Altered Realities: The truth is not a stage by Jacob Carah

      Al Tompkins and Dave Wertheimer both seem to want the same thing and that is for reporters to document events as they happen, nothing more. Over the weekend I attended The True/False film festival. In light of the framework of some of the films, I considered the issue of visual ethics and the problems with arranging or "staging" events as a fundamental bone of contention for either genre. Wertheimer's argument seems stringent and simple on the surface, he writes, "Our primary obligation is to seek truth and report it as fully as possible, not to manipulate it or to create the news." The take home message here I think is: Don't Do It. 

      Wertheimer's statement is obviously fundamental and in keeping to the NPPA's code of ethics. Yet, Tompkins takes a further step in observing editing standards with the ubiquitous role of video and audio augmentation technology in newsrooms. Out of the five ideas I thought that #1 (Do Not Add) is the most important and in my opinion should act not just as a working guideline but a statute to buffer bad journalism. Its one thing to have a re-creation of an event to better illustrate and communicate past incidents, but be sure to let the audience know why your doing it. When an event is staged and the reporter that tapes the act presents the footage as what really happened it is no longer news but deception. 

     This concept goes for sound as well as images, altering or adding elements whether for emotive or conceptual direction is a thin flimsy line and should be navigated with precision or avoided at all costs. Either way, by manipulating the means in which the audience interprets the story is not journalism, it is just another falsehood that gives journalists a bad reputation and erodes the foundations of the fourth estate.