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--- lesson 45 The power of the press |
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--- Listen to the tape then answer the question below. |
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--- Does the writer think the parents were lucky or unlucky to gain prosperity in this way? why? |
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In democratic countries any efforts to restrict the freedom of the press are rightly condemned. |
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However, this freedom can easily be abused. |
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Stories about people often attract far more public attention than political events. |
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Though we may enjoy reading about the lives of others, it is extremely doubtful whether we would equally enjoy reading about ourselves. |
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Acting on the contention that facts are sacred, |
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reporters can cause untold suffering to individuals by publishing details about their private lives. |
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Newspapers exert such tremendous influence that they can not only bring about major changes to the lives of ordinary people but can even overthrow a government. |
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The story of a poor family that acquired fame and fortune overnight, dramatically illustrates the power of the press. |
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The family lived in Aberdeen, a small town of 23,000 inhabitants in South Dakota. |
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As the parents had five children, life was a perpetual struggle against poverty. |
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They were expecting their sixth child and were faced with even more pressing economic problems. |
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If they had only had one more child, the fact would have passed unnoticed. |
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They would have continued to struggle against economic odds and would have lived in obscurity. |
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But they suddenly became the parents of quintuplets, four girl and a boy, an event which radically changed their lives. |
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The day after the birth of the five children, an aeroplane arrived in Aberdeen bringing sixty reporters and photographers. |
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The rise to fame was swift. |
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Television cameras and newspapers carried the news to everyone in the country. |
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Newspapers and magazines offered the family huge sums for the exclusive rights to publish stories and photographs. |
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Gifts poured in not only from unknown people, but from baby food and soap manufacturers who wished to advertise their products. |
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The old farmhouse the family lived in was to be replaced by a new $500,000 home. |
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Reporters kept pressing for interviews so lawyers had to be employed to act as spokesmen for the family at press conferences. |
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While the five babies were still quietly sleeping in oxygen tents in a hospital nursery, |
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their parents were paying the price for fame. |
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It would never again be possible for them to lead normal lives. |
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They had become the victims of commercialization, for their names had acquired a market value. |
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Instead of being five new family members, these children had immediately become a commodity. |
