Their Words Over Ours - the Networks vs the People

Yes yes, this blog has been literally dead for ages, but I suddenly have the urge to put my 2 cents worth out here on the interweb.

this David & Goliath image may become apparent by the end of this post...

if not.. then I have failed miserably with this post, and would have done better to 

just shutup and go to sleep

Just finished watching The Yes Men Fix the World, which is an interesting doco about The Yes Men (elaborate hoaxers with good intentions) taking on the forces of the free market. Here's a trailer if you're interested.

Their first hoax (I switched over to SBS randomly so missed the first part) involved Dow Chemicals and the  Bhopal Disaster of 1984. Dow Chemicals is the parent company of Union Carbide, the company responsible for the largely unknown catastrophe which saw a pesticide factory leaking dangerous gases and chemicals into the surrounding areas and causing catastrophic damage to the local populace - an immediate death toll of over 3000, and over 120,000 requiring lifelong care.
The hoax saw Andy Bichlbaum posing as a spokesperson for Dow Chemicals (named Jude Finisterra) and going onto BBC news to announce that Dow Chemicals was accepting full responsibility for the disaster and were offering to pay off all settlements to the people of Bhopal, worth upwards of $12 billion. Needless to say, this caused a tremendous stir in the news, and even resulted in the Dow Chemical share prices to drop $2 billion in 23 minutes.

After the announcement was revealed to be a hoax, Andy was invited back to BBC channel 4 for an interview. The pompous sounding interviewer (whose name/image I cannot locate presently) asked if he had considered the feelings of the people of Bhopal, some of who, as he claimed, had broken down in tears upon hearing it was a hoax - how did he feel about giving them false hopes and dashing it away cruelly? Andy responded that this hoax was comparatively less distressing than the damage done by Dow Chemicals, but this isn't the point of my post.
The Yes Men followed up this claim in their documentary by travelling to Bhopal and assessing the people's reactions themselves. It was overall positive, and nothing like what the BBC interviewed had claimed.

Admittedly, the negativity could have been edited out of their own documentary, but what struck me was that I was curious as to where the interviewer had gotten his sources from. Not to say that it wasn't a valid question to pose, since two wrongs do not make a right. When a similar hoax was done later on to the rebuilding contractors of New Orleans, the same question of false hopes was raised again, but one of the residents interviewed basically said it didn't matter if it was a hoax, because it finally brought this situation to the attention of the media, and they were now able to show people what was really going on.

It struck me again as to where these reporters were getting their sources. Yes a few may be disgruntled, but I feel that these guys were out looking for confrontation no matter what, because that is what sells. And it struck me that, these networks, really don't give accurate reports on the feelings of the people, unless it  serves their own purposes. Who are they reporting for? It never really seems they do report for us, and it really feels like they are putting words into our (collected) mouths.

And here it goes, back to RMIT Media Course 101 on social media. And it isn't like I haven't had these thoughts before - I was just reminded of it by this entertaining doco, and at the time, it really got me on edge to think that those TV News executives and reporters have the audacity to presume they speak for the people, when in fact they speak for.. I was tempted to say where the money bag is biggest, but that would be too presumptuous of me.

And I guess this is why I was suddenly given the urge to blog - because at the present moment, it is the only way I am able to get MY words, from MY mouth (or brain rather), out THERE, to... whoever may be reading... which I highly doubt are many... if any. But it still gives me a sense of power over my own thoughts and feelings.. not that I never had... or have I? (rambling again.. must move on!)

But I really HATE the idea of having some suit sitting behind a desk telling others how I am feeling. Argh!! The tenacity of some people! And hate isn't too strong a word in this situation.

Thank you Christian Bale for lending your face to my anger 

Anyway, that is my rant for the night/morning.

On to lighter topics, THOR is coming out in Melbourne this Thursday and I can't wait! Wasn't into comics when I was a kid so have never had any real knowledge at all about the heroes of that interesting world. But with the announcement of the The Avengers movie, I am totally psyched about it!
Geek alert! Bazinga!

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