Frontline is a behind-the-scene look at how current affair programs are constructed. It adopts the use of satire to expose the aspects of current affairs shows and their manipulation of truth and construction of mistruth. Stories on current affair programs are seen to be controversial, sensational and presented to be tackling real issues affecting real people.

Current affair programs often reflect a balance between dramatic events, events which are of social interest, human-interest stories and light-hearted or humorous items. This combination gives it variety to attract a wide range audience so that it contributes to good ratings. Frontline is a parody of such a program, usually shown on commercial channels straight after the nightly news. This scheduling tactic offers two major advantages; Firstly, that it is able to appeal to and maintain the audience from the News and secondly, being placed in the timeslot immediately after the News adds authenticity and credibility to the program as it gives the impression of being reported facts and responders perceive this as being subsequently true.

Truths by definition are facts that are accurate, honest, ve

The obvious concern of journalists is uncovering the truth, but recent trends in current affairs journalism clearly show that the journalists inspiration for the unrelenting and insensitive chasing of stories is to achieve good ratings even if this means that the presentation of the truth is a casualty. Frontline helps the audience challenge the representation of truth by the media with its clever reconstruction of a current affairs program. In "Add sex and stir" the truth of the story bends towards what rates well. A story about a woman dropped from her netball team because of ‘poor form’ is warped by Brooke as she reconstructs the story into a 'sex scandal' knowing the addition of sex will make it rate well. She takes up the story on the basis of one woman's allegations. This follows Marty's advice who claims that his grandmother once said: 'take any story and add sex and stir'. This is a perfect example of how truth has been sacrificed for the sake of ratings.

The concept of gender bias is also apparent in "we ain’t got dames". Due to a survey, Frontline was apparently unappealing to female audiences. To regain that part of the audience, the team targets the specific demographics, that is the female population. This episode raises concerns about the nature of ratings and the cynical attempts to capture more of the ratings market. To raise more female attention, they air an exaggerated female interest story about sleazy doctors, with another re-enactment featuring a good-looking male as the GP. This emphasises how historical and patriarchal views influence the construction of the truth and only through excessive concern

Some topics in this essay:
, Furthermore Brian, Mike Brian, Frontline Mike, current affair, current affairs, current affair programs, affair programs, add sex, goes air, selective representation, current affairs program, vision vision, successful current, gender bias, mike story,