Nathalie Rothschild
1 | The idea that TV should always be true-to-life, and transparent about its | |
processes of script-writing, direction and editing, defeats the purpose of | ||
entertainment. After all, viewers tune in to shows like Born Survivor and | ||
Gordon Ramsay’s F Word for some fun and escapism, not for The Truth or for | ||
lessons in TV production. | ||
2 | And yet, over the past month, a series of revelations that these and other popular | |
shows have been ‘faked’ has caused a media storm. Production companies have | ||
written remorseful letters; media regulators have dished out huge fines against | ||
TV fakers; and broadcasters have issued on-air apologies for misleading the | ||
public. The integrity of the BBC, RDF Media, Channel 4 and the Discovery | ||
Channel has been questioned after each admitted to ‘faulty editing’ and ‘faking | ||
scenes’ in recent weeks. Bear Grylls – star of the Man vs Wild survival show – | ||
stayed in a motel in Hawaii when he was meant to be struggling to survive alone | ||
on a desert island. Foulmouthed celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay didn’t really | ||
spear a sea bass off the Devon coast before grilling it with saffron and fennel | ||
over an open fire. | ||
3 | & Entertainment is supposed to be a little bit fake; that is its nature. The real | |
problem occurs when creative liberties are taken in serious TV programming, | ||
such as news coverage. The move over the past decade towards emotionalised, | ||
victim-oriented stories in the news has come at the cost of rigid investigative | ||
journalism and clear-eyed reporting. | ||
4 | Earlier this year, for instance, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology | |
Authority (HFEA) launched a police-assisted raid on Dr Mohamed Taranissi’s | ||
IVF clinics in London, together with a BBC Panorama programme in which | ||
undercover journalists posed as infertile women. This piece of policing TV was | ||
concocted in a less than upfront and honest fashion. When authorities cooperate | ||
with journalists in order to conduct ‘trials by television’, it is absolutely valid, | ||
even necessary, to raise concerns about the possibility of this being ‘faked TV’. | ||
[id:58868]many of the commentators who have been outraged by Ramsay’s dodgy | ||
fishing trip ignored the HFEA/Panorama witch-hunt of Dr Taranissi. | ||
5 | TV entertainment is not real, and nor should it be. Whether or not celebrity | |
chefs catch fish and survival freaks sleep in jungles is pretty irrelevant, so long | ||
as the show we end up watching is entertaining. But when sensationalism, | ||
emotionalism and a disregard for analysis and facts replace serious and objective | ||
news reporting, then, yes, we should [id:58869]. |