to what the producers were tampering with.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/fired-storage-wars-star-wins-619655
ReplyDeleteI don't think Dave deserves any blame for the actions of the producers, however, he should have been more proactive if it was affecting his personal business ventures. In a "competitive" environment, I feel that A&E was wrong for rigging outcomes AND denying it to the competitors/stars of the show. It is a totally different story if all of the cast members are aware. Dave was a victim of the deceitful actions of the producers of Storage Wars.
Initially, Dave looked at the lawsuit as a chance to change unfair practices on the show with the following argument: the Communications Act of 1934 prevents broadcasters from rigging a contest of intellectual skill with the intent to deceive the viewing public. The court ruled that the show was protected by the First Amendment. However, Dave is now suing for wrongful termination which looks to be in his favor.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/fired-storage-wars-star-wins-619655
Storage Wars is a lie? The closest to reality television I actually watch on long sick days. I found it interesting to see what they would find and what it was worth although I suspected some things to be planted, I have stumbled upon interesting treasures myself so I thought it was possible. My mom bought some books at a garage sale a while back, just looking at colors for decorating shelves in the house, and one of them was a first year print of To Kill A Mockingbird. It is not worth much since it is not first print (and younger Jess accidentally ruined and threw out the dust jacket *head bag*) but its still valuable and cool to us. Im sure in Scottsdale people give up storage lockers with valuables they don't care about any longer. I feel that it's sketchy that not even the characters knew that they were finding purposely placed valuables. Dave was fired for unfair reasons in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteIt does not surprise me that something like this had happened because I feel like there is a lot that goes on that the viewers do not know about behind the scenes and when the camera is not rolling. I agree and I think a lot of what we believe is the truth or real thing may be all an act. While searching on google, I found a lot of similar cases where a reality show gets sued or there is controversy over how real the reality show actually is. In one article that I found, a show on the food network was supposed to give one of their contestants his own franchise because he won the competition but the contestant never got his own franchise store as promised. Because of this he claimed it was all a fraud and sued the show. It is situations like these that make me question how much truth there is in reality shows.
ReplyDeletehttp://radaronline.com/exclusives/2013/07/food-network-lawsuit-contestant-cooked-up-fraud-giving-you-business/
Although I think Hector is merely trying to get what he can out of being on storage wars since his business failed, time does not depreciate law. As much as I dislike it, Hector's image suffered and thus his business suffered as a result of storage wars and their tampered storage rooms. I personally know of a "robot" that was found in a storage room from one of the shows and knew right away that the room was tampered with due to the way the poorly put together robot was set up. All in all, I think Hector has every right to sue and reality shows should be careful that when they portray an image of anything, it only reflects on themselves even if he is suing after 3 years of staying quiet.
ReplyDeleteI certainly agree with your point about Hester. His argument could have been much more valid had he not waited a significant amount of time after the incident occurred, or the fact that it was after he got terminated. As you said, the main purpose of the show is entertainment, what fun would it be to the viewer if every storage purchased had nothing but junk inside? It's unfortunate that I don't find the fact that the producers tampered with the storage units surprising, but it's very easy to see why. Hester may have a good claim, but he should have known about the potential consequences of signing the contract given to him.
ReplyDelete