The Reality of the Truth Essay Example for Free

The Reality of the Truth Essay What exactly is the truth? Is it reality, sincerity, integrity? Is it accuracy and honesty? How can we tell the difference between the truth and lies? Why does the media have the power to decide for us what is true? As Oscar Wilde once said The truth is rarely pure and never simple. This statement sums up the difficulties of telling the truth, and this is furthermore shown in Rob Sitch et als Frontline, Lies by Michael Leunig and the poem Nothing to Report by May Herschel Clarke. The television show Frontline follows the day to day running of a current affairs show. It shows both on and off air aspects of what people involved with television go though on a daily basis. Mike Moore (Rob Sitch) plays the naive host of the show, who seems to think the whole world revolves around him. An example of this is when Emma sarcastically thanks him for helping with a story and he says Thats ok. Brian is the executive manager of the show and he ultimately decides what is shown on the show and what isnt. Brooke is another reporter who uses deception and manipulation to present the truth. Emma does work behind the scenes and often she should be credited, but the reporters need their ego maintained so she is never recognised for her hard work. Marty is another reporter who has been in the business for a long time, and although he knows about Frontline presenting the incorrect truth, he does nothing to stop them. Like all current affairs shows, the team at Frontline are concerned with gaining ratings every night, rather than telling the real truth to people. One example of this is during the episode Add sex and stir where Brooke interviews a woman booted off her sports team because she wasnt a lesbian. This in fact is not the truth because she was kicked off the team due to her poor form, not her sexuality. Viewers are then manipulated into thinking that the sport is a lesbian sport, and the reputations of the team and sport are ruined. Marty sums up this sensationalising of real truth in one quote, Ancient current affairs recipe my grandmother gave me, you take any story, add sex and stir (Marty, Add sex and stir) Dismissal of the real truth is another technique that the current affairs show Frontline uses to gain ratings. In the episode We aint got dames, Mike wishes to do a story on illegal sweatshops, but Brian dismisses it as being too heavy for the viewers. After much persuasion, Mike thinks he has convinced Brian to show his story (because his ego has finally been satisfied), but the story ends up being a fashion show, totally insulting any work that Mike has done. Although this story did attract more viewers than the sweatshop story would have, it only promotes the fact that viewers lack in knowledge about the real current issues, and they need to show pretty people with bright lights to get their attention. There are many techniques used in Frontline which expose the manipulation that current affairs shows go through to gain ratings. Irony is shown in the episode The siege, where Brooke asks Mrs. Forbes to sign a contract so only frontline can report her story because, Some shows are very unscrupulous (Brooke, The Seige) Brooke says not to give the story to other stations because they might twist her story around to bring out a point she wasnt making, but the irony was that their show was doing exactly that. Use of a handheld camera behind the scenes of the current affairs show can bring out the truth behind the lies, what we see on television may not be true in real life. This applies to Mike in the episode Add sex and stir where he is on Burkes Backyard. He is asked questions about current affairs and does not know how to answer them, then tries to defend himself by asking Burke about plants but he knows everything about them. Although he is shown as an intelligent and well presented man on television, in real life he doesnt know anything. This is also seen when Mike takes part in an ABC debate, but during his introduction all of his material is said and Mike doesnt have anything good to say, which shows that he is not a good speaker in person as he is behind the desk. There is also use of verisimilitude in the show Frontline, with many real media personalities being on the show to make it seem more realistic in telling the truth. Examples of these celebrities are Harry M Miller, Cheryl Kernot, and Bert Newton. The cartoon Lies by Michael Leunig also exposes that the media manipulates and distorts the truth, so it really is presented to us as a lie or the untruth. The cartoon shows people living in their world, but everything has the label lies on it. The billboard which says lies shows that many companies engage in deceptive advertising, and although they arent supposed to do that, they still convince people to buying their products. The newspaper titled lies shows that journalists write from their own perspective and can distort the truth to suit their opinions. The person wearing the lies shirt shows that behind brand name corporations there are lies. An example of this is making clothing in sweatshops then selling it for triple the price of what its really worth (like Nike shoes) and people are paying top dollar just to wear a symbol, which supposedly brings them into an elite group of people, but really they are just lying to themselves. The point Michael Leunig is trying to make is enforced through the main technique of repetition. The word lies is seen 11 times in the comic, and it is the only word on the cartoon. If lies was only mentioned once, many people would not take notice of it, but since it is printed on the billboard, buildings, truck, newspaper, shirt and drink, it shows that lies are everywhere and it really is a big issue. Like the television series Frontline, this cartoon exposes that the world we live in is full of lies and deception, and the media controls what we see and listen to. It is their opinion what we believe, and many people, rather than refuting what is being presented to them in the media, just believe it and keep going with their lives. The poem Nothing to Report by May Herschel Clarke is written during the war times (1940s). During this time, leaders of the country were trying to convince people to fight overseas as a soldier, with hope of coming back as a brave hero. For this heroic image to come to light, anything negative about death in the war would have to be shielded from the people, or else they wouldnt enlist. Ms Clarkes poem targets this issue, talking about how easily death can come, One minute we was laughin next he lays beside me, grinnin dead. After the death, the papers had nothing to report; therefore they were with holding the truth from people. May Herschel Clarke couldnt possibly have been the only one with a death not reported, but no one else seemed to be doing anything about it, because the media has always been very powerful. The poem is written in colloquial language, which could reflect on her education, upbringing or location. This could also be written in that style to follow a rhyming sequence. The last line is a metaphor which shows that the paper is such an effective form of communication, it might as well be a person. Theres nothin to report the papers said This text is very similar to the television series Frontline, in trying to expose the media in its with holding and distortion of the truth. Another example in frontline of withholding the truth is during the episode This night of nights where Mike wishes to do a story about Telecom tapping into phone conversations, but seeing as they are a major sponsor of the television show, frontline cant expose the truth, and give Mike a mobile phone to help him forget about it. If this truth was exposed, telecom would have received many complaints and much abuse, but they would have deserved it. Instead there are still people at home not suspecting a thing. In the end Mike is disadvantaged from not pursuing the story because they listen to his phone conversation about being caught drink driving, and expose him in the newspapers. In the poem Nothing to report, the last line sums up that the media does with hold information and it shouldnt be their right to decide what we see or dont see. Telling the truth is a hard concept to deal with. From the texts Frontline (Rob Sitch et. al. ), Lies by Michael Leunig and Nothing to Report by May. Herschel Clarke we can see that the media does control what we see and believe, but it isnt necessarily the truth. Why does the media have the power to decide what is true? Well if they presented us the facts and let us decide for ourselves, they wouldnt have ratings. We are surrounded by the media (as seen in lies) and it is hard for us to ignore it all. The truth is rarely pure and never simple, in listening to the truth there is always some form of bias, but we must leave it to ourselves to find out many versions of the so called truth and decide for ourselves what we believe. Thank you.

Argumentative Essay: America Does NOT Need Gun Control :: Gun Control Essays

Americans are faced with a huge problem of violence in the streets, these streets have become a place where old people are beaten for their social security checks, where little women are attacked and raped, where teen aged thugs shoot it out for some turf to sell their illegal drugs, and finally where small children everyday are caught in the way of bullets during drive by shootings. We try to ignore the criminals in our society and how they hurt it, but we shouldn’t. We should take actions to stop these acts of crazy people. And people try, but the hard work of some misguided individuals to stop the legal ownership of guns doesn’t really affect the problem at all, and takes the guns from the innocent citizens, who simply want means of self defense. Take a look at the history of our country and the role guns have played in it. According to the second amendment gun ownership is perfectly legal and guaranteed as a right. There were and are good reasons for this, luckily they are still practiced today. Back in the day guns used to be for hunting and, on the occasion self defense. But when the colonists of this country had enough of British rule, they picked up there own personal guns and went to war and the British saw first hand how powerful the rough band of average American gun owners were. Our forefathers knew that the general population if armed would be key in winning the war. And it was. Over the years some of the reasons to own guns have changed. As Americans moved west fulfilling Manifest Destiny, making new towns along the way which were far away from any established law. These people made laws through the barrel of a gun. Of course crime still happened, but not nearly as often, when the townspeople simply hunted down and shot the criminal. Eventually, police forces arose in the Midwest, and fewer people carried guns with them on the street but they were still there, visible or not. It was after the civil war that the first gun control freaks came to be known. These were southerners who were worried the newly freed slaves would take advantage of the newly acquired right to keep and bear arms. However, over time, it became illegal for all blacks to own guns. But by their common nature they broke the law and owned guns anyways.

Genetically Modified Food Should Be Banned or Not? Essay

Nowadays a problem of genetically modified food is widespread all over the world. GM foods are genetically modified using biotechnology. More and more GM foods appear on the shelves of our stores and supermarkets nowadays, and make their way into our kitchens. GM foods are designed for greater resistance to viruses and pests, higher nutritional value and longer shelf life. However, their safety, potential risks and ethical concerns are still being debated. So, should genetically modified crops be banned or not? Proponents of GM foods ensure that these foods are safe for human consumption, but critics argue that their effects have not been studied long enough. First argument for banning GM foods is that it badly affects our health and well-being. Some studies have linked consumptions of GM foods to liver and kidney problems. The antibiotics and hormones given to cows and chickens are found in our bodies and we don’t know yet the extent to which these cause chronic disease. Moreover genetic engineering could introduce allergens into foods, causing allergic reactions in people who eat the foods. Another argument is that GM food does not benefit people, just large corporations that produce and sell them. In the most cases the vegetables are modified to look better and be larger so that these companies can make more money. They do not add to the taste or freshness of nutrition of the food. On the other hand GM products along with disadvantages have their benefits too. A lot of people believe that genetically modified foods can help to solve the food crisis in future, and so help humanity to survive. Firstly, all of sorts of GM plants are stable against illnesses and mean weather. Also, GM food is cold tolerant. An antifreeze gene has been introduced into plants such as tobacco and potato. With this antifreeze gene, these plants are able to tolerate cold temperatures that normally would kill unmodified seedlings. Secondly, they ripen fast and keep longer than usual plants. It is easier to transport them and keep fresh for a long time. In my opinion, genetic engineering should be banned because young generation will have different diseases because of eating unhealthful food. Of course, this is a huge industry nowadays that obviously can’t be stopped, but I believe that there are other ways to save people from hunger. References: 1. â€Å"Genetically Modified Crops Should be Banned† 2. Murphy, Tom. â€Å"The Arguments for and Against Genetically Modified (GM) Food. † N. p. , 15 06 2009. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. 3. Gray, Louise. â€Å"Ten tweets for and against GM†. Environment Correspondent 4:04PM GMT 24 Jan 2011 4. â€Å"Should Genetically Modified Foods (GM Foods) Be Banned? – Facts & Infographic†.

The President Of The United States - 1532 Words

The president is the most important job in the United States. Not the ruler of the United States ,but have some power over the country. The president of the United States is a person who symbolize the country and leads the country by making decisions of what is the best thing to do. The president needs to know about the past history such as the conflict of World War I and II and different events that led to violence in our own country. The president of the United States needs to know how the system of the government works and different problems that have been happening right now such as immigration, terrorism and hunger. The president needs to have the people votes so that he or she could be able to have the position of being the president†¦show more content†¦The idea of president of the United States began after the revolutionary war. People from all over Europe started coming to the new world known as for today the United States of America. People from Spain, France and E ngland came to the new world to find gold and new places to live. Centuries past by, and people who lived in the new world have been making lots of progress. In the 17th century, people in England started collecting more money from the new world. People from the new world rebelled against people from England. People from the new world had great leaders and good generals with no training such as George Washington. After the war is over, the colonist had to think who would be their new leader. People thought they should make George Washington as their new leader because he lead everyone to battle. George Washington accepted the offer and he added that there will be no kings but leaders with temporary power. That how the idea of president in the U.S started. Becoming a president makes you have pride because the president will have dominance over the country mostly because with only one person ruling the country, it could lead into disaster. Now there is a system that three different gr oups that contains equal amount of power that could have the right to stop each other from doing what wrong. Anyways, If you become president, you will be remembered depending if people in the U.S like you, but their is a list that