Language and power in the media

In a nutshell

We sometimes fail to recognise the subtle ways in which the media persuades us through words. Minor phrase adjustments can greatly impact how readers will read an article and who will read it. So, how does the media use language to create power? In this summary, you will learn the ways in which language is used to manipulate the consumer in the media.

Power in media texts

When reading a media text, it's always useful to consider the power dynamics within it.

Who has the power?
Who is lacking power and influence?
How is each party represented; what kind of bias can you detect?
Who is the text in favour of?
Does the text contain a bias? How is the language used to portray this?

Bias

A bias is when language is unbalanced or not fairly representative. Insensitive, prejudicial, exclusionary, or cruel words or phrases are examples of biased language. Certain individuals or groups may come to feel misled, excluded, or misunderstood as a result. Looking out for bias within a media text can reveal a lot about the author's intentions or perspective.

Representation

As the term implies, representation refers to the way someone or something is described or portrayed. This can apply to:

Events
Ideas/values/attitudes/beliefs
People: individuals or groups
Places: real or imagined
Companies/institutions/organisations

Depending on the choices the author makes in their depiction (i.e. how they represent the subject), the representations can differ significantly. The author may put forth a skewed view if they have particular allegiances to another or certain beliefs about the subject matter. The way someone or something is represented can also reveal a lot about the manifestation of power (or gender or technology).

Another important consideration when it comes to representation is the positioning of the author to the reader, and the positioning of the author and reader to the topic. Authors and readers will see things from their own frames of reference (something worth examining).

Facts vs sensationalism

An issue with mainstream media is the typicality of their subjectiveness. All news organisations have their own perspectives and allegiances, and it is these perspectives and allegiances that drive newspaper sales. Most papers fall under a specific political wing.

	Left-wing paper	Right-wing paper
The name	The Guardian	The Daily Mail
An example headline	'Calais migrants ‘willing to die’ to come to Britain, says French port’s mayor'	'Britain an El Dorado for migrants: Mayor of Calais blames our generous benefits for luring thousands to Channel ports'

The Guardian focuses on facts. Their headline examines the extraordinary lengths humans will go to in order to survive.

The Daily Mail, on the other hand, focuses on a topic that will encourage people to click on the article: foreigners who abuse benefits.

Headlines are one of the main places where sensationalism is used. In other words, presenting stories in a way that is shocking or exciting. These large, bolded words catch your attention whether you are reading a magazine or a website article. News organisations and media companies take advantage of the fact that headlines draw readers in. By using sensationalism, the writer can manipulate social biases to their advantage and exploit their desired readers for engagement.

The multimodal effect

Bias can be created or reinforced by using visual images or typographic variation in a multimodal media text. Power and its manifestations can be viewed positively or negatively depending on the individual's political and personal beliefs. For example, a media outlet may use flattering imagery of a subject to generate positivity toward it. Or in the same vein, they could use unflattering images and edited clips to produce much more negative imagery of a subject. All this depends on the agenda the media is trying to push.

Friend or foe?

A media outlet's ability to inform and manipulate us can influence and affect not only us, but also themselves, in a positive or negative way. A media outlet will push ideas and themes on their consumers based on their agenda. They exploit social, political, cultural and economic fears and conversations in order to manipulate their subjects in accordance with their agenda.

Look at this headline from Birmingham Mail that states "Meghan Markle left wedding guests 'in shocked silence' by referencing divorce in Prince Harry speech"

This headline was chosen to add to the growing controversy surrounding Meghan Markle. Buzzwords like "divorce" attempt to promote a media demonisation strategy against Meghan. They have decided to use sensationalism to further their intended agenda and point of view.