TV drama political stances are diluted by the pursuit of the widest audience

Evidence

TV dramas typically featured post-9/11 government policies by representing positions on both the left and the right. During the War on Terror, as always, television studios and networks sought to maintain the widest possible viewership. As a result, programs that are usually considered “liberal” in their viewpoint nevertheless contain “conservative” elements, and “conservative” programs also contain “liberal” ideological elements. In other words, “liberal” TV dramas that convey an antiracism message, sympathize with the Arab and Muslim American plight, or seem to critique racial profiling, will often take the opposing perspective into consideration so as not to alienate viewers. — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media, 318

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to advertising-driven media critiques and the economics of prime-time content; parallels the logic that commercial media structurally produce centrism. — connects to: Mandatory-jokey political TV actively deters the politically engaged audience — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 739; Minor-party TV debate inclusion widened Britain’s political imagination. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1776