Truth, the Media, and B5

 Posted on 2/24/1997 by J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com> to CIS


Meryl Yourish <103470.2703@compuserve.com> asks:
> Are we supposed to think that you believe all reporters are
> slime, or is it just the slant that they've been given in B5
> episodes? So I guess my main questions are these: What is your
> attitude on the press? And will you ever portray reporters in a
> good light?

No, I don't make any blanket condemnations of journalists. For
one thing, there's a difference between portraying journalism in a
relatively free society, and one that's operating under a dictatorship,
a la President Clark. It's the difference between journalism and
propaganda.

In "Midnight on the Firing Line," we had a reporter there doing
a straight-ahead story; in "Point of No Return" we had the Good
Journalists fighting to reveal the truth even as Clark was shutting
them down.

There have been favorable portrayals; it's just that under the
current regime, they don't have access to the media.

jms