Is Telling the Truth on the Media
Is telling the truth on the media's agenda? The Media does not want to communicate complexity - rather it is much easier to communicate assembled stories in the archetypical formats of good and bad. Unfortunately the complicated version of the story, in many cases, is the truth. The truth can be defined as conformity to fact or reality, which also means that the truth can be debatable; one man's terrorist could be another mans hero, and as such an undecided assessment of what exactly "the truth" is can degrade public appeal. In many cases the truth may also be plain and simple, but once again, just lack that public appeal. Telling the truth is not on the media's agenda. If so, then what is on the media's agenda? What could possibly hold higher priority for the media other than telling the public how it is? The answer is simple - the ever existent need for 'ratings' to nourish the media machine. Note that this is a persistent theme also found in the media send-up series "Frontline"."When I talk, you shoot", Frontline reporter Mike Moore instructs to soldiers in an attempt to overdramatize a clearly controlled military situation at Bougainville. This episode of Frontline entitled "Playing the Ego Card" satirizes this attitude of
Brian from "Frontline" couldn't use Mike Moore's original 'conflict in Bougaineville' story in the end, not because it wasn't happening - but because it wasn't interesting enough. Their attempts to conduct their own warlike atmosphere were all but successful - this did however, leave them with the option to report the true, yet uneventful situation at Bougaineville. But who will listen to a 'boring' story? The result of the Over-dramatisation of the Jessica Lynch situation no doubt captured media audiences worldwide. Yet imagine if it were the 'true' Jessica Lynch rescue story reported; how many viewers would the media have to sustain themselves off then? In both cases, for the media, ratings are second to none - even the truth. Perhaps all we can rely on the media now is for some good entertainment. "We kicked arse... Hit the mark with the viewers, execs are happy, sales department's over the moon. You made these ratings." (Brian) And not once is it mentioned that the truth needs to be told. 'Frontline', as a television series does not simply exaggerate the efforts of the media. As a satire, it actually stays within the realms of reality. Just recently (2003), during the US of A's war against Iraq had one portion of the Media exercise its ability to overdramatize, misinform and fool the general public, particularly with the aid of supporting media much like the characters from 'Frontline' had tried. When American Private Jessica Lynch was rescued from an Iraqi hospital last April, the Bush administration and much of the US media w
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Approximate Word count = 1043
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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