People who know me that I have a complete fascination with the way that language is utilised to create a certain image when writing or talking about a subject. The case of the man who has recently been denied gastric bypass surgery is a recent story that had a different slant dependent on what paper you read. The independent simply named Tom Condliff and reported that he didn’t meet the criteria set by his local NHS Trust; however the Mirror reported that ex policeman Tom Condliff, had been denied the surgery. What fucking difference does it make that he was a policemen, are we meant to have more sympathy for the plight of policemen?
Within the recent debacle many political analysts debunked the idea that The Sun had any impact on the general election; I do not concur. When you start using metaphors like lazy and scroungers to people who are on benefits it starts to infiltrate the unconcious. Typically people will always be loyal to their brand of paper no matter what is printed, and I believe that dependent on the disourse used can be an effective tool to sway the masses.
Jason E Cooper 