Thoughts on journalism after watching Anderson Cooper rescue that kid
January 19 2010, 6:16 AM
When i first saw the footage of Cooper rescuing that boy, i was impressed.
Too often journalists are accused of standing by while terrible things
happen, and that distance is a terrible thing in itself. Afterwards, though, i saw some twitpics of some msf staff in Haiti and i
started to change my mind about the cnn footage of Cooper. What bothered me more about the footage of him after revisiting it is how
it seems exaggerated and heightened to me. I am not placing the blame for
that solely on Cooper, though, he does appear to do some things where i
thought; ok, enough already, the boy is safe, now you just look like you
are showing off. No, more of the blame i place on cnn. They want drama, and
simplicity and ratings. In comparison, the twitpics i saw of the msf person were not overly
dramatic. It's'easy for one to glaze over the photos, having seen so many
pictures of the destruction already. But i thought; this person is using
the same technology as me, and she is walking down a street like i might,
except it is filled with destroyed buildings and dead people. Filled. I can
connect with her and what she is doing. It seems real to me. Anderson Cooper seems like a good guy, and i don't doubt his good
intention. But his appearance in Haiti seems more about theatre and less
about bearing witness. Perhaps that is inevitable, for there are so many
other ways to get infoemation now that it is no longer required to have the
Cooper's of the big media outlets reporting anymore. All they are left with
is providing a layer of drama, almost like "reality TV" (Drafted on a blackberry, so this is rough. Apologies)
Too often journalists are accused of standing by while terrible things
happen, and that distance is a terrible thing in itself. Afterwards, though, i saw some twitpics of some msf staff in Haiti and i
started to change my mind about the cnn footage of Cooper. What bothered me more about the footage of him after revisiting it is how
it seems exaggerated and heightened to me. I am not placing the blame for
that solely on Cooper, though, he does appear to do some things where i
thought; ok, enough already, the boy is safe, now you just look like you
are showing off. No, more of the blame i place on cnn. They want drama, and
simplicity and ratings. In comparison, the twitpics i saw of the msf person were not overly
dramatic. It's'easy for one to glaze over the photos, having seen so many
pictures of the destruction already. But i thought; this person is using
the same technology as me, and she is walking down a street like i might,
except it is filled with destroyed buildings and dead people. Filled. I can
connect with her and what she is doing. It seems real to me. Anderson Cooper seems like a good guy, and i don't doubt his good
intention. But his appearance in Haiti seems more about theatre and less
about bearing witness. Perhaps that is inevitable, for there are so many
other ways to get infoemation now that it is no longer required to have the
Cooper's of the big media outlets reporting anymore. All they are left with
is providing a layer of drama, almost like "reality TV" (Drafted on a blackberry, so this is rough. Apologies)
375 views and 1 response
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Jan 20 2010, 11:33 PMfivetwelve responded:Unfortunately, I think CNN's sense of reality is probably shared by a lot of people: scripted reality = sensational reality = entertainment. Looking at a lot of the prime-time reality shows, it kind of disgusts me to see this is what we've become. We lampoon ourselves (or find those to lampoon) for the enjoyment of others and it is so-called 'reality'. I'm happy with fiction because it's escapism and whatever I see or read, I know it's imagined. In this way, I am optimistic of who we are and can be as a species.
Obviously, this is a personal opinion and I respect someone's decision to watch it for entertainment. Like you, I blame not necessarily the participants but the studios and networks who exacerbate this medium. Isn't this just like Lord of the Flies? At what point will things get so bad that they'll decide that this behaviour is wrong? Do they even teach integrity and ethics in Broadcasting and Communications anymore?
Sorry if it comes off like a diatribe but we are a highly intelligent species. It's just hard to prove that sometimes. :)