The Press as the Vehicle of Manipulation of a Nation

Most people who are reading this blog entry might not be aware of the 1951 Film-Noir genre film ‘Ace in the Hole’ directed by the then celebrated director ‘Billy Wilder’. Although, it turned out to be a dud on the box-office owing to various reasons, it is considered by many fans and critics alike as his best film after ‘Sunset Boulevard’. And I personally cherish the film amongst the very top of my personal list. However, it was panned down by the critics in those times as they considered the circus atmosphere in the film unrealistic. The first box-office disappointment of a Billy Wilder film was attributed to its documentary format of film-making (to depict realism), coldness (of the characters therein) and the absence of a happy ending.

The film was futuristic in its feel and idea. While ‘Citizen Kane’ was lauded for the impact of journalism, this one was shorn for showing it. Probably the people then did not take it in a sympathetic way. However, Indian media proved that Billy Wilder’s idea of ‘circus atmosphere’ was not all that way off. The televised drama over most Indian news channels of ‘Prince in the Hole’ and the attention that followed almost seems scripted from the movie ‘Ace in the Hole’ with little tweaking to make it look more contemporary. Here is a TOI news link to the 'Prince drama'.

Comparing the two scenario's, one fictional and one (seemingly?) real we find many circumstantial (and not factual) similarities. We shall refer to Prince's saga as 'P' and the film as 'F':

1. P-Prince, all of four years old (kid of this age needs parental attention all the time) fell into the hole dug for irrigation purposes while playing (seemingly allowed to freely roam about in the town). The shaft, covered with an empty jute bag, was just wide enough for the boy to go in but too narrow for an adult. VS. F-Leo Minosa, a local Esquedero man who has become trapped in a cave collapse while trying to excavate ancient Indian Artifacts.
2. P-The shaft was 55 feet deep. VS. F-The cave was 250-300 feet in and deep.
3. P-Prince celebrated his 4th birthday in the shaft. VS. F-Leo celebrated his 5th marriage anniversary in the cave.
4. P-Media sensationalism resulting in media circus as much as to attract the best TV channels as well as newspaper men from the big cities to the otherwise 'not-in-the-news-kinda-town', Kurukshetra as well as people circus around the site of the shaft. VS. F-Media sensationalism resulting in media circus as much as to attract journalists from big cities New York,Chicago, Philadelphia, etc. to a remote village 'Esquedero'.
5. P-Prince displayed a rare poise and courage. VS. F-Leo Minosa displayed rare ruggedness and courage.
6. The event and the film both seem to be inspired from by two real-life events. The first involved W. Floyd Collins, who in 1925 was trapped inside in Sand Cave, Kentucky following a landslide. A Louisville newspaper, the Courier-Journal, jumped on the story by dispatching reporter William Burke Miller to the scene. Miller's enterprising coverage turned the tragic episode into a national event and earned the writer a Pulitzer Prize. Floyd's name is cited in the film as an example of a cave-in victim who becomes a media sensation. The second event took place in April 1949. Three-year-old Kathy Fiscus of San Marino, California fell into an abandoned well and, during a rescue operation that lasted several days, thousands of people arrived to watch the action unfold. In both cases the victims died before they were reached by rescuers. Except that, in this case Prince survived (So much for tweaking?!).

The film's plotline deals with a hard boiled Journalist 'Chuck Tatum' at the pinnacle of his career suffering the booting out by top big city newspapers and seeking to regain his stature by working for a downsized small town daily. His aim is to render and tell a story, a piece of news which would be big to shake the foundations of big newspapers so that they would re-employ him, restoring his lost pride. The world described here is so depressing, so disheartening that it takes drama to new limits. A film which is shot mostly in broad day light but still is ghastly dark and noir-ish because of portrayal of dark human nature.

Today, the journalism is no different with News TV channels sensationalising every shit piece of news while not covering news of essence. Everything is done for mileage - political and economic. Portrayal of truth is now a thing of past. Things are being complicated to provide for manipulation without people having the knowledge of being manipulated. Facts are engineered like in the film Ace in the hole, "Tatum manipulates the rescue effort, getting the unscrupulous sheriff to pressure the engineer charged with the rescue into using a much slower method, so that Tatum can prolong his stay on the front pages of newspapers nationwide." Truth is lies, lies is truth - a talking contradiction! Hopefully, the government takes measures to regulate the content shown on news or newsprint. We want right news and not fast news (no sabse tez news, please!).