Fellow blogger Melissa Callahan and myself brought this up in ethics class the other day, but I thought I'd bring it up again in print since we didn't have much time to discuss the ethical dimensions of the issue....last spring NBC 5 reported on the "leprechaun in Mobile, Alabama" news story. It became an overnight sensation. T-shirts, rap songs and other comical memorabilia were sold, and clips of it popped up all over the internet. When one first watches it, it is quite funny. But when you take a moment to consider what is really happening in the video, it becomes apparent that the people of Mobile might actually be the butt of a nasty joke. The news casters chuckle and make snide comments throughout the story and ridiculous quotes and interviews were put into the final cut...it's almost as if the people who put the story together are making fun of an underprivileged, poverty stricken community. Maybe I'm overreacting a bit...I'm not quite sure. What do others think? Exploitation or just a light hearted St. Patrick's Day story? Does this story meet the ethical standards of fair and objective reporting?
Here's a link to the youtube clip of it...check it out if you haven't already done so:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nda_OSWeyn8
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1 comment:
It seems cruel to me. Maybe some of those interviewed were just playing along and wanted to be on TV. But some stories do seem to exist only to make poor and ignorant look stupid.
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