Attorney Michael de Broglio on: South Africa, Law, Politics, Attorneys, Sport, Photography, Technology, Gadgets, Media, Crime, Road Accidents Fund,
Divorce, Maintenance, Personal Injury, Medical Negligence
It is very important, when you see things sensationalised in the media, to understand that the media is just another business. In other words, it has investors, shareholders, directors, etc. Their business is to deliver an audience to their advertisers and charge their advertisers for that. That means their job is to keep you reading their newspaper or watching their TV channel or listening to their radio show. They have to make everything sound like it is incredibly important and that it is critical for you to keep listening. The more people watching or reading them, the more they can charge for their adverts.
Of course, they have to get the facts right as well, and I think by and large they do, even if they over-sensationalise them. There are various systems and balances in place all around the world if the media don’t get their facts right and I don’t think they do a bad job. I don’t think they do a great job either. From a Road Accident Fund point of view, over the years they have always sold the story as simply being a question of attorneys being interested in making more money and the government wants to reduce what they have to pay out to the legal profession. That is not a completely inaccurate version of what is going on, so it’s not fake news, but it’s not totally true either. It creates an incorrect impression glossing over many of the problems that led to where we are now and the fact that somebody without an attorney will always be far worse off than somebody with an attorney.
In any event, the point I am making is one I have made in blogs recently and that is when you are watching a hurricane, when you are watching each week’s dramatic news, remember that the media’s job is to convince you how dramatic that is. There are certain stories that obviously don’t sell well in newspapers and natural disasters, etc or a lion killing somebody in Kruger Park or in a nature reserve sell better than other stories. For that reason we simply never had the coverage that one needs of the 40 people a day who die on the roads in South Africa. That’s real news, that’s an ongoing tragedy and we only hear about it in December/January and April every year.
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Friday 01-Dec-17
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Comments
Liz said:
on Tuesday 09-Jan-18 03:36 PM
I think that one can start to eliminate or at the very least try to eliminate the danger of reading fake news by being very selective with the websites you choose to read news on for example news24 and CNN etc. However, even these news channels, I have seen tend to report on news from a certain viewpoint or opinion which is beneficial for the selling of stories but unfortunately not for the truth. The over-dramatisation of stories, however, will always be what ultimately sells.
Jessica M said:
on Friday 15-Dec-17 09:05 AM
I must say while watching the news yesterday I was very happy hearing that a few journalists have been locked up for advertising fake news. If that is one thing that can make me very angry, I know it is a business and all but to report fake stuff is annoying and I am just glad that people are now being charged for that. So ya they can make it as dramatic as they want as long as it isn't fake.
Ashleigh said:
on Friday 15-Dec-17 08:56 AM
Obviously you cannot always be guaranteed facts in the media. Some media have to make a story more disastrous than it actually is to just to keep their readers interested. I personally believe that people love drama more then positivity.
Brenda Du Toit said:
on Monday 11-Dec-17 08:15 AM
We all have to be care full what we read in the media.For me its not always nice to see the bad stuff going on in our country.I would rather use News 24 they are always update with they stories.
Angelique P said:
on Monday 11-Dec-17 07:53 AM
I am studying marketing now and it's just amazing to see what the people do to attract people. You learn how to work with people and learn exactly what to say to convince them to buy your product. Advertising is really very important if it comes to having a successful business. There are so many social media advertising today that is really getting difficult for the newspapers to keep up. I think that is why they are only writing what the people will attract and what they want to read.
Melissa van Tellingen said:
on Tuesday 05-Dec-17 12:06 PM
One has to be care full of what you read in the media and what to believe. I always look to see if it's a reliable news source like News 24 for example. As said in the Blog I think anyone would make up the most bazarre stories to get attention.
Daniella said:
on Monday 04-Dec-17 10:28 AM
People should also remember that news is extremely censored! There are certain topics that I'm sure get left in the dark. It's quite sad actually because news papers, news articles etc are suppose to be informing the public of recent events and should be leaving the sensationalizing to the tabloids.
Michelle said:
on Monday 04-Dec-17 07:19 AM
I definitely agree. People will rather buy newspapers when there is something different in that does not happen every day. We are always looking for something new to talk about. And the sad part is that people feed from other people’s struggles and sadness. We live in a very cruel world.
Natasha said:
on Friday 01-Dec-17 04:49 PM
the more drama equals more attention. I don't see the use of making things up because everything on the media isn't always true
Angelique Jurgens said:
on Friday 01-Dec-17 12:13 PM
Advertising - what a great industry to work in. When money is involved, you have to work at keeping your audience entertained. I actually thought about this last week when I read a story about a guy being kidnapped, the specific newspaper who tried to just break the story first had all their facts wrong and this week when providing a follow up to the story did not even apologize for its completely false facts it published. I always know there is more to a story than what is published but it doesn't completely bother me because people are doing what everyone else does - anything to keep their business booming/afloat.
Jolene said:
on Friday 01-Dec-17 12:04 PM
More drama equals more attention, which is exactly what they want. These days you never know if something is actually true or if it is just a story that is blown out of proportion.
Prishani said:
on Friday 01-Dec-17 11:27 AM
You have to be so careful with all the information you read, sometimes you have to do your own research just to make sure the facts are correct and true! The truth is that the media sells information to the public. It is always important to do your research first! I have learnt this the hard way.
Thabitha said:
on Friday 01-Dec-17 11:22 AM
Media is giving us what we want to read, listen or watch we like drama, fake, gossip and tragedies for them its business nothing more.
Joyce said:
on Friday 01-Dec-17 11:10 AM
I think the media would do everything to attract more business and to keep its business running
Suzanne said:
on Friday 01-Dec-17 10:33 AM
This is very true - media mostly survives on the money they make from adverts. You need to take everything with a pinch of salt as they will always sensationalize everything to keep you listening / watching / reading.
Suzanne said:
on Friday 01-Dec-17 10:33 AM
This is very true - media mostly survives on the money they make from adverts. You need to take everything with a pinch of salt as they will always sensationalize everything to keep you listening / watching / reading.
Nicky said:
on Friday 01-Dec-17 10:20 AM
I agree I think that media groups put out news that would attract their target group, I've recently noticed this with a specific radio station who's news bulletins are made up of mainly political news and misses out on the social and socio-economic news. I do enjoying listening to political news but too much of it without a proper balance of what else is going on in the world does tend to get boring.
Bianca R said:
on Friday 01-Dec-17 10:01 AM
It's all business at the end of the day, sensationalism sells and the more dramatic, the better for sales. Has anyone seen what is going on in Syria because like Libya, this is being kept under wraps! I recently watched a documentary called 'The white helmets', it is absolutely unreal what kind of censorship we are experiencing and the truth is actually, incredibly disturbing! Yes, we all know there is conflict in Syria but check out the documentary, you will be absolutely shocked at what is really happening over there and what is NOT reported on!
Jadine Richards said:
on Friday 01-Dec-17 09:34 AM
Any entity which seeks to make a profit will act in their own best interests for the majority of the time and that is perfectly acceptable. What is unacceptable is those who take what they consume in the media as fact. Unfortunately when it comes to high death toll on the roads it is extremely depressing and although it is important and people need to be aware of it I would personally rather skip over that story.
Alexis said:
on Friday 01-Dec-17 09:02 AM
Accidents are an every day issue and I feel that they just specify those times to emphasize how dangerous the roads are at that time...but to be honest, to hear it every day....I mean we work in this industry and you see that nothing changes on the roads.
i agree with Jess A - to say that there are other things to be known in this world as well.
Jadine E said:
on Friday 01-Dec-17 09:01 AM
We never really hear about things that directly affect us that people take serious. We hear more about news that is outside of South Africa. Only certain times of the year it is made known to us or make us more aware of death tolls on the road.
Jessica Apfel said:
on Friday 01-Dec-17 08:34 AM
Just recently Trump had been called out for pedalling fake news about a terrorist group in the UK - Needless to say May called him out on it. But yes, we are not to simply swollow that which the media portrays without asking the pertinent questions.
ANN7 is a prime example of what you have just desribed here. They way the motion of no confidence against Herman Mashaba was portrayed was quite something. They are infamous for dramatising any even within SA news.
In saying that there are various stake holdres involved within a media house and that they do dramatise, we cannot deny the very important role that the media portray. They expose that which is corrupt and keep us informed of developments within our country. Which 'media' you choose to digest will obviously dictate how truly informed you are. If you are an avid reader of 'People' magazine you will have a different perception of media than if you were an avid reader of say 'Sunday Times'.
Real news - slave trade happening in Libya as we speak! That cannot be overlooked and without the media we may have remained oblivious to this!!
patrick said:
on Friday 01-Dec-17 08:06 AM
I don't think the Watch Dog is doing enough . They are toothless . They wait for a complain and then attend to it . Why cant they themselves do like to Competition Commission take steps without waiting for a complaint . Look what propaganda ANN7 is selling to our people . Shame.
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
