Television news is it fiction or fact? How much of today's news can we actually believe? News today is sensationalized and exaggerated to attract viewers and improve ratings. These days it's not always about delivering the facts and a presentation of what's actually happening in the world, it's about attracting viewers by showing an interesting story and often stretching the truth to make it more appealing and enjoyable to watch, despite the possible consequences, and the deliberate distortion of the truth. .
In television news the perception of the story we are shown is not always correct, we are shown an opinion of the truth not the facts. This does not always happen but as time progresses and money and ratings become more of an issue, we are confronted with the problem of news representatives and journalists using a news event to attract a larger audience. When networks get greedy and want to improve ratings, It is no longer about giving people the whole story; it's about showing an interesting view of the story, improving ratings and generating channel success. Many journalists no longer consider the well being of the people involved in the story they are covering, they strive to obtain the most exclusive footage and interviews to provide a more interesting view of the story, despite possible negative implications of there actions. An example of this is when a journalist called Mike Willisee, who was a journalist employed by channel nine put the safety of hostages at risk by directing the pilot of the helicopter in which he was a passenger, to fly over the area classified by police as a no fly zone, just to get the story. He went against the police and put the safety of the hostages at risk for his own benefit. He neglected to consider the well being of the people involved to get a more up close and personal look at the story. Another incident that occurred during the course of the drama consisted of, Mike Willisee conducting an interview with the criminal and his young daughter on live national television, which could have had fatal consequences.
