Historian likens TV networks to cannibals
"ELEANOR HALL: A Channel 7 team dispatched to the Indonesian province of Papua to film a story about cannibalism has just been deported from Jakarta and flown to Singapore.
"But as the Nine and Seven networks argue about who saw the cannibal story first and how the Seven crew came to be detained by Indonesian authorities, outside the industry the debate is again about TV current affairs values.
"Chris Ballard, an anthropologist with the ANU, has described Channel Seven's quest to save a six-year-old Papuan boy from cannibalism as farcical, and akin to going to Baghdad only to do a story on Paris Hilton.
"Alison Caldwell prepared this report ...
"CHRIS BALLARD: It's something akin to wandering around Baghdad asking about Paris Hilton.
"ALISON CALDWELL: That's Dr Chris Ballard, a historian with the Australia National University in Canberra. An anthropologist, he's visited Papua several times over the past decade. Dr Ballard says there's no evidence of cannibalism in Papua in recent years.
"CHRIS BALLARD: There aren't as far as we know. There have been cannibals in the past in Papua but really that was quite some time ago. I think the sad thing is there are real stories to be had out of Papua, all sorts of conflicts and challenges being posed to the people in Papua and to the Government in Jakarta and really to have these clowns wandering around the landscape on so called missions of mercy, is a tragedy I think for all of us.
"It's a complete non-story and it cues into something that's been happening recently, which is the development of adventure tourism and if you like adventure journalism. There are companies that now offer manufactured first-contact experiences in West Papua where rich tourists go in and are made to believe that they're the very first white people to have encountered particular groups.
"And I think this the kind of journalism we're seeing coming out of this particular media war but the only endangered species I can see in this is Channel Seven's ratings.
"ALISON CALDWELL: The heads of Channel Seven's and Channel Nine's news and current affairs say that it's incumbent on them as human beings to get in there and save this boy.
"CHRIS BALLARD: I mean I think it's laughable, it really is. The real cannibals in this are the commercial networks who are trying to consume each other's audiences and each other's market share and I have no time for spurious claims about mercy missions."
The World Today
Tagged: papua, television, corporations, journalism
"But as the Nine and Seven networks argue about who saw the cannibal story first and how the Seven crew came to be detained by Indonesian authorities, outside the industry the debate is again about TV current affairs values.
"Chris Ballard, an anthropologist with the ANU, has described Channel Seven's quest to save a six-year-old Papuan boy from cannibalism as farcical, and akin to going to Baghdad only to do a story on Paris Hilton.
"Alison Caldwell prepared this report ...
"CHRIS BALLARD: It's something akin to wandering around Baghdad asking about Paris Hilton.
"ALISON CALDWELL: That's Dr Chris Ballard, a historian with the Australia National University in Canberra. An anthropologist, he's visited Papua several times over the past decade. Dr Ballard says there's no evidence of cannibalism in Papua in recent years.
"CHRIS BALLARD: There aren't as far as we know. There have been cannibals in the past in Papua but really that was quite some time ago. I think the sad thing is there are real stories to be had out of Papua, all sorts of conflicts and challenges being posed to the people in Papua and to the Government in Jakarta and really to have these clowns wandering around the landscape on so called missions of mercy, is a tragedy I think for all of us.
"It's a complete non-story and it cues into something that's been happening recently, which is the development of adventure tourism and if you like adventure journalism. There are companies that now offer manufactured first-contact experiences in West Papua where rich tourists go in and are made to believe that they're the very first white people to have encountered particular groups.
"And I think this the kind of journalism we're seeing coming out of this particular media war but the only endangered species I can see in this is Channel Seven's ratings.
"ALISON CALDWELL: The heads of Channel Seven's and Channel Nine's news and current affairs say that it's incumbent on them as human beings to get in there and save this boy.
"CHRIS BALLARD: I mean I think it's laughable, it really is. The real cannibals in this are the commercial networks who are trying to consume each other's audiences and each other's market share and I have no time for spurious claims about mercy missions."
The World Today
Tagged: papua, television, corporations, journalism
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