Quote:
Originally Posted by Falcon Jun
Let's put things on perspective. TV is a different medium from print. When presenting information on TV, the information presented has to be compressed to fit the limited time. This is where the soundbite comes in.
I don't tend to disparage the resource persons presented in such shows. They all earned their degrees. The real problem lies in the questions presented before them and the length of time they are given for them to answer. Thus, they are forced to issue a soundbite.
In print, authors and researchers have the luxury of space. When we read, we focus on the book. This doesn't happen in TV with all the channels competing for our attention. Thus the shows have to be "packaged" and often "teasers" designed to attract our attention to a show exaggerate things. Thus when we watch that particular show, we feel let down. Also, we have to remember that we all have our instinctive biases based on the books we have read. I've worked in TV before and the pace is just hectic. There's never enough time to put in everything we've researched or worked on. The usual result is a short cut with emphasis on making things visually appealing. That's the weakness (and strength) of documentary TV.
|
Very true and very good point, but I have seen many documentaries that have displayed falsh or misleading informtion, and this I find to be ridiculas. I like to watch the History Channel for the reels they show from ww2 and to see real tanks and infantry exactly as they were and not reinacted, you can see the stress and pain on their faces.
I watch a documentary today on the Higgins boat, aka LCVP. Apparently the reason the Americans won Normandy was because the Germans under rated the General American Soldier. I konw you just made the point about not enough time to show all the facts but they should make time or not show it. Becuase we all know that the allies won because of many reasons some being, air superiority, surprise, lack of tanks by the Germans (contentin Pennisula) and the sheer industrial might of the US capable of building so many tanks, support vehicles, and landing craft. Out of all these reasons why, they chose to only say that it was due to the Germans under rating the Americans.
I am tired of propaganda films about the USA, and how awesome they are and how everthing in the was because of them. We all know they had a great military and awesome industiral power, but they were not the only nation in the war, they were not the only ones fighting, and they were not the only ones to land on Normandy. Britain and Canada being the other nations to land large amounts of troops continue to over shadwoed by Hollywood and American propaganda.
Sorry for the rant, I had too, oh and it was not directed at you Falcon Jun
