Reality therapy?

Thursday 27 March 2008 11:57 PM

If ever I find myself a broken man in thrall to substances, I'll be sure to seek the professional counsel of an interviewer under studio lights before a national audience. The ABC's Andrew Denton is a worthy interviewer of exquisite skill and deep humanity. But is it truly in the interests of public humanity, not to mention those of Wayne Carey himself, for his deep, unresolved life struggles to be laid bare on a million suburban screens? 

Where is the line between courageous exposure of unpleasant social realities and the pure tabloid voyeurism of reality TV? These are perhaps not questions to be answered in isolation by ABC producers between now and Monday. But they deserve serious ongoing reflection by captains of media, and all thinking Australians.