The ongoing controversial issue surrounding a current affair shows has sparked recent debate. Craig Mathiesons opinion piece, ‘more mobs rage after the break’, written on 20-11-09 in The Age aims to discredit and degrade a current affair shows. Mathieson addresses the disgraceful decline of a current affair shows and is concerned with the state of such programs. His vindictive and sarcastic tone allows Mathieson to outline the sensationalised and sordid formatting of such programs. There is a tonal shift within the article and his tone becomes less critical by outlining the positive aspects of these shows. Mathisen emphasizes and aims his article towards a current affair viewers and producers of these shows, to allow them to question what is reported.
Mathieson begins his opinion piece by degrading and demoralising Today Tonight for being a ‘cancerous growth’ on Australian television. Mathieson aims to immediately capture the attention of the readers by beginning his piece with a negative implication towards a current affair shows. It is surprising that over one million people tune in to watch this show, as it doesn’t have high moral ground in what is presented every week night. The strong use of language such as ‘sordid’ and ‘disgrace’ attempt to implore the viewer that the stories shown on Today Tonight are no longer just bad but are in fact ‘so bad that it’s a disgrace’. The words have negative connotations and are designed to influence the readers to think poorly of such shows. He goes on to say that such shows have left us shaking our heads and sighing with bemusement from the lack of any real news. Complementary to this article is the use of a photograph that directly correlates to the issue at hand. Matt White, the host of Today Tonight is depicted standing in front of a brick wall which suggests that these shows are complied with a restricted and limited amount of information that is exaggerated and is deemed ultimately unreliable. Matt White is also…