News and Current Affairs by Jack Langman

In the era of information, or more specifically information technology, we are daily bombarded with news and images, each presenting us a different version of a truth. A number of factors related to news and current affairs influence the meaning, or ‘version of reality’ that we take away. It can be strongly argued that there is no truth, and the construction of the story, as well as the perspective of the audience interpreting the presentation contributes to the meaning we extract.

A number of different levels can be considered when analysing a news or current affairs presentation. The first is the underlying information presented to the viewer. This is altered by selecting information that supports a viewpoint, and emphasising certain portions of the story. The next main factor is the construction of the story. Many people contribute to the ‘editing’ process, not the least of which is the audience the story is targeted towards, with stations constantly battling for those vital ratings. Journalists, presenters, TV station managers, and many others are also involved in the construction of the story. There are also a cohort of devices used to influence the presentation, s

One of the most distinct differences between the channels is the ‘place and space’ of the stories, or the position of the stories in relation to the other stories, and the length. The placement of a report and the space devoted to it can encourage the audience to see the report as more or less important than other stories. A potent example of this is the report; ‘Martial Law’, regarding the incident in Indonesia that provoked military involvement, screened on Mon 19th May. On GWN, the story was positioned 8th, compared to 5th on ABC news. However, the biggest difference in the reports was the time allocated to each. The GWN story allocated a very short amount of time, going into very little detail or explanations, mainly showing impressive graphics of paratroopers. The ABC coverage was far more in depth, covering political viewpoints and reasoning. The low positions can probably be attributed to the fact that the incident had little bearing on Australia, thus especially little coverage on the mainstream GWN. The reputation of the ABC as a multi-cultural station demands that it give a reasonable amount of time to the incident, as not to alienate any minority groups, even though the story may not be of much interest to the wider Australian public.

A number of elements go into shaping the ‘version of reality’ that we receive. Many of the decisions that affect the construction and interpretation of news presentations are not necessarily the result of one presenter or journalist, but of particular ideologies. News is designed to encourage particular ways of thinking, and is usually targeted at certain audiences for this reason. News presents a viewpoint on two levels. The first reports on an event and offers a viewpoint on it, encouraging attitudes towards the events or the people involved. On another level, the presentation may support more general values ideas. This leads me to conclude that there is no truth, at least not perceivable to ordinary humans. Truth is multidimensional, and alters depending on the version of reality we perceive. Isn’t that the truth?

Selection of information in the construction of the story is perhaps one of the most vital factors in determining the version of reality the viewer receives. The differences between the two presentations can be very pronounced. Ignoring certain aspects of a story, or selecting other parts, can have a major effect on the way the story is received. A drastic example of this is the differences in the report about a boy who ‘attacked’ his teacher with a baseball bat on the news broadcasts on Wed 14th. On GWN, the details of the actual violent act were left out, while the reason, outcome and the appearance of the child in question were selected. The photo c

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