Language
Introduction
One way people try to influence you is by using language. Linguistic bias is common in the media, as is sensationalism.
Linguistic bias
Linguistic bias is when unequal words are repeatedly used to talk about different groups (Beukeboom and Burgers 2017). One example of linguistic bias is the use of nouns to refer to someone (e.g. a Muslim, a criminal) versus verbs (a person who has a criminal record) and adjectives (a Muslim person).
People are more likely to use a noun when they are talking about behaviours they associate with the group, for example “he’s a Muslim so he’s fasting” versus “my doctor is a Muslim woman”(Beukeboom and Burgers 2017). An example of unequal wording is “there were two Muslims and three Christian people.” This example portrays Christianity as just one aspect of a person, but Islam as someone’s main identity.
Writers can use language to create negative feelings and judgements in the reader. Photo by Thomas Park on Unsplash.
Sensationalism
Sensationalism is when stories in the media are told using language that is purposefully shocking and emotional(Cambridge Dictionary n.d.).Consider the following two statements: “party criticises politician for error” and “politician faces the heat after astonishing failure”. Which sentence do you think is designed to make you more emotional?
The second one, which is an example of sensationalism. It uses emotional “loaded words” such as “astonishing”. It wants you to believe what the politician did is astonishing, rather than only telling you what he did. This language is used to manipulate. It is also used to draw readers in.
Source list
Page created 25th of April 2024