The responsible particulate matter or the value of words
News language is a good training ground for semanticists. From misleading imagery to intentional or unintentional value judgments, it has it all. Guest commentary by Karl Lüönd, freelance journalist and author.
For Goethe's sake! Pay a little closer attention to the news language on the radio, television and in newspapers for two or three days and you will remember what semantics means: the study of the meanings of words and sentences. Semantics also includes the experience that what is said or written on paper is not always and not exclusively what is meant. Sometimes the nuances and underlying meanings (Germanic: the "connotation") characterize the sender's thought process, without always providing clarity about the object or process being described. Such deliberate double meanings and ambiguities are often expressed by good speakers through emphasis, accent and ironic or derisive modulation. For example, listening to a Blocher speech in the Albisgüetli is a semantic "aha" experience that cannot be compared with reading the text of the speech silently.
The choice of words and the evaluations that resonate with them always indicate the position of the reporter. The fact that Radio DRS speaks of the "arch-conservative Austrian priest" who will not become the auxiliary bishop of Linz after all is probably an acceptable assessment because it is acceptable to the majority - but it is certainly an assessment. Actually, such an assessment has no place in news language, at least not if one were to apply the strict American agency rules. The Landbote trial report has often said that the defendant "protested his innocence" (the liar!), but he was "rebuffed by the court" (oh well, serves him right!). Does anyone take the "self-proclaimed animal rights activist" (Tages-Anzeiger) seriously?
The "Tagesschau" reports on the Mujaheddin. What actually distinguishes the "Tagesschau" spokesperson, who calls them "freedom fighters" at one point and "rebels" at another, from the PR genius who changed the "bonus" to a "variable salary component"? Remember: the "cat" can also be called a "pussy" at any time.
The (buzzword) that comes at the right time presupposes - as Mephisto said and also meant - a "lack of concepts", which in most cases is linked to inadequate research and/or careless thinking. "Particulate matter is responsible for 6000 deaths a year", reports the "Tagesschau" and, strictly speaking, creates an absurd salad of values with this routinely careless choice of words. As if the dead matter of particulate matter would ever be able to satisfy the ethical and moral category of responsibility!
The unintentional daily record for cynicism was set by Radio DRS, which normally strives for linguistic precision and conceptual accuracy. The 10 o'clock news reported on a boat accident involving North African refugees off Gran Canaria. This drama came about because nobody wants these refugees. Morocco is happy to get rid of them, the smugglers have cashed in and left them to their fate, the Spanish marines are chasing their holey nutshells, and the people on the mainland are exploiting those who have managed to immigrate illegally before they send them packing like dogs.
And against this appalling backdrop, the message ended with the almost eerie sentence: "20 more boat people are still missing."
As if anyone in this terrible world would miss boat people!
These and over 50 other columns, essays, commentaries and background reports on media topics published in Werbewoche and elsewhere will be published in May as Karl Lüönd's latest book by Rüegger Verlag Zürich. Constantin Seibt has written a critical portrait of the idiosyncratic author as an epilogue, and Nico caricatures the circumstances to the point of recognizability. Karl Lüönd: Power and honesty. Columns from the media circus, approx. 230 pages, CHF 28, Rüegger Verlag, Zurich.
The choice of words and the evaluations that resonate with them always indicate the position of the reporter. The fact that Radio DRS speaks of the "arch-conservative Austrian priest" who will not become the auxiliary bishop of Linz after all is probably an acceptable assessment because it is acceptable to the majority - but it is certainly an assessment. Actually, such an assessment has no place in news language, at least not if one were to apply the strict American agency rules. The Landbote trial report has often said that the defendant "protested his innocence" (the liar!), but he was "rebuffed by the court" (oh well, serves him right!). Does anyone take the "self-proclaimed animal rights activist" (Tages-Anzeiger) seriously?
The "Tagesschau" reports on the Mujaheddin. What actually distinguishes the "Tagesschau" spokesperson, who calls them "freedom fighters" at one point and "rebels" at another, from the PR genius who changed the "bonus" to a "variable salary component"? Remember: the "cat" can also be called a "pussy" at any time.
The (buzzword) that comes at the right time presupposes - as Mephisto said and also meant - a "lack of concepts", which in most cases is linked to inadequate research and/or careless thinking. "Particulate matter is responsible for 6000 deaths a year", reports the "Tagesschau" and, strictly speaking, creates an absurd salad of values with this routinely careless choice of words. As if the dead matter of particulate matter would ever be able to satisfy the ethical and moral category of responsibility!
The unintentional daily record for cynicism was set by Radio DRS, which normally strives for linguistic precision and conceptual accuracy. The 10 o'clock news reported on a boat accident involving North African refugees off Gran Canaria. This drama came about because nobody wants these refugees. Morocco is happy to get rid of them, the smugglers have cashed in and left them to their fate, the Spanish marines are chasing their holey nutshells, and the people on the mainland are exploiting those who have managed to immigrate illegally before they send them packing like dogs.
And against this appalling backdrop, the message ended with the almost eerie sentence: "20 more boat people are still missing."
As if anyone in this terrible world would miss boat people!
These and over 50 other columns, essays, commentaries and background reports on media topics published in Werbewoche and elsewhere will be published in May as Karl Lüönd's latest book by Rüegger Verlag Zürich. Constantin Seibt has written a critical portrait of the idiosyncratic author as an epilogue, and Nico caricatures the circumstances to the point of recognizability. Karl Lüönd: Power and honesty. Columns from the media circus, approx. 230 pages, CHF 28, Rüegger Verlag, Zurich.
