Rob Sitch Frontline Analysis

How do the creators of “Frontline” convey the main issues in the text?
The truth in the media is a subjective commodity which is often sensationalized, fabricated and manipulated for a number of reasons. Therefore, realistically the media only represents certain facets of the truth to suit their purpose and context. Rob Sitch’s Frontline is a satirical examination of current affairs programs and explores the media’s selective dissemination of information to construct the desired truth. Though being disturbingly accurate in their sarcastic attack on the deceit and hypocrisy of the media, the producers of Frontline use wit and parody to challenge the reliability of the media and such concepts are explored through a number of film techniques
Marty ironically says ‘you’ve crossed the line mate’, this pretense of ethics is juxtaposed with ‘you beauty’ when he realizes that it was the Frontline team itself that got through to interviewing the gunman. Marty further sensationalizes and exaggerates the truth by wearing a flak jacket and crouching down to make it appear that he is in a dangerous situation, when in reality he is five kilometers away from the danger zone. Through the use of dialogue ‘How about if I crouch down like this? … To make it look like I’m in danger’ Marty illustrates his blatant disregard for the truth thus emphasizing the importance of appearance and ratings over the depiction of the truth within the
The episode ‘Add sex and Stir’ epitomizes the media’s selective dissemination of information to construct a desired truth, thus exemplifying truth to be a subjective commodity. Frontline pursues a story about the unfair dismissal of a sportswoman who is supposedly dropped from the team because she is not gay. Although Brooke acknowledges that the sportswoman was dropped from the team because of poor form, she decides to portray the misleading sex angle of the story in the pursuit for higher ratings to ensure Frontline’s commercial