Current Affair Programs (1 Viewer)

[wuddie]

Modern current affair programs, particularly today tonight and a current affair, are down right ridiculous and stereotypical. The shows have no substance, showing stories which have been repeated for the last decade or so - the diet wonders, the increasing price at the pumps, the unemployed dole bludger who is taking taxpayers' money, and the favourite, the rip-off salesman. Neither shows have touched anything closed to politics and they gave up on national matters - stuff which is really concerning the lives of the community. They've turned into exactly what the frontline series have portrayed - lightweight, low-intellectual infortainment which only rating matters, and nothing else.

This kind of 'journalism' is changing the way the community prioritises things and for too long the current affair programs have not done what they are meant to do - showing what is really affecting us, not someone who has lost 50kg in 10 weeks. However, in this materialistic world we live in, advertisements and ratings are all that the shows are after, and unless some high-profiled jounalist really speaks out and take action, it won't change.

 

[Captain Gh3y]

This kind of 'journalism' is changing the way the community prioritises things

Oh okay. You just made that up then didn't you?

No seriously as much as mathmite is going to orgasm over this thread, it really makes me wonder:

Do people turn on ACA or TT every night expecting to see in depth political analysis and reporting on current events only to be continuously shocked every day for all eternity by what is presented?

Like, I think you'd get the idea after long enough of what you're going to get on those shows. What you're saying is as ridiculous as complaining that Better Homes and Gardens or even Dancing With The Stars aren't giving enough coverage to national issues.

It's not as if there does not exist programs on television that discuss politics and current events.

 

[iamsickofyear12]

I don't watch them because I know they are full of shit.

If you don't like them either then just don't watch them.

 

[jb_nc]

Obviously you can't see how cheap the glue is that sticks the stories together?

The other night on TT, they had footage of a cop who was dodging traffic. They tried, of course, to make out that he was doing it as a "revenue raising exercise" (to get a rise out of the disgruntled and naieve viewing audience who have no idea how the system works), but some how the story managed to switch over the Victorian treasurer.. Then to the federal governmnt, then to a federal minister who parked illegally..

The reporter was new, so it was probably his practice run as pasting a shit story together..

Even though it was shit, i doubt many of the viewers would have picked up on it.

how long do u think the viewers dwelled on that story after the show was finished

2 seconds?

 

[jb_nc]

They internalise it. It subsequently adds to peoples sub-conscious 'beliefs' and affects image.

An extreme example of the consequences of such internalisation is the Cronulla riots and the media constructed fear surrounding middle easterners. Don't try to play this shit down, thanks.

hmm so what you're saying is today tonight and aca are brainwashing us with propaganda

 

[Captain Gh3y]

To me, that says doesn't smell right.

It's just that my vested interest (I own about 30% of the shares in 7 and 9) override my otherwise squeaky clean morals and/or ethics.

No really,

The fact that viewers concern themselves with such pathetic tv shows is a sad indictment on their part, but you can't explain this too them, because they just don't understand.

 

[blackfriday]

the producers for tt/aca are friggin geniuses because they create niche market groups by exploiting certain types people and market products that will be appealing to them. good business is the sort that creates more good business.

and i love aca. i never miss that show.

 

[Stott Despoja]

[Tabloid-style] current affair programs, particularly today tonight and a current affair, are down right ridiculous and stereotypical.

ACA and TT are tabloid-style programs. Don't paint the other current affairs programs (7.30 Report, Lateline, Stateline, Dateline, the Sunday of old, etc.) with the same brush.

 

[Captain Gh3y]

I'm not actually defending the shows as such, rather the viewers.

mathmite has claimed the existence of a paranoid mass that are being influenced by these shows, in the sense that they believe the issues presented are the most pressing of the day (as opposed to those presented in real current affairs sources).

He attributes the existence of this white, paranoid nationalist demographic primarily to September 11 and the following sense of insecurity, and a purported decrease in the population's intelligence since that date. No evidence of the intelligence drop is provided. This same group are also held responsible for the election of the Coalition government: "The federal government retains power time and time again because people, whilst recognizing the futility of a one-nation vote, falsely believe the liberal party to be "conservative".

This is a problem because the Howard Government was elected twice before September 11, 2001, and in each case can't have been elected solely by a "small section of the community who typically voted for One Nation". He might revise this to say that the widespread fear always existed and September 11 only served to make it a little worse. This would be in line with the thinking of the far left; as an editorial in yesterday's Australian said:

The Australian Left's reluctance to make the effort to understand Mr Howard's popular appeal is one of its most fundamental failings of the past 11 years. In the Left's narrative, Mr Howard has won four elections through a combination of luck and duplicity and on each occasion the electorate was too lazy or too stupid to make the right call. Only members of the intellectual elite are smart enough not to be fooled by Mr Howard's trickery. This threadbare analysis has helped consign the Labor Party to Opposition since 1996.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21882476-7583,00.html

In both Federal Politics and TV show viewing it doesn't make sense to simply call a large amount of the population "pathetic old fashioned nationalists", especially with no evidence other than an equally tenuous claim that peoples' intelligence has decreased since September 11.

The shows are meant to be entertaining (which is subjective) and are evidently successful in this as shown by the ratings, and also the large amount of time dedicated to stories about celebrities. There does not appear to be any substantial evidence that people greatly "concern themselves" with the stories or that the shows have a significant effect on Australian political processes

 

[bazookajoe]

It's makes me wonder. Because really, there are two types of people.

1) Those who are naive and actually believe that ACA is worthwhile viewing, or
2) Those who recognise how shit ACA is and despise the worthless piece of ratings driven crap that it is.

No, some people realise that it's shit and just choose not to care

 

[Triangulum]

There does not appear to be any substantial evidence that people greatly "concern themselves" with the stories or that the shows have a significant effect on Australian political processes

Someone should do a study on that, actually. Could be quite interesting.

 

[blackfriday]

It's ok for you to think about it this way, but you're not one of the victims being churned through the machine, are you? Show some compassion.

i actually believe that all publicity is good publicity. i remember a fish shop i used to work at got pulled up on today tonight for misleading customers by marking overseas prawns as australia prawns. they're still doing good business (albeit they don't have a 'as seen on tv' sign out the front). i dont know if you're implying that 'victims' of these shows are completely innocent (well i hope you're not), but there's a reason why they get targeted for television.