The Camera Doesn’t Lie… Or Does It?
Sixty Minutes. A Current Affair. Today Tonight. We like to see people’s lives. That’s why these shows succeed. They show us the good times and the bad. They bring people’s lives into our living rooms. But are these shows bringing us the honest truth? For example, the segment reported by Sixty Minutes, titled “The Lost Children”, tells the story of children who were sent to Australia for the opportunity of a so called “better life”. It would be there where they would be taken care of by the Christian Brothers. However it was in this “better life” that the children were forced to work as labourers and were molested, beaten and raped. Was the story twisting words? After all, we are all guilty of exaggerating occasionally. But was it an act, tailored to stir up our emotions by using sly, barely noticeable techniques that made us believe what they wanted us to believe? How can we notice things as simple as the sex of the presenter, or the choice of words when phrasing something? We think that we are being told the truth. However, this nearly seamless performance is about to be uncovered.The structure in most current affairs shows are similar. It starts off with a presenter giving a rough introduction of the story
People will continue to watch current affairs programs such as Sixty Minutes and Today Tonight. They will even continue to take what they see as the truth, even though we know that producers of show like the ones mentioned do use techniques like using emotive language, camera tricks and bias selection of content. However, by learning about all of the techniques they can use, we may be able to sort out what they’re saying, so that we can clearly see what is fact and what is not. The techniques they use are not necessarily lies, but they do provoke emotions that would not be evident if they were purely factual. By knowing the techniques, we can challenge the age-old saying that the camera doesn’t lie. Another aspect of television current affairs programs misleading their viewers is how they select the content that they screen. This can be something from letting one person talk for a couple more minutes than another, to not letting the other person talk at all. In the Lost Children segment, the victims of child molestation and labour were given approximately ten minutes each to talk to their ordeal, even more for others. However, when talking to the Christian Brothers and Philip Ruddock, only five minutes were allocated. Even then, the reporter continued to interrupt them. The actual people accused were not even interviewed. One of the victims, Mary Malloy, received approximately twenty minutes, more air time than anyone else. , then goes to the actual story on location, with either a field reporter or a voice-over, sometimes both. The story goes through what happened or what is happening, and then talks to people that have been affected by it. These people usually provide the audience someone to identify with. The people affected can be seen as the victims. After talking to the victims, the story may cross over to whoever is to blame. After talking, or attempting to talk, to these people, the voice-over or presenter will
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Approximate Word count = 1308
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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