[00:01.080]--- lesson 45 The power of the press
[00:06.080]--- Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
[00:11.840]--- Does the writer think the parents were lucky or unlucky to gain prosperity in this way? why?
[00:21.200]In democratic countries any efforts to restrict the freedom of the press are rightly condemned.
[00:28.400]However, this freedom can easily be abused.
[00:32.600]Stories about people often attract far more public attention than political events.
[00:38.800]Though we may enjoy reading about the lives of others, it is extremely doubtful whether we would equally enjoy reading about ourselves.
[00:48.000]Acting on the contention that facts are sacred,
[00:51.800]reporters can cause untold suffering to individuals by publishing details about their private lives.
[00:59.040]Newspapers exert such tremendous influence that they can not only bring about major changes to the lives of ordinary people but can even overthrow a government.
[01:10.360]The story of a poor family that acquired fame and fortune overnight, dramatically illustrates the power of the press.
[01:18.400]The family lived in Aberdeen, a small town of 23,000 inhabitants in South Dakota.
[01:25.360]As the parents had five children, life was a perpetual struggle against poverty.
[01:30.880]They were expecting their sixth child and were faced with even more pressing economic problems.
[01:36.960]If they had only had one more child, the fact would have passed unnoticed.
[01:42.080]They would have continued to struggle against economic odds and would have lived in obscurity.
[01:48.000]But they suddenly became the parents of quintuplets, four girl and a boy, an event which radically changed their lives.
[01:57.160]The day after the birth of the five children, an aeroplane arrived in Aberdeen bringing sixty reporters and photographers.
[02:06.720]The rise to fame was swift.
[02:09.320]Television cameras and newspapers carried the news to everyone in the country.
[02:15.120]Newspapers and magazines offered the family huge sums for the exclusive rights to publish stories and photographs.
[02:23.800]Gifts poured in not only from unknown people, but from baby food and soap manufacturers who wished to advertise their products.
[02:32.960]The old farmhouse the family lived in was to be replaced by a new $500,000 home.
[02:39.800]Reporters kept pressing for interviews so lawyers had to be employed to act as spokesmen for the family at press conferences.
[02:47.680]While the five babies were still quietly sleeping in oxygen tents in a hospital nursery,
[02:53.640]their parents were paying the price for fame.
[02:56.640]It would never again be possible for them to lead normal lives.
[03:01.240]They had become the victims of commercialization, for their names had acquired a market value.
[03:08.080]Instead of being five new family members, these children had immediately become a commodity.