11 months before AT&T’s ‘Telstar’
communications satellite launch enabled live pictures to be beamed across the Atlantic and almost 30 years before CERN publicised the ‘World Wide Web’ project; the Russians began to build a wall separating East and West Berlin. At midnight on Sunday 13th August 1961, Robert H. Lochner drove around the border, muttering what he could see into a tape recorder. He reported his findings back to his radio station, who then broadcast the information to everyone in the GDR. Similarly Gotz Bergander investigated the scene early in the morning, supporting those on the wrong side of the barbed wire and conducting research which he would later provide as testimony for ‘Radio Free Berlin’. Meanwhile the official political assistance did little to alleviate the uneasy atmosphere hanging in the air. On one of the most important days in the Cold War, those with the power ignored the problem, leaving individuals to stand by and watch whilst the media put together a picture of what was really going on.
JOURNALISTS PROVIDE SUPPORT WHERE POLITICIANS FAIL.
Reporters have been given time to look into real matters, see where the problems lie and proclaim the story without having to toe the party line, or bend the truth to cover up their superior’s failings. However, in the past 15 years, this vital institution has lost the financial base and public sales which makes freedom of the press truly possible. Instead we are plunged into an age of ‘fast journalism’, which
relies upon quick stories ‘accidentally’ leaked into the public eye by spin doctors and unwitting MPs. Headlines like: “Waity-Katey Falls Over”, “BoJo Gaffs Again!” plague our news bulletins. But, perhaps I am being a little harsh. The press is surely good for something. A reputable paper recently conducted a successful campaign which has significantly reduced the use of plastic bags. The very same alerted the Emmanuel May Ball committee to the extent of their highly offensive choice of theme. Yet despite all these vital stories, not one person outside the banking industry noticed the expanding black hole in the economy which has left thousands jobless and the whole country in the worst recession for decades. Unfortunately one of the main culprits for is the Internet. The tool which should allow widespread education has actually been the demise of dedicated research into current affairs. People believe that they can get the same information from a free source as they can from a broadsheet. But, who truly goes on the internet to write a detailed and unbiased report about a serious event? No-one. Individuals go on the internet to have a rant. I know for a fact that the last time I contributed anything serious to the web’s archives was when my train was delayed by 45 minutes and I was left sitting in the cold, festering and planning my report on corrupt transport managers and incorrect expenditure of my £4.80 fare. I typed it up and it was on Mozilla within an hour of finally arriving home.
IF NEWSPAPERS NO LONGER
Media Litera ALICE LOUISE THWAITE COMPLAINS.
HAVE THE MONEY TO PAY REPORTERS TO DO A PROPER JOB, THEN WE WILL HAVE TO RESORT TO THE IRRITATED ‘MAN-ON-THESTREET’ TO PROVIDE THE NEWS FOR US. As I’m assuming that
most of them are like me, then our information will be limited to the opinions of a public brawl. I can’t pretend that I have any answers to this problem, but it seems to be more important now than ever before that newspapers find a way to fund reporters to look into real matters and provide a first-hand account of what is really going on. We need an establishment which can scrutinise policy, investigate suspicious business and bring into the public eye news which actually matters. For if we continue with the current system, we will remain as blind to the present as we are to the future. V
HAVE A VALENTINE (APPLY WITHIN), VIVID WANTS YOU TO VAMOOSE, VIVID IS A VIRGIN, VIVID ENJOYS VITICULTUR