The Good and the Bad: a starting point

This week the topic for discussion is ‘Journalism: the good, the bad and the ugly. What’s the story, who will pay for it and is it all just about the money?’Fittingly, on Monday night Australian news program Four Corners celebrated fifty years on the air with a special programme looking back on the ‘power and passion of television current affairs journalism’. This perhaps in my opinion at least, is the strongest example of the GOOD side of journalism, with a collection of stories gathered over the last five decades that expose, inspire, and tell the often untold stories that people need to know.   

Programs like Four Corners really has always been and continues to be a form of ground breaking journalism in Australia. Starting in the 60’s, stories focused on big but often taboo stories such as the sexual revolution of teens, deserted mothers, rights for woman, the ‘five day cure’ for smoking, the growing threat of Aids and the Ice epidemic. In a time when the majority of citizens were city dwellers, four corners broke down geographical barriers and provided an insight into life in the country, exposing the conditions faced by Aboriginals in the outback. All incredibly hard hitting topics of the time and often considered too sensitive to be brought to the forefront of people’s attention, Four Corners went where no program had gone before. Watching the special on Monday night really revealed the way in which the talented journalist have been able to encapsulate aspects of Australian life throughout the years.

The best and most recent example of the power of such journalism came in the Four Corners exposure of the inhuman treatment of Australian cattle exported live to Indonesia. Not only did this program expose the issue, it implemented change. Within twenty four hours of this program airing, protests groups already had thousands of signatures for a petition to ban all live exports. This petition was successful and the debate has since become one of the most hotly contested issues that the Australian Government is now continuing to deal with.

Here’s what Four Corners reporter Sarah Ferguson had to say about the story:

“From the moment that we saw the first footage of the treatment of animals in Indonesia, we knew we had a classic Four Corners. Not just that we had extremely powerful images and we knew we were going to have to go out and get more for ourselves, but also because we knew we had the time and the platform to give those pictures justice”.

This is just one example of the power that good journalism can have, such as programs like Four Corners. I’m sure this is just tipping the iceberg on the issue of ‘The good, the bad and the ugly’ but a starting point at least that I would like to expand on after class discussions.

You can watch the Four Corners Special by following this link: http://www.abc.net.au/iview/?series=3133914#/view/817155