BtN: Episode 12 Transcript 16/5/11

On this week's Behind the News:

·  We find out what life's like for kids with serious food allergies.

·  We reveal some of the tricks that make reality TV seem exciting.

·  And we look at why millions of dollars are spent every year looking for aliens.

Hi I'm Natasha Thiele, welcome to Behind the News. Also on the show today we visit a school that says playing board games is an important part of learning but before all that the government has revealed how it plans to spend its money in this year's Federal Budget. Matt takes us through it in the wire.

The Wire

The government has said how it plans to manage the country's money in the Federal Budget. This year it's all about tightening our belts to try to get the country out of debt. They're also trying to get more people into the workforce by creating half a million new jobs but not everyone's happy a poll says that less than third of Australians think the budget will be good for the economy.

The United States army has been called in to help as devastating floods race through the US state of Louisiana. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes as the Mississippi River rages out of control. The army is now trying to send the flood water on a different path so it won't be able to reach major cities like New Orleans.

And finally Azerbaijan has taken out the annual Eurovision Song Contest for the first time. The event is watched by tens of millions of people around the world and features a wide range of performers from the serious to the slightly odd.

Suppression

Reporter: Natasha Thiele

INTRO: If you're told a secret, you usually can't wait to tell someone, right? Well, in reality there are some secrets that need the law to get involved to make sure they don't get out. That's when things called 'suppression orders' come in. So what are 'suppression orders' and why do we have them? Well, I checked it out.

TEACHER: Well done to almost everyone. Now, to the person who cheated I know who you are and you've been marked as a fail.

NATASHA THIELE, REPORTER: Sometimes people get into trouble for doing naughty things. And often, the only thing worse than the punishment is the thought of your friends finding out what you've done but stopping people from finding out the truth isn't always easy.

In the real world, there are special ways to make sure secrets don't get out. Courts can use things called 'suppression orders'. A suppression order stops the media from revealing anything that might reveal who they are.

REPORTER: So if the story is being told by reporters on the news, the first thing that might go is the name. Next, might be the face. That's when you sometimes see those strange looking blurs on the TV news.

There are a few reasons why courts may decide to keep someone's identity a secret. It can be to protect the person accused of the crime, who may turn out to be innocent. It could also be to protect that person’s family, particularly the children, from embarrassment or shame. Or, courts can make a suppression order if they think it may help with a police investigation.

In the UK at the moment, even celebrities have been using the courts. It's caused a lot of controversy because the media has been told it can't report some embarrassing stories about celebrities because it goes against laws of privacy. As you can imagine, it's caused a lot of speculation about which famous people have been caught behaving badly.

And that leads us onto some of the problems when it comes to keeping these names a secret. Sometimes the scandal is too juicy and people feel they just have to tell someone. The internet has meant that this kind of gossip can get around really quickly and it can spread a long way, even to other countries. A quick search in Google and we can see what anyone and everyone has been saying on the subject.

The internet also causes problems for courts when it comes to making sure people obey their rules. If news programs or newspapers go against a suppression order they can find themselves in hot water. Journalists and their bosses can even end up in jail if they go against an order laid down by the court. But it's nearly impossible to track down and punish all the people on the internet who decide to reveal secret information on websites like Twitter and Facebook. You could be talking about thousands of people and it just wouldn't be practical to try to punish them all.

So, as we now change the way we communicate with each other, there are big questions about whether suppression orders need to change too. Because as internet use grows, it's only going to get worse for people who want to keep secrets.

Food Allergies

Reporter: Kirsty Bennett

INTRO: Imagine not being able to eat your favourite food. It would be pretty annoying! Well for many Aussie kids avoiding some foods is a part of life. That's because they have a food allergy. A study has found Aussie kids have the highest rate of food allergies in the world. So what is a food allergy and what can it do to our bodies? Kirsty looked into it.

KIRSTY BENNETT, REPORTER: When it comes to buying food most people make their choice based on whether it's cheap and if it tastes good. But for Kate, there's something else to think about. She's one of thousands of Australians who are allergic to peanuts. But it's not as simple as keeping these things out of the trolley.

KIRSTY: So Kate so how does a shopping trip work for you?

KATE: Some things I can pick up and some things I can't because some have been prepared with nuts on them or around them.

KIRSTY: Okay so what happens with biscuits then?

KATE: These are biscuits I can eat because they haven't been prepared at all with any nuts and I have to read ingredients to see what I can eat and can't. These biscuits are best for me to not eat because they contain traces of nuts.

KIRSTY: So body products like shampoo's OK?

KATE: This shampoo is safe for me to use but there is some shampoo that I don't use because they have peanut oil.

A peanut allergy is one of the really serious food allergies. There are other foods that can cause similar problems like fish and eggs. The reaction to these foods can be mild like a rash or even deadly, causing something called anaphylaxis. That's when the throat swells making it difficult to breathe.

KATE: Well my lips have swelled up before and my tongue and gets all itchy and so does my throat.

If a bad reaction comes on sufferers can turn to this - an Epi Pen. It contains a medicine which opens up the airways. You inject it in to the thigh muscle. So what's going on in the body to trigger an allergic reaction?

It all starts with the immune system, which is what protects your body from germs and diseases. With a food allergy, your immune system mistakenly thinks the food you're eating is harmful. So it tries to get rid of it. In the process, it releases chemicals to fight it. And it's those chemicals that can spark a serious reaction.

It's a bit different for people who have a food intolerance rather than an allergy. An intolerance doesn't usually affect the immune system. It's more to do with the digestive system. That means the bad reaction normally happens after the food has been eaten. The symptoms are usually things like stomach pain and bloating but it's not life threatening.

Fortunately, there have been some changes to make it easier for people with allergies to pick safe food. In the supermarket, some products have new labelling so you know upfront if they have any ingredients that could be dangerous to some people. Some supermarkets have also set aside an area where people with a food allergy or intolerance can look for suitable products. Canteens have also started to offer alternatives for sufferers. Many schools have gone even further with a no nut policy - so that means no more peanut butter sandwiches!

To people without food allergies, it might all seem like a lot of fuss but as we've just seen, an allergic reaction can be really serious. So everybody making a few small changes could end up saving someone's life.

Presenter: Ok, we were talking about nut allergies there so let's have a quiz about nuts.

Quiz 1

Which of these is not a nut?

Pecan

Acorn

Peanut

Answer: peanut

Surprising isn't it! A peanut is actually from the same family as peas and beans. In fact lots of the things we call nuts aren't technically from the nut family like cashew nuts, walnuts and brazil nuts just to name a few.

TV Tricks

Reporter: James Bartold

INTRO: Now, let's talk about TV. Once again reality TV shows are dominating what we watch. Just as we say goodbye to The Biggest Loser, we say hello to Masterchef, Australia's Got Talent, The Amazing Race and others. James went to investigate how reality TV works and the tricks behind the scenes that make these shows so popular.

JAMES BARTOLD, REPORTER: These are some of the most popular TV shows in Australia. There's fast-paced cooking shows, life-changing exercise programs. And show after show on becoming the next big star. There seems to be such a variety of things to watch, but actually isn't it all the same? Just one idea repeated over and over?

Let's take a look at the reality TV recipe. First take one group of contestants competing for a big prize. Then put them through a series of weekly challenges for the cameras. Mix in the perfect blend of judges, making sure that the personalities are both sweet and bitter. Finally sprinkle with a bit of drama and emotion with a weekly elimination and your reality TV dinner is served. But so far we've given you only the basic ingredients of the reality TV recipe. Next it's down to the shows editor who, like a chef, has to blend it all together to make it just right.

Welcome to my boring show. It's about two kids Tom and Allison boiling an egg. Doesn't sound like the best show in the world does it? But we haven't added any TV tricks yet. You guys start boiling your eggs now.

OK, still a bit boring here. Let's add some tense music. Now add a false sense of urgency. Let's make it against the clock. What this needs now is a bit more drama and emotion. Let's try cutting to some interviews.

INTERVIEWEE 1: I'm really worried. When the egg hit the pan there was a noise that sounded a bit like a crack.

REPORTER: And if the interview adds some conflict, even better.

INTERVIEWEE 2: As soon as the box was opened he was, like, straight in there, grabbing , like, the best egg and everything.

REPORTER: Let's support this new story-line with some slowed down pictures of the egg grab and we'll add a close up of Tom's face taken way earlier in the day because we think he looked a bit shifty. Perfect. As the time ticks away we build up the music and cut the shots quicker to give a dramatic end. Then it's judgment time.

REPORTER: Here it's all about the suspense. Even after the judge has tasted the dish it's good to keep viewers and contestants guessing.

Janet, I have to be honest and say I don't like it. I LOVE IT. Allison, you've won the golden egg cup.

So we've let you in on some of the secrets behind reality TV, and we've shown you just how much you can change a scenario with some simple tricks of the trade. So now you know, the truth behind reality TV is that it's actually not that real.

Quiz 2

We're going to have a story about the universe next so to get us in the mood let's have a quiz.

The question is: which planet is closest to the sun?

Venus

Earth

Mercury

Answer: Mercury

Mercury is the closest followed by Venus then Earth.

Alien Search

Reporter: Natasha Thiele

INTRO: Do you ever look up at the stars and wonder are we alone in this universe? It's a question that scientists have been exploring for a long time. Millions of dollars are spent every year searching for signs of life on other planets but as I found out a cut to funding means that search could be under threat.

NATASHA THIELE, REPORTER: The fascination with aliens has been around for years. Back in the 1950s movies with flying saucers were all the go and today films like Men in Black with its high-end special effects continue to feed our imagination. The idea that there are aliens is a bit of joke to some people, but is it really far-fetched? Well, let's see if we can work it out. Let's give you an idea about how big our universe is.

REPORTER: Imagine these shells are planets orbiting around the sun, which is this big rock here which is actually a star. This is our solar system. But that's not where it ends. What about the rest of universe? There are actually more stars in the universe than there are individual grains of sand on all the beaches on planet earth. So to think all life is on just one of these grains and not on all of the others? It makes you think doesn't it?

There are scientists who dedicate their time to researching this sort of stuff. And an organisation in the US called SETI, search for extraterrestrial intelligence, has been doing just that for around 50 years. They search outer space using these massive things called radio telescopes.

They don't actually see things like a normal telescope, so you won't get any photos of aliens! Instead, with a huge dish-shaped antenna, it listens for radio waves. Because radio waves occur naturally in the universe, the information goes into a computer to work out if the radio waves are the natural ones or if they're in a special pattern which could be communication from intelligent life. And just like a normal radio, they can convert the waves into sounds that we can hear.

But this sort of equipment is very expensive to run and SETI relies on government funding and donations to keep its research going. And they've recently hit a black hole with funding! They're not getting enough money, so the search for extraterrestrial life is under threat.