An important part of the effectiveness of current affairs programmes is the way they tap into viewers' values and emotions in order to encourage a particular attitude in the viewer.
Discuss this statement with reference to a specific current affairs segment you have viewed in class.
The purpose of Current Affairs is to not only inform, but to also provoke an emotional response from the audience. Current Affairs programmes can encourage a particular attitude by providing information and images that will successfully appeal to the viewer. An example of how current affairs benefit from provoking emotion from an audience is "America Mourns" by Jennifer Byrne from Foreign Correspondent." Selection of Detail, Emotive Language, proximity and the structure of the news story create the opportunity of emotional response.
The process of adding, cutting and editing the information acquired, helps the Current Affairs (CA) programme construct and develop the themes and meanings it wishes.
By controlling the information of the whole story, Jennifer Byrne is able to propose a 'one sided' view to appeal to the viewer and provoke an emotional response. 'America Mourns' contains many examples of how a theme or idea is developed to produce an emotional reaction from the viewer through the selection of detail. From the opening statements, the news story only presents sympathetic information that may appeal to a viewer.
"Here, desperate hope meets biter reality."
This quote is Jennifer Byrnes commentary as mourners and family members contact the list of the identified. In reference to the statistics of the dead organised by volunteers, the segment is edited and selected to only display and commentate the sad and "bitter" examples. There were no examples of any people finding some closure by finding there lost one as been identified. The viewer is unable to gain any...
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This is a very interesting essay, however, I thought that while the information contained in the essay was good, it was badly structured, and I found it rather confusing. But with a little work, it could be fixed up really nicely.
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