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Explain And Account For The Differences In Current Affairs Television As ...


Explain and Account for the Differences in Current Affairs
Television as between the UK and the USA.Explain and Account for the Differences in Current Affairs
Television as between the UK and the USA.
In this essay I intend to examine the main aspects of current affairs programmes within the US and UK, taking into consideration socio-cultural and socio-political aspects, regulatory bodies and generic programming strategies utilised by both countries. It will look at the differing and similar aspects of each nation as well as examine the issues that affect both countries. The advent of New Media and changing audience desires has recently affected current affairs programming and legislation to deal with the aforementioned changes.Explain and Account for the Differences in Current Affairs television as between the UK and the USA.
Despite being an important and integral part of most audience's television viewing preferences, Current Affairs have perhaps received a dearth in television studies as a generic term. Indeed, although a corpus of work is gradually forming which is enveloping a range of stratum including entertainment, politics or newsworthy stories outside of generalised newscasts, the idea of current affairs as a whole has not received the attention which it merits.
However, a number of authors have produced books that do take into consideration socio-political and socio-cultural developments and changes which in turn have affected television programming within the UK and the US.
Curran and Seaton (2003) in their publication Power Without Responsibility, dedicate a large portion of the text to new media, which they account for the recent and current changes being undertaken in the UK (as well as the rest of the world). They also discuss in detail the history of the press and latterly of broadcasting history in which they underline the importance of the difference of the two sectors. They account for these differences, especially within current affairs by the increasing political stance of the broadcasting media and the seeming free-reign that is afforded the Press. It is in their penultimate chapter, Contradictions is media policy (pp.379-391), that they highlight this difference, the interference and regulation by the government (particularly in the UK) and the Peacock Commission under the Thatcher government and the New Labour Green paper in 1998 that has made the UK broadcasting industry reliant on international marketing of its products. Taking the global market into consideration, has altered the way that current affairs programming is undertaken in the UK.
‘In New Labour's Green, White and Consultation Papers, public service broadcasting is defended but no equivalent defence is offered for a free market approach to the press. The latter is just assumed to be right, without any argument or reason being given' (391).


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