News for the customers by
the infotainers
Kevin
Naughton, ABC Local Radio
'Nowadays
'news' is a loose term meant to signify anything that's not 'obviously'
fiction, and bizarre juxtapositions of tone and subject matter are taken
for granted. A report on the unearthing of ... bodies in Kosova can
be followed by a story about the Los Angeles premiere of Austin Powers,
the Spy who Shagged Me. Kerbside footage of an accused murderer exiting
the court with a coat draped over his head might be trailed with images
of Posh Spice and David Beckham, ... or a preview of a particularly
sleek new Jaguar. Hard and soft, gritty or fluffy: this is the news.'
This is 'infotainment', the melding of information and
entertainment which characterises news and current affairs on the commercial
networks.
Compare the way one 'news story' was dealt with on the
commercial networks and on ABC local radio.
'One
of Ten's news crews had attended a press conference, held to 'commemorate
the launch of a new margarine'. The product, 'high in the enrichment
of plant steriles', promised not only low cholesterol (thus helping
to prevent heart disease, as the blurb at the front of the item had
highlighted), but would actually reduce one's cholesterol level, if
consumed regularly over a period of weeks.'
The report ran for almost a minute (and for longer on
Seven and Nine) of news time and the name of the product was repeated
several times. It seemed less like a news story than a piece of soft-sell.
The publicist at Unilever Australia was apparently cockahoop
with the amount of publicity that their new product received. There seemed
to be solid credentials for the new margarine. He quoted 'clinical trials',
and endorsement by the Heart Foundation and a prominent academic.
But neither Ten, nor the other networks, told 'the whole
story', which would have included the fact that the product in the US
had been banned by the US Drug and Food Administration.
Cross to ABC local radio.
Kevin Naughton of ABC local radio's The Great Australian
Bite invited a scientist and nutritionist on to the show to discuss
the "concept of food additives supposedly beneficial to our health, in
light of the US Food and Drug Administration ban on the product Benecol",
which was being marketed as - you guessed it - cholesterol-lowering margarine.
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Kevin wrote to Shane Danielsen, who had run the story
above :"The ban was imposed because margerine was deemed an inaccurate
description for what was really a spread with additives 'masquerading
as a food'. (The 'plant steriles' are actually wood pulp.) As a way of
reducing cholesterol it remains highly doubtful."
'The
commercial media coverage looked at none of this, which raises ongoing
problems about how journalists approach the press release. Taking claims
on face value and giving the suggested talent a free run is the norm.
The result is a rush on Flora at the supermarket. A victory for the
PR people.' *
And yet another argument for your independent public
broadcaster.
All
indented quotes from SHANE DANIELSEN,The Australian, 22 & 29/7/99
The ultimate talk-show
host
With the love affair that politicians have with
talk-back radio, it is not inconceivable that our leaders may some
day have their own talk shows. It has already happened in South
America.
President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has his own three
hour television radio show, Face to Face with the President.
He sits on a high chair next to a red phone answering questions
from a studio audience and callers who jam telephone lines for a
chance of a word with the president. More than 11 million viewers,
in a country of 23 million, tune in.
Callers ring in to denounce corrupt officials and
to seek help with personal problems. 'Never has a Venezuelan talk
show had such great ratings,' boasts the station's director.
Mr Chavez has a two hour radio program also, and
he is so taken with his new role that he has launched a government-funded
newspaper, The President's Mail, of which he is the editor-in-chief.
With this popular support behind him, the President
in August suspended Congress and stripped away almost all its powers.
The assembly which was established in July to write a constitution
for Venezuela, which is in an ongoing confrontation with Mr Chavez,
wouldn't seem to stand a chance.
Jeff Kennett, eat your heart out.
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