Journalistic Integrity or Lack Thereof (1 Viewer)

[ObjectsInSpace]

If you believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and/or the Tooth Fairy, then you'd probably believe just about anything current affairs programs tell you. Their stories are almost always blown out of proprotion and usually revolve around neighbourly disputes, council rates and dodgy tradespeople.

But lately, Channel Seven's Today Tonight and Nine's 60 Minutes have decided to launch a last-gasp rescue mission deep into West Papua to save a little boy from the cooking pot. Supposedly posessed, the nine-year old is said to be in danger of being killed and eaten, and so the networks have taken it upon themselves to get him out. The only thing they've so far managed to do is get themselves deported whilst portraying themselves as heroes.

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1741657.htm
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20408813-7582,00.html
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20416555-1702,00.html

Yes, once again they've broken the first rule of journalism: always check the facts, and in failing to do so have made themselves look very silly. But who needs reliable news sources when you've got current affairs programs performing stupid stunts like this?

 

[gerhard]

of all the weeks for the chaser to finish
they would have absolutely loved this and to a lesser extent the kim beazley pledge thing

 

[Rafy]

LIKE Frontline's Mike Moore before her, Naomi Robson was sent into the heart of darkness by the Seven Network to boost her news credentials and Today Tonight's ratings. [...]

It's life imitating art. Mike Moore, the dim-witted, narcissistic host of mock current affairs show Frontline, was sent on assignment to Bougainville to boost ratings. The reality was his producers wanted him out of the office.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20415067-601,00.html

 

[lengy]

Yeah I read that article and I thought it was brilliant with the Frontline comparison.

 

[ObjectsInSpace]

Well it is gutter journalism. I don't see why the networks bother to keep the shows when they know full well that they go and twist the facts and I quite like the way Seven and Nine have decided to have a bitch fight over something that doesn't even exist. I guess they both realised that everyone is sick of hearing about some neighbourhood dispute or another council or bank putting rates up or a tradesperson/con artist who does dodgy work or the piece de resistance, misreporting on a Fijian youth hostel, claiming the place was unheathly and resulted in somene becoming hospitalised and then choosing to ignore proof that the person in question was sick before arriving.

It's worse than gutter journalism, it's sensationalised gutter journalism.

 

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20415067-601,00.html

hahaha good comparison there.

and yeah, i'll admit i used to watch these programs a couple of years ago, but it's just gotten so unbelieveably sensationalised and biased that as far as i see it no intelligent person can watch it anymore without laughing.

 

[The Brucemaster]

After watching Frontline and Media Watch and Fine Line for English I am not surprised by this behaviour at all.

Rumour has it that Robson isn't even a journalist, she was just some office secretary or something. What happened was the previous host got fired and the network execs were walking through the office and saw that she was 'good looking' and gave her the position on the spot.

The most ironic thing about those shows is that their whole motive is ratings because that brings in advertising dollars but the network stats show that a large number of viewers dont watch the ads.

So much for providing a public service...

 

[ObjectsInSpace]

I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't a journalist. They'd all be better suited to writing articles for trashy magazines about which celebrity is cheating on their significant celebrity other. No, wait, that's too good for them, especially after she dressed like the Crocodile Hunter following Irwin's accident (even went so far as to carrying a lizard on her arm which the public didn't much like). I notice they didn't do much for Brocky ...

 

[lulabelle]

today tonight is slightly more ridiculous than 60 minutes, it is already a trashy gossip magazine of a current affairs show. I still remember the time they managed to spend nearly an entire half hour on that stupid tennis player and that blond girl from either neighbours or home and away, oh yeah, Lleyton Hewitt and Bec Cartwright