Frontline Essay

A German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche once stated that “there are no facts, only interpretations”. Nietzsche intended to enlighten the world that the truth is intricate, as facts are often clouded within different interpretations. Similar to Nietzsche, Oscar Wilde, a famous satirical play writer in 17th century England postulated that “the pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple”. In this statement Wilde points out rather facetiously that the truth can often be misleading. Since the first episode of Frontline, aired in 1994 as a satirical TV-series on Current Affairs programs (‘A Current Affair’ ‘Sixty Minutes’ etc.), people have been exposed to the problematic nature of news delivery within capitalists’ societies where profits are a consideration. Frontline reveals how the truth can become a casualty in the scramble for ratings. Throughout the series, Frontline producers expose the lengths Current Affairs programs will endeavour to create spectacle and thus financial gain by representing the truth as false, manipulated and twisted.

Frontline deals with the complex nature of truth. In the modern world, media is ratings driven and as a direct result the truth becomes distorted. In episode 12 of season one ‘Judge and Jury’, one of the reporters Brooke is doing a story on a women claiming to have been sexually assaulted by a catholic priest some 25 years ago. After the priest refuses an interview with Brooke, she takes matters into her own hands stalking him with a video camera. Emma says to Brooke “You took a hidden camera into a confession?” Martin then replies “It’s alright Em; she went back and got his forgiveness.” Marty’s humorous statement brings to light Brooke’s ambitious nature and her carelessness of human rights towards privacy. Frontline embeds Brooke with the qualities of Current Affairs Programs to extremes, to create humour as well as to expose their carelessness of human privacy.

Frontline’s show passes sentences, incriminating