The media & its use of language
The media and its use of language
In a democratic society there is an understandable reliance on the objectivity of information. Whatever is reported ought to be a valid representation of what has taken place. Noam Chomsky has stated that without this vital feature of accuracy, it would not be possible for a democratic society to function properly. This is because when news reports, for example, are no longer a faithful representation of the reality which has occurred, then people are unable to make the informed choices necessary in which a democracy can flourish.
First, in conveying the message, there is a heavy reliance on PR organisations and press agencies. It can be shown that such intermediaries are capable of distorting this. Nick Davies in “Flat Earth News. An Award-winning Reporter Exposes Falsehood, Distortion and Propaganda in the Global Media” (2008), states PR companies usually win out over the press when it comes to distorting the news.
Elsewhere, to quote just one instance, we can see how media outcomes confuse issues. In the recent George Zimmerman – Trayvon Martin case in the USA, first released photos misled the public as to their real ages and state of maturity. Zimmerman was inaccurately reported as being “white” and anti-black. He actually had black relatives & had tutored black children. Trayvon was no longer a ‘baby-faced’ boy but a troubled teenager. The continual misrepresentation of factual information by the major media corporations, pre-judging such events as crimes motivated by “racial-hatred”, proved to be socially destabilising to a critical degree.
Another problem for the mass media today is in its sheer concentration. Jean Baudrillard, the post-structuralist French philosopher has criticised it for its endless repetition of messages which have lost their original meaning. This is so because meanings are mostly ambivalent nowadays. They are more subjective and relative than used to be the case. Therefore, astute use or misuse of
In a democratic society there is an understandable reliance on the objectivity of information. Whatever is reported ought to be a valid representation of what has taken place. Noam Chomsky has stated that without this vital feature of accuracy, it would not be possible for a democratic society to function properly. This is because when news reports, for example, are no longer a faithful representation of the reality which has occurred, then people are unable to make the informed choices necessary in which a democracy can flourish.
First, in conveying the message, there is a heavy reliance on PR organisations and press agencies. It can be shown that such intermediaries are capable of distorting this. Nick Davies in “Flat Earth News. An Award-winning Reporter Exposes Falsehood, Distortion and Propaganda in the Global Media” (2008), states PR companies usually win out over the press when it comes to distorting the news.
Elsewhere, to quote just one instance, we can see how media outcomes confuse issues. In the recent George Zimmerman – Trayvon Martin case in the USA, first released photos misled the public as to their real ages and state of maturity. Zimmerman was inaccurately reported as being “white” and anti-black. He actually had black relatives & had tutored black children. Trayvon was no longer a ‘baby-faced’ boy but a troubled teenager. The continual misrepresentation of factual information by the major media corporations, pre-judging such events as crimes motivated by “racial-hatred”, proved to be socially destabilising to a critical degree.
Another problem for the mass media today is in its sheer concentration. Jean Baudrillard, the post-structuralist French philosopher has criticised it for its endless repetition of messages which have lost their original meaning. This is so because meanings are mostly ambivalent nowadays. They are more subjective and relative than used to be the case. Therefore, astute use or misuse of