MEDIA

         “Only dead fish float with the current; live fish swim against it."  James Bruges




Roosevelt said “All we have to fear is fear itself” and he was right. There is a lot of money to be made from fear. The tabloid moto “If it bleeds, it leads” has come to symbolise media priorities. Our subconscious apparently responds more strongly to the negative, bleak, and destructive images and messages presented before us. This tendency is amplified by the fact that stark, black-and-white issues are easier to portray in the media- and this applies particularly for TV. The more subtle, esoteric messages require far greater skill and artistry to present. This partly also explains the rather sterile British TV coverage of the political scene, where even the third, Lib-Dem party struggles to get a mention in the left-wing:right-wing media contest. Its much easier for the presenter to develop a story based on good versus evil, Tory versus Labour, young versus old and so on, rather than painting the broader, more realistic canvas which has inconsistencies, contradictions and blurred edges. The BBC tries to portray itself as impartial and is keen to promote its "balanced" approach to news coverage, which, to be fair deserves this description more than many of its competitors.. However, truth is not revealed merely through the juxtaposition of opposing viewpoints and even less through the current fashion of confrontational interviews. It has become a tedious ritual to hear reporters desperately seeking or creating scenarios designed to encourage confrontational responses. Interviewees rarely now get the opportunity to develop an argument to its conclusion. Rather, we get an interviewer constantly intervening to steer the conversation in a particular direction.