The Insider

Based on the first half of The Insider (viewed in class this week) and The Insider Review in Variety, answer one of the questions below.

• The opening scenes reveal little about why and how Brown & Williamson fired Jeffrey Wigand. Instead, the film intercuts between scenes of Lowell Bergman working on a "60 Minutes" interview in Lebanon and scenes of Wigand's life after he lost his job. Is this an effective storytelling technique? What do we learn about the two men?
  
• As the story unfolds, we learn that Wigand is the "witness who has been betrayed, and Bergman is the righteous crusader who has been hung out to dry." Does this story have clear-cut heroes and villains? If so, who are they?
• The Variety reviewer calls the movie "borderline pretentious"? What does he mean? Do you agree? He also writes that, "at 157 minutes, pic feels at least 20 minutes too long." Do you agree? If so, what parts would you cut and why?
  

Fox News: Who Reports? Who Decides?

 
THE CORPORATION (Canada: Zeitgeist Films, 2004) explores the rise of "the dominant institution of our time." It includes interviews with 40 corporate insiders and critics - including Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, and Milton Friedman - plus case studies and strategies for change.

Chapter 17 ("Unsettling Accounts") tells the story of Jane Akre and Steve Wilson, investigative reporters turned whistle-blowers. Akre and Wilson were fired by the Fox News television station they worked for after refusing to change their investigative report on Posilac, a Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) made by Monsanto. Their research documented potential health problems of drinking milk treated with the synthetic hormone. When threatened with legal action by Monsanto, Fox demanded that Akre and Wilson rewrite the story, and ultimately fired them. They sued Fox under Florida's whistle-blower statute and proved to a jury that the story Fox wanted them to air was false, distorted or slanted. The jury awarded Akre $425,000. Fox appealed, arguing that lying to the public over the airwaves was a violation of FCC policy, but not prohibited by law. The jury verdict was overturned and Akre lost her award. Akre and Wilson became liable for Fox's $1.8 million court costs, later reduced to $200,000.

Please answer one or more of the following questions:

• Fox News has a slogan, "We report, you decide." Based on the Jane Akre and Steve Wilson story, who decides what stories get aired on Fox News? Do viewers have the information they need to make good decisions?
• Where do you turn for important news about environmental and health issues?

Beyond the Broadcast Model

Chapter 2 in The Business of Media describes how the emergence of digital media in the 1990s moved the industry beyond the broadcast model pioneered by radio and television. "Rather than a limited number of media products supported entirely by advertisers targeted to a mass mainstream audience, the new media landscape featured many more media outlets producing content for smaller niche audiences available via various fee structures" (p. 63).

Bite-sized media sales and subscription services are two common fee structures. The first strategy lets consumers buy a single film viewing ("on demand" cable TV) or a single song download (iTunes). The second strategy charges a monthly fee for access to hundreds of TV channels (cable or satellite) or a vast catalog of films and TV programs delivered to the subscriber's home (Netflix).

• In your view, does the digital model offer audiences more diverse content than the broadcast model? More diverse perspectives? A freer flow of information?
• Please cite specific examples to support your position. 
• Compared with the broadcast media model, does the digital model have any disadvantages?

The Music Industry

Money for Nothing: Behind the Business of Pop Music (Media Education Foundation, 2002) analyzes four gatekeepers that control the flow of music to consumers: radio, MTV, touring, and retail.

• Thinking back to 2002 (when this film was made), who were your favorite musicians? Were your choices influenced by the four gatekeepers identified in the film?
• Now think of your current musical choices. Who are the gatekeepers today? Do radio, MTV, touring, and retail still matter?

For more information about the company that dominates the touring industry, read Rolling Stone's special report on Ticketmaster.

For more background on the music industry, check out the website for the PBS-Frontline documentary The Way the Music Died.