Words and Meanings

I was just reading an article by Tim Reid at Reuters and while reading came across a statement by him which I found deeply troubling yet reflective of the bias in media today.

English isn't taught like it used to be and much surrounding it's use is no longer explained. 

For those of us who were actually taught the language and taught about it's varied uses this will be familiar but for those who haven't been, it won't.

Words have meaning.

I'm sure you've heard that many, many times. It a true statement but it also means much more. 

Its also how you use the words, which words you use and the surrounding words used to expand meaning.

You can make the same statement many different ways and have it mean many different things. Its all about what words you use and the manner in which you use them.

What disturbed me here was one statement in the article that made me stop and say "Wait a damn minute" 

It concerns the shooting of Brown in Ferguson Mo. Now we all know this criminal black man attacked and tried to kill a police officer resulting in the officer having to shoot Brown to save his own life. 

Now read the statement from this reporter
"... has helped organized protests around the killing of Michael Brown, a black teenager gunned down by a white policeman in Ferguson, Missouri."

Notice especially the words "Killing" and "Gunned Down" 

Those words turn the meaning of what happened into something completely different than what actually occurred. 

Brown wasn't "Gunned down" and there wasn't a "Killing" as its put here. Put the surrounding context of "Teenager" and "By a white policeman" and you have something that implies a poor kid was brutally murdered by a white (racist) cop in Ferguson.

It completely changes the dynamic of what truly happened. It makes a justifiable use of deadly force by a police officer who was being attacked by a violent criminal into something foul, wrong and horrible rather than what it was. 

Brown wasn't gunned down or a victim of a killing and of course race had nothing to do with it. 

By choosing words carefully a writer can impart a different view of an event and essentially make it something different than what it actually was. 

Using words like "Teenager" equate him to a child and the black/white contrast implies racism being present and the reason for the incident to have happened at all. 

Add "Gunned down" and you bring up images of innocent people being slaughtered by evil perpetrators rather than a cop defending himself from attack. 

Words are important and when they are used disingenuously to alter the narrative of something to advance a viewpoint they can and do cause harm. 

This insistence to completely mischaracterize the events of Ferguson Mo by so many liberal writers furthers a disservice to blacks and the nation as a whole. It has also caused strife and will continue to do so.

A better way, and a much more accurate way of describing the events of that day would be along the lines of "...has helped organize protests around the death of Michael Brown, a violent criminal who was shot while attacking a police officer."

But that you see is the truth and the truth is not what these people want. 

Words have meaning, watch what words are being used and how they are being used. As you can see two different descriptions of the same event and they are vastly different and make you feel two completely different things.

I didn't even try to slant it to my viewpoint yet you can clearly see the differences and how the meaning is changed from one to the other. 

Writers select words, sometimes with great specificity to convey their thoughts, feelings and opinions about something. The problem is that writers whose task it is to bring us the news should not be using them in the way which they do. They should be reporting the news accurately and without slant for any viewpoint. 

If it is slanted then its called "Opinion" not news. 

These distinctions have been blurred or even erased in today's modern era and part of that is too many people fail to comprehend the subtle use of words to change minds, opinions and feelings on subjects.

The fact is Michael Brown was a violent criminal who tried to kill a police officer after robbing a store. He then came back to finish the job and the cop shot him in self defense. He died being what he was and he died because of his choices not the cops'. 

Yet in story after story in the news that is not the story which is told. Instead its about an sweet young boy who was brutally murdered by a racist cop. 

How the two wildly diverging narratives even exist is beyond me yet the false narrative is firmly implanted into America's and even the world's consciousness and seems destined to be given credence no matter the actual truth of the matter. 

Its rather sad to see our once discerning nation so taken in by lies, deceit and outright manipulation as has taken place. 

I seriously wonder if we stand a chance.