The basic story is that the accused man is wrongly accused and the fact that we can see this is a very gentle man and would not really ant to hurt anyone makes this story so moving. I will be looking at television and media, discussing what they both do well and not so well in getting their story across, what they have in common and which one I think is the strongest for this particular story.
They will both be strong in different aspects of thing i.e. visual images in television and the imagination of writing.
I am going to start with Television:
The television programme comes across with the story in reality, it is filming non stop and since this is a prison and not a movie set, there are no re-takes and no acting, just raw emotion as the viewer can see, hear and almost feel the very emotions for Edward himself.
It is stronger that the media piece in some ways and weaker in others:
The film is pure reality, like said before, it is non stop and there are no re-takes, the film is presented in the order it was filmed in and there is no acting involved, this may also add an element of strong emotion for the viewer (may it be sadness for Edward or hate for the racist people who got him there in the first place) because they know that this is a true story and that everything will not be a happy ending and that the Edward actually dies.
The television is stronger that the media in this way as well as others:
The film is a visual medium that (unlike the media) can show the viewer what is happening (again adding to the emotion) because the viewer gets the sense of almost being there with Edward and the crew, there are lots of images of captivity and imprisonment, often there are images of death:
“At one point in the film the gas chamber is being tested and a man faking death screams and then pretends to choke on the lethal gas”
The television also gives us sound which lets the viewer hear for themselves (the sound of the prison, Edwards voice…ect) these sounds again, almost take the person to the place and let them feel what the others feel, this makes the television story very strong in this aspect.
Although this is a very strong source of knowledge it has its weaknesses like the media. The television fails to explain in detail and cannot explain two different things at once, it cannot be re-written of filmed as the days go by any they cannot say “cut” and do the scene again
Next it is the media:
I think that like the television the media has its own strong points and weaknesses, as well as being able to get its point across it is unable to give the person(s) an actual image of what is happening, this could be considered a attribute and an advantage instead of a flaw as the media (or magazine article) can give the reader a chance to let their imaginations play a roll in the imaging of what they are reading, they could imagine Edward as the nicest person in the world in their heads and the guards and racist people as horrible “ugly” people, and then when they hear the story of the man in the chamber faking choking on the lethal gasses that are produced, the reader can think of the surroundings as whatever they want making it seem a more horrible place in their imaginations, the media is also strong in the way that it can let the reader know in an organised manor what happened and in what order because, unlike the TV series it can be edited and re-written before it is published making the word more neat and giving the layout a more organised setting making it easier for the person to read
