How Do Documentaries Produce ‘Truth Effects’?

How Do Documentaries Produce ‘Truth Effects’?
The role of media has often been a subject of much debate, particularly in terms of its role in portraying and conveying truth to the target audience. Some argue upon its utility as a means to disseminate information and to rectify perceptions and facts in the minds of the viewers; while others squabble on the amount of misrepresentation which is often adopted by media as a means to project baseless arguments which lead to severe impact on the minds, especially those who are unlearned and uneducated. In today’s burgeoning era, the role of media still remains a largely disputed topic but fragmentation of media has become a broadly accepted and also, widely noticed phenomenon. Not only have new media vehicles emerged but also newer forms of media are often depicted in order to creatively convey ideas and thoughts or to depict reality. One of these media forms is the Documentaries. Although, documentaries are not new as they have been around since the era of 80’s; their commercial appeal has gained momentum lately. Initially, only a particular clique used to be interested in such art forms, but due to growing sense of awareness among the masses many documentaries have been widely acclaimed and watched across the globe. Due to this very popularity, makers of such documentaries are now laden with the increased responsibility to adopt various means for displaying truth and also to avoid such techniques which might either confuse the viewers or might signal or project an opposing idea that is in contradiction to actual facts.
A documentary is known to be more heterogeneous than a fictional movie. Currently, documentaries have taken so many forms that defining it has become problematic (Murra...

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