Journalism, Mass Media and Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Journalism, Mass Media and Communication - Essay Example The occupation of journalism, though, holds a very different perspective about what language is which creates serious concerns for the people that read or watch the news. Most journalists conduct their jobs with hardly any concern being given to the importance of language to the consumer of the news. Most journalists sub-consciously or consciously accept the view of language as a clear channel through which word-ideas are effortlessly sent to a viewer or reader who then experiences reality as the words of the news article depicts them. Even today, references are made about the â€Å"post-9/11† and â€Å"pre-9/11† world. This shows that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 had an enormous impact on the world as a whole. Following the attack, the then American president, George W. Bush, made use of words that would help in convincing the American public to support the American invasion of Afghanistan. Many of President Bush’s statements like â€Å"Whether we bring our foes to justice or justice to our foes, justice will be done†, were played many times in various news networks, thus allowing Americans to become familiar with this rhetoric (Streissguth, 2006). As has been noted by detractors of the war in previous essays, this ambiguous language permitted the president to frame the attackers as well as Osama bin Laden as both wrongdoers who had to be eliminated through military means, and was a precursor to his unmatched and highly criticized â€Å"War on Terror† (Pyszczynski, Solomon and Greenberg, 2003). ... Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the American news media began determined to create an adequate response to the supposedly unprovoked attack. In order to comprehend why the American public started to believe that all Arab nations were anti-American, it is vital to evaluate the media tactics of American news outlets around that time. To some extent, American citizens of bygone as well as recent generations have always enjoyed a life of relatively more peace than is enjoyed by the citizens of other nations. Virtually every other nation in the world is well acquainted with the horrors of being invaded by other, more powerful states. While America had its navy bombarded at Pearl Harbour in the Second World War, the last time enemy elements actually invaded American territory in large numbers was in 1814. As such, the memory or threat of invasions is not a part of American myths or thoughts. Its tremendous arsenal of weapons has long allowed America to be able to enjoy peace even when other nations were constantly tested by ruthless neighbours. Instead of prompting a grateful disposition, this quality in the past stimulated self righteousness and self absorption on the part of American citizens. For example, America has in the past assumed the right to â€Å"bring enlightenment† to countries that it perceives as being ‘backwards’ or undeveloped. Even the comparative division of the world in terms of â€Å"first† or â€Å"third† world nations is an American creation. American news correspondents have confessed to being amazed when they compare how much more the rest of the world is aware of current world events to the fact that most Americans are only aware of what happens in America because they deem