Issues concerning Factual programming

Issues concerning Factual programming:

Bias is when something in this case a documentary or a programme only shows one side of a story or of an argument and does not go into detail about the other side therefore creating views towards the opposing side which may often be very blank and one sided.

Subjectivity refers to how someone’s opinion is shaped by their personal experiences, opinions and feelings and not by outside/external factors such as the news or things of such sort. An example of this may be a speech which was made by Hitler which focuses very significantly on his persona opinions and feelings towards the Jews therefore leading him to state that they started the war and leading him to discriminate strongly towards them as shown in this example, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMjGt8snhFU&ebc=ANyPxKprtq5M04nAAcPqxzLhkv0PiozsWLHXkSGGkpkTb0pQaKvtWTZDmENUDVxA4MGySKQx70dg805shi1LNfTf7bRGMYwaeQ. This in essence demonstrates the idea of subjectivity and shows that Hitler presented his own thoughts and feelings in order to try and manipulate the views of others which may also occur in factual programming and should be controlled in order to express different views other than just one.

Accuracy is essentially the level to which something is true, accurate and precise so for example, how true to life the source may be. In order to ensure that accuracy is obtained, it is important to highlight the fact that the information given to the audience cannot be made up however it must be true to the dot therefore meaning that there must be a distinction between facts and opinions, these cannot be mixed.

An example of when accuracy comes into force is through news, for instance Sky News. Sky prides itself with the motto of serving and informing the public which therefore means that they must provide accurate information therefore leading them to use news coverage or real life clips and the news being scripted in order to decrease the chance of deceit and personal opinions.

Balance is as simple as it sounds and refers to keeping both sides equal or as equal as possible, this is the opposite of being bias as it requires both sides of the argument or of the story to be shown so for example, if a story was told and the victim told the story then a way to balance the story and show different perspectives may be to also present the views of the victim for example, in the vice documentary about ‘Bride Kidnapping’ - Here we are presented various views, the views of the Bride, those who are commiting the act and as well as family which therefore allows the audience to understand a combination of various opinions without bias and form their own views. 

Impartiality refers to remaining on the fence/neutral about a given opinion and not taking sides. So for example, usual Jurors have to have quite neutral minds and be able to consider the evidence of both the defence and prosecutions without being impartial therefore taking all views into account.This is evident for example in the show Judge Rinder where the case involves a Judge whom hears different forms of cases in courts mostly involving Financial issues whoever this demonstrates the aspect of impartiality due to the fact that as a Judge, he is unable to form opinions until all aspects of the case have been discussed in terms of the evidence which has been given and also both parties spoken.

Objectivity is where you are not influenced by your own personal views or opinions but instead consider other people’s opinions and beliefs and are open to listen to multiple opinions which therefore lead you to make judgements based upon what you have seen around you(external factors) and not your own emotions or feelings towards a subject. For example, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZPxkuxBVQo The Dispatches: Meeting the Taliban, where Sean Langan goes to meet the troops which are facing the Taliban. This clearly supports the idea of objectivity simply because it is known that many people are often influenced with different views about the taliban and what they actually are whereas through having this documentary, we are able to understand the real views of the taliban themselves through being able to hear them and understand their lifestyles thus making it much more likely for the audience to put aside their own views and be often to other people's(taliban's) beliefs.

Opinions are judgments that is based on your own views and experiences rather than actual facts or knowledge however these may often be supported by an argument which is often the root of the formation of the opinion. For instance, If you watch the ‘Jeremy Kyle Show’ we see that Jeremy often represents opinions towards the guests he has on his programme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PR5ryhnYtQ which is fine due to the nature of the show because although opinions on the show do often allow us to form our own opinions as the structure is on a story basis where first we hear from the victim, then the others involved which is quite bias as we are more inclined to side with the victim but in shows like this, the audience is ultimately able to form their own conceptions. However certain opinions cannot be broadcasted such as those which may concern elections which is a downfall as it may actually be in the interest of the public and does also reflect a lack of free speech.

Representation is the way something or someone is portrayed and this could be both negatively or positively. For instance, in a documentary which we watched about London’s Gang Culture, we saw that certain areas such as South and West London were often very much spoken about in a negative way and represented as almost the hotspot for Black Crime, so much so that it requires is own TRIDENT unit which deals which these matters. This therefore creates certain stereotypes towards these areas and represents them in a negative way.

Contract with the viewer is an unwritten rule between the producer and the audience whereby all the content is deemed as accurate, honest and engaging an example of this may be you saying to the audience that the show would consist of celebrity stories which would therefore mean that you as the producer would have the obligation of delivering as promised by oneself.

Privacy refers to keeping someone or something to yourself without it being observed by other people. This may be shown through the Closure of the newspaper ‘News Of The World’ due to a phone hacking scandal of Milly Dowler, a young 16 year old Journalist who’s phone was hacked in order to seize information from her voicemails.

Access is having the ability to film or use something or someone or essentially the permission to be able to use something for instance, In a documentary such as the given Vice.com documentary of ‘Bride Kidnapping’, the presenter had access to the land in which it occurred and access to the families which carried out or were victims of such traditions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKAusMNTNnk Access or permission would have been required in order for this to be done.