Here’s an alternative take on the ITV ‘death’ drama that’s been played out in the media this last week.
From the Cambridge United Blog:
As ever our wonderful tabloids, stirred up by the helpful Mary Whitehouse-wannabes from mediawatch, are totally missing the point. The Pointon’s wanted these documentaries to go ahead to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s disease, not to break some kind of televisual taboo. This is not a Big Brother style programme employing shock tactics in a bid for ratings.
We live in a world of 24-hour news coverage, where we are faced with images of death every day, many of which pass everyone by without a second thought. It is then perhaps a sad indictment on our society that these 30 seconds of footage have already created far more column inches than the much bigger issues which feature in the other 89 minutes of the programme ever will.
I agree. Here’s a program that can raise awareness, but instead is clouded by this other, less important issue.
I don’t know why I feel the need to post this now (it’s 1am, and I’m knackered), but to quote a university friend of mine: “That’s journalism.”
