Analysis : Advocacy Journalism: "Harvest of Shame"

 

Harvest of Shame brought to light the harsh conditions of farm labor workers. These individuals left their homelands in search of better. This documentational journalism wanted to open the eyes of the American public. To show them how the produce they buy in the store reaches them. Many people do not know or care how the material things they own reach stores. They just buy and continue with their lives. Not much or any appreciation for the people who have to pour their blood, sweat, and tears into making that shirt or harvesting that corn. The documentary showed people the true reality of commerce. The inhumane treatment by withholding pay, lack of clean food and water, disgusting living conditions etc. The journalist took a brave step going to these locations and putting their jobs on the line. If the higher up found out that there were news reporters sneaking around, that would cause problems for CBS. This is similar to Hunter S. Thompson who lived the life of a gang member for one year just to write a book. He opened the minds of readers by not playing it safe and showing readers more to life. The document displays major attributes of advocacy journalism. Bring light to an issue they deem important and that people need to see and understand. They wanted to invoke emotions of things that needed to change. 

What comes to mind are documentary based youtubers. They travel the world event of places you would not think allowed journalists to record. They bring to the world the struggles of individuals who live under certain rules and regulations or in certain situations. They bring their stories to the world, which sometimes catches the eyes of the major organizations, who end up reaching out and try to assist in anyway they can. These same organizations end up taking action as it pertains to the government. Demanding they find solutions to fix issues they have now become aware of. Another example of contemporary journalists and journalism are politics based influencers. These influencers focus on politics and help keep people informed by uploading short videos highlighting important details. The focus on details many news outlets probably did not cover or have not discussed yet. In comparison, these groups used technology to share their message. The different forms of sharing a message from beyond the newsroom to any handheld device that has youtube or any other social media app. There is not much difference between documentary and political journalism. They just want to bring attention to the important topics and issues of life.