World Service Global News, audio podcast
on 25 Sep 2009
The BBC World Services prides itself on "providing the best stories, interviews and on the spot reporting from around the world." Since this news service is politically independent, non-profit and commercial-free, it can be strongly argued that it also takes an objective standpoint on all issues as it has no obligation to serve any specific commercial or elite interests. This however, can also be debated.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The report describes how the leaders of the United States, France and Britain have threatened further sanctions against Iran over its secret building of its second uranium enrichment plant- a key component of advanced nuclear weapons. Iran must show its willingness to cooperate fully with the United Nations nuclear watch dog the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). As Obama states, the IAEA is expected to investigate this “disturbing” information and to report to the IAEA board of governors.
ANAYLSIS
Matheson and Chomsky analyze how linguistics and semiotics work to shape rhetoric. They would thus argue that the rhetorical use of diction, grammar and tone sensationalizes the events in this report to evoke a particular reaction from the reader. Matheson argues in his Discourse Analytic Perspective that a close analysis of the discourse used in a particular headline creates meaning that is not directly transparent. If we deconstruct the meaning of the title into its linguistic formula (word choice, grammer) and the preconceived notions of the media consumer, we begin to understand the particular social reality that is being reinforced. The intended reaction would be to create an image of the West, and more specifically the US, as diplomatic and consequentially portray Iran as undiplomatic and non-compliant; hence the title (“West Demand’s Iran’s Nuclear Compliance”) that has an authoritative tone to it and paints an US vs. THEM picture. Clearly, the podcast seeks to depict the US as an omnipotent force through the use of such words as 'demand' that makes it appear as if the West is leaving little room for negotiations.
A speech by President Obama and the British Prime Minister Gordon
Brown is incorporated within this news report and it helps to set an authentic and authorial tone. Obama’s actions and words go a long way in showing his determination and sincerity in controlling the spread of and/or halting global nuclear defense systems. The news tends to inseminate fear and anger into the minds of the public when it comes to the topic of nuclear weapons (e.g. Iraq war). Their choice of words is also indicative of the importance of the issue at hand and stresses the need for immediate change. Examples of words used include threatening, disturbing, serial deception, shock, anger and condemnation. Many of these words would be categorized as active words under the lexical map suggesting the urgency of the issue. Matheson would say that "the lexis calls up our background knowledge of widespread societal fears" about growing concerns over the possibility of nuclear warfare. Thus, the primary discourse in regards to nuclear arms is that it must be highly controlled and/or stopped altogether as it is a threat to all mankind.
Although, the BBC does remain objective there are still no doubt filters working to shape this news story. The nuclear arms story in relation to Iran relates to Chomsky’s idea of democracy and The Propaganda Model. Chomsky would say that the public is generally excluded from managing foreign affairs and the means of information are kept under tight control. It seems as if a lot of information is kept hidden from both the media and subsequently the people as the BBC does not seem able to provi
de further information on this issue except for the cold facts and biased speeches. The third filter (sourcing mass-media news) in particular is at play here for it seems as if BBC journalists have decided to use the agenda of the US government as an information source. It heavily relies on the statements of US officials for an overwhelming majority of the news report due to economic necessity (i.e. does not have the resources to dig deeper on this issue and due their own investigative reports) and a reciprocity of interest. This report does make every attempt to show all perspectives on the issue at hand by voicing both sides which are mainly those of the unified United Sates, France and Britain (international community) against Iran (note: BBC makes a comment on behalf of Iranian representatives). By suggesting “international support”, the podcast is making a faulty generalization, that many other nations are on par with the US on this issue. Really, the degree of international support is not yet apparent.
Audio podcasts are a great source of news and I personally rely on the BBC GlobalNews service for my daily news dosage. News is represented differently on this particular platform because there are no images to go along with what you are listening to. Therefore, the power of imagination comes into play and you can argue that people draw different conclusions then the ones they would normally formulate by getting a visual (e.g. people are not swayed by ghastly images of war and destruction). It will be interesting to see how news regarding nuclear compliance will differ on different platforms that I will be examining in future posts.
