'Oh Dearism' - The role of News Theatre in shaping the World

Adam Curtis, the news documentary film maker behind 'The Power of Nightmares' and 'The Century of the Self', created this short documentary film for Newswipe. He makes an excellent point on how the news has become a way in which the audience isn't driven to help people, but is actually driven into a state of apathy due to over-exposure of terrible events.

At face value, this may seem odd, as the dour presentation of the news in the past also did little to make people get up and act over the injustices of the world. However, the modern news industry has become so pre-occupied with the notion of 'bad news is good news' that images of starving children in Africa no longer stir the feelings in the public that there was after the Michael Buerk documentary on the Ethiopian famine of 1984-85.

Yes, there are still massive amounts of aid being given through money sent to charities from the public, but not that sense of guilt or overwhelming melancholy. People see these things on the television and donate a few pounds, but only to feel as though they're doing something about it and for their own peace of mind.