Media Propaganda

February 9, 2009 cindymendes
Tags: language, lies, media education, propaganda

The media is a powerful tool that claims to seek truth and serve the public’s best interest. It can be seen through obvious and indirect mediums, from television and print to music and the internet. Media and its messages are inescapable and can be used to carry out propaganda on behalf of corporate and political establishments. It can do so by the list of topics they address, the way the issues are framed, the choice of sources they use and even by the language they use.

There are various ways in which the media spins a story through the use of language. Vocabulary is fluid and susceptible to change. Through various connotations and interpretation of word meanings, reporters can vary the way individuals construe the information being presented. Vocabulary can also play an important role simply by the choice of words. Purr words are positive and have a warming overtone which can create a false feeling of integrity and virtue misrepresenting intent and yielding deception. Take for example the sentence, “Democrats Show Flexibility on Capital Gains Tax Cut”. The use of the word flexibility implies a more positive connotation, whereas if it were replaced with snarling words like cave in or weakening, it would imply a more negative undertone and induce adverse reactions. The media uses words such as extremist, terrorist, welfare, etc. to produce such effects. Put down are also used, which are words are similar with the exception that they are less aggressive forms of condemnation that reprove rather than snarl. The media uses vocabulary in an attempt to control its audience.

The media is also guilty of playing down the level of violence through the use of vocabulary (the Latinos are toughened by experience- implies a positive benefit of the violence) or through the selection of the sources of information they use. They will also facilitate innuendo through the use of phrases like: it has been linked, it is reported or official claims say that allow individuals to make connections between actions and what is being represented despite a lack of supportable evidence.

Naturally all of us would like to assume that our country has good intentions and has done no wrong. The media helps to falsely attribute benevolent motives to our country despite some of the wrong actions it may have done. It also helps personify issues through the use of collective words, once again misleading its audience. In a situation where the evidence is too great to deny, the media will use a passive voice in order to remove agency and the responsibility of its country.

It is crucial for media classes to be incorporated in the educational curriculum at both the elementary and high school levels. Teachers need to develop a sort of media literacy that allows students to critically analyze the messages being sent by the media, as well as guide them to not only question the media, but find the answers to their questions. How many of us have read something on the internet, or in the newspaper and passed the news around? Are we persuaded by an argument made simply because it lies there in print? Should we not question the bias of the writer, the newspaper, the country? Those in positions of power and those who are still naïve will undoubtedly attempt to ridicule the questioning by claiming they are too cynical however, when did the pursuit of truth become something that was contemptuous? It is the role of educators to shed students of the blindfolds that victimize them and make them susceptible to the lies and false claims of the media. It is up to parents, administrators and educators to question the media themselves.

Entry Filed under: Lies Through Media

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