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Discoursesindocumentaries

1) Documentaries use many of the same codes and conventions as television news programs to tell the public about important issues and events. They aim to inform citizens and enact positive change. 2) Examples of impactful documentaries that drove legislative changes include films about corruption in Australia, homelessness in the UK, and migrant farm workers in the US. Documentaries have also pressured corporations to change practices. 3) Documentaries aim for objectivity but can also present personal stories that are taken to represent whole groups. They sometimes oversimplify issues and place people into categories, potentially reducing them to victims.

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Discoursesindocumentaries

1) Documentaries use many of the same codes and conventions as television news programs to tell the public about important issues and events. They aim to inform citizens and enact positive change. 2) Examples of impactful documentaries that drove legislative changes include films about corruption in Australia, homelessness in the UK, and migrant farm workers in the US. Documentaries have also pressured corporations to change practices. 3) Documentaries aim for objectivity but can also present personal stories that are taken to represent whole groups. They sometimes oversimplify issues and place people into categories, potentially reducing them to victims.

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ENG 3U1

Name: ___________________________
Discourses in Documentaries

Documentaries are written using many of the codes and conventions of


television news. Like news, they are a discourse in themselves, with their own
particular language uses. The public's right to know is one of the most
important claims in support of democracy and free speech. It is also the main
justification of the documentary maker.
'Telling the public' has definitely made a difference at times.
Documentaries have resulted in changes to legislation and, occasionally,
even the dismissal of governments. There are many well-known examples. In
Australia, the Four Corners documentary Moonlight State, about official
corruption, contributed to the fall of the Bjelke-Petersen state government in
Queensland. In Britain the documentary drama Cathy Come Home (1966)
resulted in action to improve the living conditions of the homeless. In the
United States, Harvest of Shame (1961) was successful in bringing about
legislation to help migrant farm workers.
Documentaries have also shamed corporations into changing their behaviour.
Super Size Me had a major impact on McDonald's menus, and Bowling for
Columbine convinced Wal-Mart to restrict the sale of ammunition.
Other important aspects of documentary discourse include the
following:
Objectivity: Like news programs, many traditional documentaries
participate in a discourse of objectivity, appearing to present unbiased facts.
This might be seen as a 'closed discourse', says analyst Myra Macdonald,
because the objective point of view seems so natural and fair that it is hard
to see any other way of seeing things.
Subjectivity and personalization: Many modern documentaries have
taken a different approach and present intensely personal, individual stories
that audiences may unwittingly take to stand for the experiences of whole
sections of society. Documentaries share this characteristic with current
affairs programs.
Categorization: Since many documentaries are concerned with improving
the conditions of society, they often tend to place people into categories. This
may mean they also give them victim status.
Representation in documentaries
The documentary is created out of the actual or real by a series of
transformations, including scripting, filming, editing and transmission. The

ENG 3U1
Name: ___________________________
documentary therefore represents a transformed world and not the whole
truth.
Cause and effect
Some analysts have criticized documentary makers for failing to look at the
causes of events. They accuse them of glorying in the sensationalism of the
problems rather than examining the deeper issues. As a result, such
programs merely gain sympathy for those suffering the symptoms and
effects. In this way many controversial issues become acceptable subject
matter, says commentator Brian Winston. The best that can happen is that
the audience will dip into its pockets and donate money for homeless
shelters, for example. Documentary makers rarely question the deeper
organization and fairness of society.
Truth
Since the beginnings of the documentary, people have struggled with ideas
of truth and reality. Sometimes documentaries have been accused of
presenting lies and fabrication. John Corner believes would be better off
applying the idea of evidence rather than truth.
Recording technologies, he says, produce only traces of the physical world.
These traces can be used as evidence of actuality or reality, and this
evidence can then support the exposition.
On the other hand, reporters can easily do what lawyers are often seen to do
in Court - find only experts who support their own point of view, says veteran
current affairs presenter Peter Couchman.
Now, with regard to the matter of truth, in the natural sciences, for example,
no-one hesitates to talk about truth and among ordinary people no-one
hesitates either. But among sophisticated people, you're supposed to
question the notion of truth.
It is a truism that your point of view on the world is going to colour the way
you approach things. But by no means should it lead us to question the belief
that we're trying to find out the truth about the world. The denial of the urge
for objective reality, that's a tremendously effective propaganda weapon. It
fully incapacitates anyone who accepts it. Of course, wealthy and powerful
people are never going to accept it, but they're delighted to have everyone
else accept it.' Noam Chomsky, media theorist and critic
Representation of individuals
There is a complex relationship between the people who are shown in a
documentary, the documentary producer and the audience. The complexity
comes from three directions. First, there is the importance of the public's

ENG 3U1
Name: ___________________________
right to know. Second, there are the rights of the individual being filmed.
Third, there is the audience's reaction. Current affairs programs and
documentaries are often about society's 'victims' - people who have been
unable to defend themselves.
Unfortunately this has often included an inability to defend themselves
against filmmakers. Documentaries use human beings as evidence in their
expositions. They exploit people and expose their lives. This may be with
good intentions, but the results can be disastrous.
Two documentaries concerned with poverty made in Canada in the 1960s
turned out badly for their subjects, who felt humiliated and degraded after
the screenings. They were mocked by their neighbours and eventually felt
they had to remove their children from local schools.
More recently in Australia, a pregnant teenage girl who featured in Dennis
O'Rourke's film Cunnamulla threatened legal action, saying she was
embarrassed and upset at her portrayal.
Institutions and documentaries
Unlike current affairs programs, documentaries are not good ratings boosters
for the commercial networks. They are the first programs to be cut if money
is tight. Commercial networks often see documentaries made in the public
interest as non-profit items of little interest to advertisers.
Commercial interests also influence the subject matter of documentaries. In a
New York Times article, John Culhane listed a number of subjects that are
taboo on commercial television. They included controversial investigations
into big business, the networks themselves, the military-industrial complex
and nuclear power. Controversy that risks offending advertisers is not popular
with commercial television networks.
Public service television, such as the ABC, features many more
documentaries than the commercial networks. Yet public service television
can also operate under pressures that affect the subject matter of programs.
Too much criticism of the government of the day can result in future budget 1
efficiency cuts'. So program producers will sometimes censor a program
themselves to avoid the risk of giving offence.
Audience
When documentary producers talk of the 'public's right to know', they are
making an assumption about the audience. They are suggesting that if the
audience is shown that something is wrong, public opinion will mobilize to
correct it. There are many cases where this has occurred, but there are also
many where it has not. Modern audience research has shown that media
effects and audience reaction are highly complex.

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