Vox Pop: symptom of a lobotomised media

Today we learned that boffins have discovered that ‘a very common gene can help explain why breast-fed babies tend to grow up to be more intelligent than those raised exclusively on bottled milk’. An important piece of news that adds to the advantages of breastfeeding.

But sadly listeners to BBC Radio 1 are given this news via the medium of the Vox Pop, which involves asking nursing mums what they think. One mum tells us she believes her baby son is very intelligent, which is nice, but it has nothing to do with breast milk.

While mum knew nothing of this study prior to being picked out at random for the Vox Pop (and has no objective means to measure the baby’s intelligence), she’s able to rubbish the research on the BBC and sow the seeds of confusion in the minds of future parents throughout the land.

Vox Pops are popular with media types because they sound good on the radio, with all those voices creating a false impression that some balanced journalism is going on. In truth, they are a symptom of a lobotomised media that is no longer capable of informing its public. And further evidence that yesterday’s Stand Up For Journalism rally was so important.

Posted at : November 6th, 2007 - 4:50 pm
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Comments (2 comments)

and also they do vox pops to give the impression that they are in touch with their audience. and can relate. and its a cheap way to fill column inches or the radio waves. perhaps everyone should start asking for a fee in a famous for 15 minutes sort of way? they would soon stop doing vox pops then – which illustrates just about everything you need to know about them. most self-respecting journos hate doing vox pops. they are generally meaningless drivel.

Friend / November 10th, 2007, 12:34 am / #

radio one vox pops are very frustrating and a waste of airtime. Coincidently Press Gazette featured this last week – Mastering the art of the vox pop by Radio 1’s Newsbeat sports reporter David Garrido

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=39428

But I love the vox pops in my local newspaper. Local faces and local views = extra sales

Ben / November 15th, 2007, 8:22 pm / #

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