More last words on 02092009

Q&A for LT3 Lecture on 27 Aug 2009

1) Why can we use almost the whole of passage B paragraph 8 as text reference? How does this link to common man’s reduced access to, and hence control of, real information?
Those lines I highlighted are potential line references and they don’t mean you have to use them all. It all depends on what the point you are using and talking about. Some good ones may not even be relevant. For Passage B, I am looking particularly at the point that talks about how media channels rely on advertisements and other corporate tie-ups and the information they present to viewers are sometimes not objective. My specific example is on Channel Newsasia, who don’t have access to Barclays Premier League and the information they presented may not be as “real” as it should be (“real information” in the form of raw footage vis-s-vis spoken or written information which have, on some occasions, led to mispronunciation or wrong information). The whole idea is on consumerism: you pay what you get. CNA is a free-to-air channel, unlike Football Channel, and the tie-ups with corporations lead to one main issue. Common man’s access to real information is restricted if he does not have the money to afford it. You can also talk about how advertorials on lifestyle shows affect real information, and you don’t have control of it because it is all presented to you. You can’t choose after a fair comparison with the rest of similar products and services. (I think I have a post on my blog about a speaker who used the analogy of “buffet” vs “set-meal” when describing the situation.)

Is the text reference used from passage B, l46-49?

I used just the reference “code for giving the public no choice” (B l.49). You can use B l.46-9 to answer R2, but I used the l.49 phrase to answer R1.

2) From the sample paragraph which address R2:
   – Although shows catering to “prurient interests” are still rare due to societal values and the closest you can get is S-factor.
   – Which shows that people has the control (otherwise profit-driven companies will many of such shows since sex sells)
   – Which is somewhat unlike what is described: “poverty of the majority of humanity” (B, l27)
   I don’t understand how does these answer R2.

R2 is about media objectivity in Singapore. I am using Passage B against itself. My stand is that the local media authority has done well so far in balancing the interest of corporations and viewers and the country, and they should continue to do so. The media here is still rather objective, considering this need for balance. We don’t have channels like the Naked News, which are present in Europe and even Korea. This is because besides the government, people in society are also against such prurient materials. (I’ve also cited the local authority’s stand on my blog a few weeks ago and from his presentation, we are assured that the MDA takes feedback from the public very seriously.) Thus “poverty of the majority of humanity” doesn’t apply to the Singapore context. We are not morally poor, and the authority has done well to listen to the public’s voice and they must continue to do so while balancing the requirements of the three stakeholders.

Is morally poor referring to us having a choice of what to watch?

Being morally poor means to choose to watch programmes that are amoral or programmes that are full of half truths or lies. Remember that the phrase in B l.27 also refers to the literal meaning of “poor”: no money, no power.

***

Do note that the topic sentence of the passage paragraph may not be the topic sentence of your AQ response paragraph, like the case in (2). That only means your own topic sentence must be clear to the readers.