Having not watched television news for some months I was appalled by the quality and bias of last nights' 11 o'clock bulletin from News 24 with regard to the Anti Cuts protest. For 15 minutes ALL we heard was that the day had been hijacked by a violent minority and would be remembered more for their actions than the actions of the, considerably larger number of people, involved in the demonstration earlier in the day. This mantra thus played its' part in creating a self fulfilling prophecy! We were presented with recorded footage played on a loop the sole purpose of which seemed, judging from the pieces used, to be to further bias the viewers opinion. Far from questioning the statements of police and officials in the pursuit of a more balanced picture, the report merely accepted these at face value and thus proved to be little more than a mouthpiece for the Government and its' servants, It took a full 20 minutes for any mention of the earlier, largely peaceful demonstration to be made in any context not overshadowed by later events.
I am both appalled and ashamed at the level to which a supposedly independent and publicly accountable organisation has fallen.
Sunday 27 March 2011 9:54PM
Having not watched television news for some months I was appalled by the quality and bias of last nights' 11 o'clock bulletin from News 24 with regard to the Anti Cuts protest. For 15 minutes ALL we heard was that the day had been hijacked by a violent minority and would be remembered more for their actions than the actions of the, considerably larger number of people, involved in the demonstration earlier in the day. This mantra thus played its' part in creating a self fulfilling prophecy! We were presented with recorded footage played on a loop the sole purpose of which seemed, judging from the pieces used, to be to further bias the viewers opinion. Far from questioning the statements of police and officials in the pursuit of a more balanced picture, the report merely accepted these at face value and thus proved to be little more than a mouthpiece for the Government and its' servants, It took a full 20 minutes for any mention of the earlier, largely peaceful demonstration to be made in any context not overshadowed by later events.
I am both appalled and ashamed at the level to which a supposedly independent and publicly accountable organisation has fallen.