Lanuage Manipulation

Lanuage - the way we express ourselves, the way we communicate ideas. With some thought, we are all capable of using certain lanuage in order to persuade those we're communicating with to think a certain way. For example, the word youthful implies innocence, health, and growth, while the word immature has connotations of irresponsibility, incapability or disapointment. Two words that essentially mean the same thing can pain a very different picture in the mind of the consumer.

Recently I examined two articles about the recent seperation of families at the border, one by Fox News and the other by BBC. Right off the bat, the titles of the articles make the author's view of the issue quite clear. The headline by Fox News is, " 'They're So Obsessed With Hating Trump':Ingraham Calls Out Media's 'Hypocrisy' on Family Separations." Words such as 'obsessed,' 'hating,' 'hypocriscy,' and the phrase 'call out,' all attmept to discredit people who are upset by this policy, the headline making them seem ridiculous. The BBC article was titled, "Trump migrant separation policy: Children 'in cages' in Texas." Words such as 'children,' and 'cages' are meant to evoke empathy and prompt people to get upset by the President's new policy.

One of the most disctinct differences in the two artciles was the manner in which the authors spoke about the situation itself. Children were being seperated from their paretns at the border and kept in metal cages. Fox news kept repeating that their were "child separations," while BBC describes the situation as "children in cages." Both are talking about the same thing, however one is much harsher and is meant to evoke empathy, while the other is more monotone, with a factual tone as opposed to an emotional one. 

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