April 16th, 2005

Filed under:
Media
6 Comments »

Reconstructions in the News

Sky News is a notoriously shameful but popular news channel in the UK. I havenīt watched much of FOX News, but I suspect that they’re similar in terms of presentation and sensational content.

However, Sky News has achieved a new level of awfulness. Theyīre running a lengthy ‘reconstruction’ of the events of this week’s Michael Jackson trial. They’ve cast actors in all of the roles, and built a set that looks like an American courtroom. They run sections of the trials, using actual dialogue from the court transcripts. You can see a photo of the stand-in popstar.

Am I watching the future of television news? I fear that I am. I’m speechless–this is so far from actual reportage or analysis that it’s an entirely different genre of television.

Comments: 6 Responses so far

nicola
April 16th, 2005
1:25 pm

I think they’ve been doing this on Much More Music since the beginning of the trial as well, every night around 9pm. It’s absolute hell.

[Reply]

filmgoerjuan
April 16th, 2005
1:58 pm

Actually, my understanding is that the re-enactments are being produced by E! (they were mentioned on The Daily Show a couple of weeks ago).

And the reason Sky News might remind you of Fox News is because Rupert Murdoch has an interest in both of them.

[Reply]

Phill
April 17th, 2005
4:12 pm

It is indeed on E! I came across it several weeks ago and wondered what it was. Here’s an article on the guy in charge of being Michael: http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/entertainment/gossip/11080468.htm

[Reply]

Anonymous
April 18th, 2005
9:29 am

Re-enactment has always been a feature of news on film. Granted it hasnt always been as pointless as the O.J. sorry M.J. trial.

From the very beginning of news on film there were “journalists” faking footage of fighting in the Boer War. During World War II the British media used to play footage of the Irish Army training and said they were Germans because at the start of the war we had German style helmets, they were changed later. In the 1980s/1990s there was a British government ban on playing audio clips of Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Fein, so the news stations got around it by dubbing his interviews and using the voice of an actor. And even in Ireland RTE, the state broadcaster, uses actors on the radio to re-enact what went on that day at public tribunals.

Its not pure journalism. Sometimes it serves a purpose but most of the time its just for ratings.

[Reply]

martin g
April 18th, 2005
1:31 pm

As luck would have it, next week ( April 25 ) is ‘TV Turnoff Week’. . .

See: http://www.tvturnoff.org

Thanks to Rupert for making it so much easier than it used to be.

[Reply]

James
April 25th, 2005
5:42 am

He doesn’t just have an interest in them! he owns them! this guys needs to be stopped

[Reply]

Add a comment