The Nightly News #6 (of 6)

Posted by Graig on June 29, 2007

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If you haven’t been keeping up on your nuanced government watchdog information, you may have missed that Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich is asking for a review of the Fairness Doctrine, with an eye towards reinstating it. If you’re an average American (or Canadian like me) this type of report bores you, makes your eyes gloss over, instills the sleepy, etc. But if you’re into media, or if you just want to understand how the government has controlled attempted to control the media in the past, then the Fairness Doctrine is worth looking into.

In quick points, the Fairness Doctrine was a government legislated act (enforced via the FCC) which required licensed broadcasters to present any controversial issues of public importance in a fair and balanced manner (why does that sound familiar). By todays standards, this means that any time someone wishes to go on TV and discuss the impact of global warming, the news media needs to get someone to balance that discussion and refute it. You see it on TV all the time, and it’s a sham. You can have ninety percent of the country saying George Bush is doing a lousy job as President, but if you were to present that argument on TV or radio, you have to present it as a one-to-one ratio… even though the sides of the debate aren’t even, or in some cases, the argument isn’t even up for debate. For some reason some Democrats feel their being underrepresented by the slanted viewpoint of the news media (however true that may be) but for some reason they think that government regulated “balanced” reporting will help them look better… or something. Politics make me ill. But the relevance of this preamble to the comic in question is, well, exactly what the comic is about. The news media is corrupt, hardly presenting a fair and/or balanced view, and a sect, guided by “The Voice”, has declared war on the news media, whom they consider have even more control than the government.

Ideas like the Fairness Doctrine, in the book referred to as the “Fairness in Media Act”, are what this book is arguing about. Is terrorism really an acceptable means of getting a message out? Are people paying attention? Would today’s society accept the viewpoint of extremists, and would the media really allow their message to be heard? Are the efforts of the “Brotherhood of the Voice” in vain, and will the media exploit their actions for their own profit rather than heeding the message? And would something like the Fairness Doctrine impact the media, either by setting them straight or impinging upon their success (and ultimately their pocketbook)?

The Nightly News grew from the premise of the media exploiting a story, a man, for their own profit, not caring what impact their relentless and eventually misguided “pursuit of the story” has on the individual (nevermind society as a whole). The news is responsible for doling out information to the public, but can that information be trusted. What’s the angle, what’s the bias, what are you missing, and how are you being influenced. The news no longer adheres to a strict moral code or really any code at all. It’s about what will garner ratings and ultimately money. On a more conspiratorial level, it’s about power and control of the people, conglomerates playing overlords to the government. Whether you believe that or not, creator Jonathan Hickman does make a case for it in the guise of one damn entertaining story that also fuels the brain.

The final issue fulfills the promise of the Brotherhood of the Voice to make a change, that doesn’t quite have the same impact I think the siblings were hoping for, but they’re mostly dead by the end of it, so I’m not certain they care anyway. There’s a bitter streak of humor running throughout, although the factiods for which this series has become known are absent this issue, and it clips along at a brisk pace to come to it’s heavily machinated finale. While the end resolution, for a moment, makes it seem like the entire series was a prolonged set-up for a lawyer joke, it’s really one of the most thought provoking comics to come out in some time. With Hickman’s graphic style, part pop-art, part graffiti, it’s decidedly different than anything else on the market.

Like any good political discussion, questions are raised by the book, by its story, its characters and its outcome. Different interpretations are available, different understandings can be reached. It’s an exciting piece of work, socially relevant, hard hitting, and defiantly entertaining.

4 and a half out of 5 Vikings