This documentary from Australia, the country that gave Rupert Murdoch to the world, questions the power and role of journalists today, when lives can be shattered by a typed innuendo, entire governments have been known to tumble, and reporters, barely out of school, wield immense and seemingly uncontrolled power. The program examines the inconsistent and fragmented system of ethics and accountability governing journalism, and looks at the market forces, tricks, pressures, and traps that are part of everyday news gathering and packaging. Exposing the pitfalls of checkbook journalism, it shows how even ethical journalists can become part of a media frenzy and points to the need for greater journalistic accountability. (56 minutes)
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