Real-Life Decision Making
You've just taken up your duties as a VJ on a national TV program that features the latest videos and interviews with musical artists. Even though you won the job because of your talents, you find yourself wondering every so often whether the whole thing is a dream.
A few weeks into the job, your producer comes to you and announces that you will be spending a week in Rio de Janeiro interviewing Keep Tune, the world's number one "boy band." They're touring in support of their just-released second album, which everyone in the industry expects to shoot to the top of the charts.
A trip to Rio de Janeiro! That sounds great. And the best part, according to your producer, is that the band's record company will be paying.
You're not really a fan of Keep Tune and you decide to learn more about them. After reading through their press clippings, you give their CD a whirl. Three tracks in, you have to take a break. Like their last record, each song sounds exactly the same. Not only that, the lyrics are downright inane. You find something cynical about them releasing such a lame record and expecting teenage fans to run out and buy it simply out of loyalty to the band.
You're still looking forward to the trip, but you grow anxious as you realize that part of the show you will be taping from Rio includes a segment where you recommend new releases to viewers. The record company probably expects you to tout Keep Tune's latest. Perhaps you can say something like: "This is a must-have for fans." At least, it wouldn't be the same as saying, "This is a great record," which you couldn't do in good conscience anyway.
"Frequently, you're sent on trips that are paid for by record companies," explains Laurie Brown, a former VJ. "You have to decide whether or not you're going to be critical of the record if you really disliked it."
Maybe if Keep Tune are really nice guys, you'll feel better. Indeed, when you meet them in Rio, they turn out to be polite and fun-loving young men. But they're completely controlled by their hard-driving manager, who seems to coordinate their every twist and jiggle. He even has the nerve to stop you midway through the interview to demand you rephrase some of your questions. Something just doesn't sit right with you about the whole Keep Tune machine.
It's time to write the copy for the new releases segment of the show. You'll have to present it first to your producer, who hasn't told you how to approach the thorny issue of the Keep Tune record. After you've spent a week in Rio, compliments of their record company, how do you get around their new stinker?