Crash and burn

After watching the TV3 show Kerry Katona: Crash and Burn at 8 o’clock tonight, it almost makes you feel guilty about the profession we are embarking in. It’s hard to see the destructive effect the media can have on a person and still be excited and optimistic about being a journalist.

The TV3 show followed Kerry Katona’s life from her early days as a lap dancer and page three model to her eventual demise in the media eye. Comparing interviews she did when she was in Atomic Kitten to the infamous This Morning interview she is barely recognisable. I think the various pressures and struggles she went through in her life obviously had an effect on her and her mental instability but going through that in the public eye had a catastrophic effect. I mean the title “crash and burn” says it all really.

I think the interview on This Morning where she was seen to be disorientated and slurring her words really shows where the media can tar a person. Whether it was intentional or not, I think that after that interview there were very few people who thought she was sober. I know that it was Philip Schofield’s job to ask the tough questions and to point out that she was slurring her words but it was so hard to watch and I just felt so sorry for her. Where do you draw the line? This is a woman who is clearly sick, do you ask if she’s okay on national television or do you go to a break and ask then? Phillip and Fern seemed so genuinely concerned for her well-being but was exposing her on national television really the best thing for someone so fragile?

I know it’s hypocritical because who knows what you’d do if you were in that position and it did get publicity for the show but it just seems wrong. It’s sad that an industry that can do so much good like exposing crime and corruption can also be responsible for so much wrongdoing. I know that exposing Kerry Katona as a drug addict or alcoholic doesn’t exactly have a bad effect on society but it has a devastating effect on her. I suppose at the end of the day it’s the presenters’ job and worrying about what effect something has on Kerry Katona won’t get them far.

It all comes down to your own personal ethics and how far you will go to do well in the industry. I hope that it is something you learn along the way because right now I do not feel capable of making those decisions and having what could ultimately be someone’s future in your hands. Hopefully I will be able to find some balance between revealing the truth and destroying people’s lives.

JOD