Some publications and shows have been accused of "manufacturing stories" or exploiting celebrities to maintain high ratings.

The modern era of reality TV is often traced back to , which pioneered the concept of putting strangers in a house to see what happened when they "stopped being polite and started getting real". Since then, the genre has branched into several key "story" archetypes:

Some entertainment, like the play The Book Club Play , satirizes this phenomenon by showing how a documentary filmmaker’s presence can hilariously disrupt normal group dynamics. Why We Watch

Watching these shows can actually change how people interact in the real world, as they internalize the social dynamics and conflict resolution styles they see on TV.

Certain local authorities have even banned magazines covering these shows, citing their "toxic and negative narratives".