In the old days... it was a basic, cardinal fact that producers didn't have opinions. When I was producing natural history programmes, I didn't use them as vehicles for my own opinion. They were factual programmes.
Interpretation
Producers in the past prioritized factual storytelling over personal opinions in their work.
David Attenborough reflects on the traditional role of producers in media, emphasizing that in the past, they focused on presenting objective facts rather than injecting their personal opinions into the narrative. This approach ensured that natural history programs served as informative resources, allowing the audience to learn about the world without the bias of the producer's views. Attenborough's statement highlights the importance of factual integrity in documentary production and the respect for the audience's ability to form their own opinions based on presented facts.
In practice
In a documentary film festival, this quote can remind filmmakers to maintain objectivity in their storytelling.
I don't think we are going to become extinct. We're very clever and extremely resourceful - and we will find ways of preserving ourselves, of that I'm sure. But whether our lives will be as rich as they are now is another question.
I'm against this huge globalisation on the basis of economic advantage.
I would be absolutely astounded if population growth and industrialisation and all the stuff we are pumping into the atmosphere hadn't changed the climatic balance. Of course it has. There is no valid argument for denial.
There's a small worm called Loa Loa Filariasis. This parasite can survive in one environment exclusively- namely, underneath the skin and inside the eyes of human beings. Children and the elderly in tropical regions (usually the poorest) are the most widely affected. A painful, slow death is virtually certain. The worm can actually live in the host for 17 years before the host finally dies.
The fundamental issue is the moral issue.
It is vital that there is a narrator figure whom people believe. That's why I never do commercials. If I started saying that margarine was the same as motherhood, people would think I was a liar.
Learning from experience is a faculty almost never practiced
Teach by doing whenever you can, and only fall back upon words when doing it is out of the question.
History has proven that each generation of Howard graduates will forge the way forward for our country and our world.
Mathematics is a language. We want scientists to be able to read it, speak it, and write it. But we are are not training them to be grammarians.
We expect a great man to be a good reader.
We want a book to be a book. We'll have all the interactive bells and whistles but our intent is to engage young people in reading, not to show them a movie.
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