434 week 7_09

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TV for the Greater Good

• Excerpt from the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967

The Congress hereby finds and declaresthat ... it is in the public interest toencourage the growth and development of public radio and television broadcasting,including the use of such media for instructional, educational, and culturalpurposes; ... public television and radiostations and public telecommunicationsservices constitute valuable localcommunity resources for utilizing electronic

media to address national concerns andsolve local problems through communityprograms and out-reach programs; ... aprivate corporation should be created tofacilitate the development of publictelecommunications and to affordmaximum protection from extraneous

interference and control.

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• Non-profit

• No political affiliation

• Members of CPB notselected for politicalaffiliations

• No governmentoversight

• “Diversity of source andobjective balance…”

• No control over individual stations

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• Recent controversies – Latino point of view not

included Ken Burns

documentary, The War – Editing of several

documentaries for contentin fear of FCC fines

– Bush slashed fundingrepeatedly

– Former head of CPBintroduced “bias ratings” tomake executive decisionson programming such asBill Moyers’ Now

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• Public Access Television

• The FCC mandated"beginning in 1972, new

cable systems [and after 1977, all cable systems] inthe 100 largest televisionmarkets be required toprovide channels for

government, for educational purposes, andmost importantly, for publicaccess."

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• A 1979 Supreme Courtdecision struck down the1972 FCC ruling on the

grounds that they had noauthority to mandate accessas that belongs to the U.S.Congress alone

• Rapidly expanding cable

companies used publicaccess channels as leveragewhen negotiating deals withcity governments

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• Often controversial

• Media deregulation

& the Internetthreaten itscontinued existence

• Government support

eroding

http://www.saveaccess.org/





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The Up Series

• “Give me the child

until he is seven and

I will give you theman.”

Jesuit Maxim

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The Up Series

• Was never intended to bea series

• All participants were born

in 1956• Began in 1964 as a

political documentaryexamining class structurebut evolved into a study of human nature

• Kids chosen at random

• "an inspired, almost nobleuse, of the film medium."

Roger Ebert

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The Up Series

• All directed by MichaelApted (Coal Miner’sDaughter, Gorillas in the

Mist, The World Is Not Enough) except for 7 Up

• Style is maintainedthroughout the series

• All participants havedegrees of resentmentabout participation

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The Up Series

• Includes children of

privilege, the middle

class and theworking class

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The Up Series

• Only one of the

working class

subjects sent their child to university

• Does the director

project values of

happiness &success onto

participants?

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The Up Series

• Is a person formed

by the age of

seven?

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The Up Series

• "An unexamined life

is not worth living.”

Socrates

• Other franchises in

South Africa,Germany, Russia &

the U.S.

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The Up Series

• And The Simpsons

Springfield Up!

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• Other styles

– Michael Moore - The

Culture of Confrontation

– Court Jester of Documentary

– Roger & Me, Sicko,

Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling

for Columbine, TV

Nation, The Awful Truth

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• Other styles:

– Errol Morris

– Documentaries – Re-enactments

– Commercials

– The Interrotron

The Interrotron

http://www.chapmanlogic.com/blog/archives/000218.html




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• Was rejected by theOscars for BestDocumentary

category in 1989because it wasconsidered to be anon-fictional film due

to its scriptedcontent.

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• Terror & Interview– Errol Morris:

– “Well, when I first used it,which was in Fast, Cheap,

the concern was: will peoplereally tolerate this sort of thing? What happens is youbring someone into thisstudio, sit them down infront of this weirdcontraption, and ask them

talk to a live video image.Will they just run screamingfrom the room? And theanswer is no. They love it.And my production designerafter the first use of thisdevice said well, the beautyof it is that it lets people dowhat they do best, namely

h TV “The Interrotron





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