HARM IN NEWSREEL

Taranaki Daily News, 20 July 1935, Page 8 (Supplement)

HARM IN NEWSREEL

SENSATIONALISM DANGER. HOW FAR SHOULD FILMS GO? The news-reel shown at the cinema is being widely discussed. There is a growing feeling that the news-reel, if made to pander to mere sensationalism, can 'be just as harmful as other films which have been banned by the censor. Mr. Paul Rotha, writing in the Cinema Quarterly, says:— “It seems likely that important issues with regard to the function and scope of the news-reel may at last be brought to a head by the widely-shown item of the assassination of King Alexander of Jugoslavia. On several recent occasions ‘it has been evident that the news-reel companies’ rival efforts for sensationalism would sooner or later provoke public indignation. The ‘Outrage at Marseilles' provides that required incentive. “It is surely the news-reel’s task to present as accurately as possible a record of an event. As soon as it begins to dramatise, to construct an incident creatively by cutting for increased effect, news-reel encroaches into the documentary field. Once the news-reel adopts documentary approach, almost any event can be given implications to suit any point of view. In this age of social and political unrest, such manipulation holds many dangers. “The inclusion of th® assassination item —in ordinary programmes, along with colour symphonies and amusement films, is causing wide comment. It defeats the entertainment purpose of the cinema, for no studio-made story can stand up to this vivid moment of real life. It suggests that there is scope for extension of news-theatres, and that news-reels, except those of the most uncontroversial topics, should be removed from the general theatres. “Not for one moment is it implied that records of such events should be suppressed. It is { important that they should be exhibited to permit the public to draw its own conclusions. But it'is equally important that they should be available only to those who desire to see them, .and not inserted in the ordinary programmes. “Such exploitation policy is not new Recently we have seen human suffering literally forced before cameras and microphone, with the participants actually demonstrating their unwillingness to wake public their private emotions. There can be no other purpose behind this than exploitation for profit. “I do not blame the news-reel cameramen. They have courage and. skill and are only obeying instructions. I accuse the policy behind some news-reels and deplore their lack of social responsibility. I condemn the minds that adopt the attitude that there are incidents—be it pit disaster, shipwreck or strike riots—which can be exploited for gain by laying special emphasis on the brutality or pathos of the occasion.”