A few weeks ago there was a fatal house fire in Derby
in which six children died. It seems the fire was started deliberately, and three
people, including the parents, are currently under arrest. Today the funerals
took place, and both the national and regional news bulletins devoted a large
chunk of air time to them.
The coverage was obviously syndicated because the shots were
the same on both national and regional TV. They included a cascade of pictures
of each child, and the camera panned in on each photograph in turn so that the
face increasingly filled the screen. This is an old TV technique to provoke an
emotional response on the part of the viewer. And here’s my objection.
Following the cascade of photographs, the coverage turned to
shots of the children’s coffins being carried into the church. What more do you
need to evoke an emotional response than that? Nothing; it’s more than enough
for anybody. So why indulge in corny camera techniques? It’s cheap, insensitive
and an insult to the gravity of the occasion. But it’s what the media do to keep
people glued to their sets, and I wish they wouldn’t.
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