The best way to learn how to tackle this new and tricky skill - writing a lengthy research paper - is to look at good (and less good) examples. For non-literary texts, the balance of secondary and primary resources is difficult to strike. Many papers have too little of the latter, and too much of the former. But with a strong Literature Review and clear primary texts, it can be done well.
Category 3: Example 1
Consider this example of a Category 3: Studies in langauge Extended Essay, and grade it according to the criteria you can find in Extended Essay - Literary Examples. It doesn't have the reflections, so criterion E cannot be graded (though you might be able to guess as to the degree of Engagement shown):
To what extent do the media perpetuate Islamophobic attitudes?
Word count: 3,854
Table of contents
Introduction ……………………………………………………………………..………. Page 4
Defining Islamophobia …………………………………………………….…………... Page 5
Scapegoating ………………………………………………………………..…..…….. Page 6
Freedom of the press or indoctrination ………………………………….…………... Page 8
Analysis of UKIP poster …………………………………………………………...…. Page 12
Conclusion …………………………………………………………………….………. Page 16
Bibliography ………………………………………………...…………………………. Page 19
Introduction
With much of the world’s media owned by just a few huge corporations, the given perspective is becoming increasingly polarized. Immigration and terrorism fight for headline news, and since the 9/11 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York , the Charlie Hebdo shootings in France in January of 2015, and the recent Brussels bombings in March of 2016, Islamophobia, fear of Islam and Muslims, has intensified significantly. Anti-Muslim hate monitoring group reports a 326 per cent increase in Islamophobic hate crime incidents in 2015[1]. The religion of Islam and its followers has become synonymous with the word terrorist in the eyes of the media, and has left a whole generation of young Muslims struggling to retain their roots, genuine ideologies and world profile in the face of constant media and scholarly discourse. As George Orwell once said “if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” In this report the idea of media influence and propaganda to generate and fuel Islamophobia will be examined and the question of whether or not the media reflect or create opinion will be explored. By analyzing the “Breaking point” UKIP Brexit campaign from June of 2016, and comparing it to images used in Nazi propaganda from 1941, I will endeavor to demonstrate the conventions of scapegoating in media past and present. I hypothesize that this study will reveal the exploitation of immigrants by the media in order to provide a scapegoat for the current economic and social situation.
Defining Islamophobia
For the purpose of this essay, Islamophobia is a contrived fear or prejudice fomented by the existing Eurocentric and Orientalist global power structure[2]. It is focused at a perceived or actual Muslim threat through the preservation and extension of existing inequalities in economic, political, social and cultural relations, while justifying the necessity to deploy violence as a tool to achieve "civilizational rehab" of the target communities, Muslim or otherwise[3]. In order to maintain a fear or phobia there needs to be exposure to the threat. Whilst atrocities are continually carried out round the globe we hear little about them in the world media. In Beirut, Lebanon 13th November 2015, forty three died and hundreds were injured. In Bamako, Mali 20th November 2015, twenty seven died. In Tunis, Tunisia 24th November 2015, twelve people died. In Baghdad, Iraq 28th February 2016, seventy three died and over hundred injured . However these terrorist attacks, led by Muslims against their fellow Muslims remain unreported in the world media. It appears that reports of Muslims killing Muslims do little to increase sales or viewing figures. The countries attacked hold little significance and bring little fuel to the Islamophobic fire. However, the attacks remain horrific and the civilian casualties of utmost significance to the affected families. Why is it then that the attacks in the U.S or Europe receive such coverage? Undoubtedly the political influence of these countries is greater. There is also a greater proportion of the media controlled and owned by corporations within these countries but is it also within the relative comfortable safety of these countries a threat such as Islamic State can feed a much larger frenzy of Islamophobic hate. In their minute by minute reporting of terrorist attacks exposure to the threatening force of the Islamic world is given a prime place in households across the Western world, thus igniting a state of panic and irrationality. All followers of Islam are perceived as potential terrorists and a war must be waged upon them. The Holy wars that began in 1095 now continues under a different name, the media dubbed “War on Terror”.
Scapegoating
The human character possesses an innate desire to search for group belonging. From our families to our classmates we seek out those with whom we can identify and relate. When circumstances threaten the survival of our group we will go to extreme lengths to protect and ensure its survival. This primitive psychological instinct also translates to whole communities and countries when met with adversity. In times of hardship we look to other groups to carry the blame for our misfortune and seek out culprits on whom to inflict punishment, revenge or solutions.
Following WW1 Germany found itself in an extreme economic depression. German people were suffering poverty, mass unemployment and high inflation due to trade restrictions and compensation payments to opposing allies[4]. Financially the country was on its knees and Hitler offered the people the perfect solution with his policies for social welfare, tax reductions and job creation. He also offered the perfect scapegoats for the current hardship that the country was suffering in the guise of gypsies, Jews, homosexuals, communists and any group unsuitable to his Aryan vision. He systematically restricted the free movement and access to jobs, welfare and education of these groups and presented them to the German population as extremist threats[5]. Through carefully constructed propaganda, Hitler incited racial hatred and exclusion of a whole race.
While it would be easy to think that the horrific lessons of Nazi Germany have been so well woven into the entire fabric of western society, it seems that this scapegoating strategy continues to wield it sword. In 2015 David Cameron accused British Muslims of “quietly condoning” terrorist ideologies and outraged Muslim groups by his inferred suggestion that all Muslims were involved in terrorism. As a group already under constant suspicion and scrutiny for any signs of extremism, young Muslim men are finding themselves more and more alienated and thus ironically more susceptible to radicalization than ever. Freedom of speech and uncensored media reports allow antagonistic verbal assaults on Muslims and emotive headlines are used to perpetuate the Us and Them mentality. As the Bhurkini hits the headlines and Muslim women are denied freedom of choice about what they wear and where to go it becomes increasingly difficult to ignore the shadows of the past.
The recent campaigns in the Uk for Britain to leave the European Union became yet another protaganist of scapegoating. Not only extreme right wing groups opposed to the Islamification of Britain, but also UKIP, the respectable face of the campaign to leave Europe, emphasized the detrimental role that immigration places on the security of individuals. It blamed unemployment, housing shortages and lack of hospital beds on the immigrant population of the UK and called for closed borders. In the U.S presidential campaign, Trump has openly declared that should he be elected he will expel 11million immigrants from the U.S and is calling for an end to visas for all nationals of countries known to have terrorist links. This list now also includes the UK and Belgium.
This mass outcry of anti- Muslim feeling is no longer a trickling stream. As the momentum of right wing extreme groups grows across Europe it is in turn met by more and more atrocious extreme terrorist acts. But how can there be a fair hearing, an open reporting of events and the people’s true voice when the corporate press has such an economic interest in the political arena.
Freedom of the press or indoctrination
Following the attacks of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on the 11th of September 2001, the public face of Islam changed irreversibly. The catastrophic events in New York which were broadcast live to the world brought with them a new fear. If the United States, the figure head of the developed western world, could be subjected to such an attack, then the terror that these radical extremists brought could be wielded upon all. The broadcasting of the event defined it as a dramatic spectacle. Repetition of live images, detailed analysis, reports of further attacks and emphasis on the words terrorism and hijacking all served to create an image of a potential global threat. The disbelief as the Trade Center towers fell left reporters lost for words and brought an altered reality to the event. In the days following the attacks Bush, as well as other political figures spoke provocatively of “evildoers” and “punishment”. He declared it “Our responsibility to history: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil”[6]. These rallying messages and call to arms continually reported in the press alongside repeated images of the falling towers began to blur the lines between war and terrorism[7]. The media reported fears of associated terrorist cells across Europe and links to Al Qaeda became increasingly common. Solidarity of the Western world and unity against followers of Islam became the media calling card and “The War on Terror”, criticized by many has become increasingly yet controversially renamed “The War on Islam”.
This use of Islam as the perpetrator of these terrible attacks enables the West to have a tangible scapegoat as the aggressor. The historical disputes between Christianity and Islam remain in place and sustained ignorance fuels fears. The media rely on this disharmony to further demonize the Islamic world in place of terrorist extremists. The attacks which take place against civilians are not acts of war but atrocious crimes reported under the guise of war. Crimes are common in most developed cities, but when war is brought to the front pages or headline news reports, the stakes are raised. The American press has long been portrayed as anti-Islamic, using words such as Muslim and Islam alongside words such as jihad and extremist. With current accessibility to the world’s media via the internet and social media, the Muslim stereotype is being carefully crafted as a threatening force. Many right wing political groups support anti-Islamic feeling even sponsoring advertising campaigns such as the American Freedom Defense Initiative’s scheme in which local public transport in New York carried posters stating: “It’s not Islamophobia, it’s Islamorealism.”[8] This condemnation of an entire religion serves only to provoke further mistrust and uncertainty between the East and West. Muslims are being used as political pawns to incite the U.S public into a state of Islamophobia. Donald trump has issued a request that Muslims are not allowed to enter the U.S and there is a call for greater policing of Muslim communities to prevent radicalization. Even though Obama has declared many reports as “un-American”, young Muslims are feeling more and more intimidated in the light of a growing anti -Islamic media voice .
On first inspection it would appear that the U.S media is a democratic free source of world events, however this illusion of choice given to the public is an unfair portrayal of media reality. Domination of the U.S media by a select 6 companies casts independent reporting into doubt. This is a dramatic change from the 1980’s when 50 companies were in control of 90% of what Americans read, heard and watched.[9]This restricted collection of corporate power adversely affects the voice of independence leading to a filtered perception of current issues. Companies that hold a vested financial interest in the country are potentially prone to biased reporting in order to further their own interests. Media no longer serves to challenge dominant political and social narratives or discourses circulated by governments; but rather act as a new fourth branch of government through which these narratives and discourses can be normalized[10]. The media provides government with a medium that is able to overcome the barriers of privacy and instill their disparaging narratives directly into the homes of the public. One would assume that the media’s most fundamental aim is to create ‘informed citizens’, without whom society would be unable to adopt healthy political engagement, but actual fact, the benefit of creating ‘informed citizens’ is to create social and political unity[11]. Although, the media’s bias implementation of a passive islamophobic narrative, serves only to breed deeply rooted social intolerance, political discord, and an undertone of hatred. While a continued drive to inform remains we must question the ethics and integrity of such distilled opinions and decide whether the views illustrate growing public concerns or serve only to incite and foster pervasive racial resentment[12]. With islamophobia at an all-time high, it is common to see journalists exploiting the rising fear of the general public with their misrepresentations of Islam and Muslim communities. [13]
There has been much research into the traditions of American politics and the power given to the voice of elite corporations versus the voice of the average citizen and the results show a heavy favoritism towards the rich, powerful elite who hold substantial influence in the political arena. If it is these elite multinational corporations who control the media and have the freedom to feed the public their version of current events, including extreme forms of terror attacks, then they also hold substantial influence over public opinion and attitude[14]. It is difficult to see how such reporting can truly uphold the constitutional right of press freedom when its originators have a vested interest in how the story is received and indeed who and how should this forum for potential misuse be monitored and controlled[15]. The world of mass opinion is truly in the hands of the few and it becomes increasingly difficult to ascertain the truth. It was Noel Chomsky who once stated in his work Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies that “Citizens of the democratic societies should undertake a course of intellectual self-defense to protect themselves from manipulation and control.”
Analysis of UKIP Poster
In order to further explore my hypothesis, I will provide a close analysis of the following primary resources. The main image associated with the UKIP campaign during the Brexit referendum, and images taken from a BBC documentary from 2005 entitled Auschwitz: The Nazis and The Final Solution.
This poster was released on June 16th of 2016 as part of the United Kingdom Independence Party’s campaign to leave the European Union. UKIP, founded in 1991 as a Eurosceptic party, now directs its campaigns and policies towards Britain’s white working class. The party was the leading force in this year’s referendum, with the likes of Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage as the figureheads of the campaign. The Vote Leave movement gained global recognition for its sometimes rather direct, and arguably distasteful campaigning methods, such as the one that will be analyzed within this investigation. The poster in question, depicts a photograph taken in 2015 of Syrian refugees walking to a refugee camp on the border of Croatia and Slovenia. The poster, clear in its intensions, aims to provoke a sense of unease and upset regarding the current immigration crisis. The Vote Leave campaign placed paramount importance on immigration restrictions and border control, and it is ironic that in this instance, they are using the face of refugees as the scapegoats of Brexit. The poster attempts to scaremonger the public into voting to leave the EU.
The image depicts a large group of men of North African or Arabic origin walking through a field. The men in the image are walking as if in a herd trailing off into the blurred distance. In focus, we see the group randomly dressed in winter clothing, carrying blankets and bags. The line of people arcs across the image, trailing off into the out of focus distance but never ending, suggesting an infinite number of people. Our eyes are drawn naturally to the front of the image where the group of men dominates the entire width of the poster, creating an advancing sense of invasion and claustrophobia. Written in bright red capital letters, the words “BREAKING POINT” are placed in contrast with the bright green grass. Red is used in this instance to provoke a sense of anger and urgency. The font size is largely disproportionate to the composition of the poster, and the words themselves suggest the penultimate moment before chaos erupts. Underneath, in a significantly smaller white font, the words “The EU has failed us all”. This sweeping statement employs the use of the collective pronoun “us”, and in doing so aggregates the observer, the individuals within the image, and the UK as a whole, in an effort to provoke a sense of unified discontent against the EU. Along the very forefront of the image, in a small white font, the words “We must break free of the EU and take back control of our borders.” The use of “we must” makes the sentence a declarative. The sentence is used as a directive, demanding the reader to take arms against the EU, and to vote “leave” on the day of the referendum. The use of emotive language such as “break free” and “take back control” once again creates a sense of anger and panic. The repetition of the word “break” on the poster, forcefully suggests to the observer that they themselves are ‘trapped’, and need to “break free” from the impending invasion of immigrants, that the EU has supposedly failed to protect us from.
Analysis of images from Auschwitz: The Nazis and The Final Solution
In 2005, the BBC released a documentary entitled Auschwitz: The Nazis and The Final Solution. Shortly after the release of the aforementioned Vote Leave poster, an individual under the twitter handle @brendanjharkin, shared his discovery of the striking resemblance between the poster, and scenes of Nazi propaganda shown in the documentary. Although it is an extreme comparison to draw, the undeniable similarities in the composition of the images is striking. And the two images bare similarities not only in composition, but also is context. As previously mentioned, the Jewish people were scapegoated during the Second World War, and blamed alongside gypsies, homosexuals, and lower class citizens for the economic crash and decline in standards of living.
The image displays Jewish concentration camp members walking in a large crowd towards the forefront of the frame. The line of people fades off into the distant background, becoming increasingly blurry, and giving the impression of an endless stream of people surging towards the camera. The people in the picture are wearing dirty and worn-out clothes, and are carrying bags and sacs above their heads. The image is in black and white, giving it a somber and muted mood. The original propaganda film had a recording speaking over the footage, and the translated subtitles from the film read “who flooded Europe’s cities after the last war – parasites, undermining their host countries.” The “who” they are referring to, are immigrants who after the First World War, migrated across the borders into Europe in search of work. The use of emotive such as “flooded”, suggest an uncontrolled surge of people, overflowing Europe’s population. Also used is the metaphor “parasites”, which is once again used to describe the immigrants feeding from the host country. The portrayal of such mentality towards immigration bares a strikingly worrying resemblance to popular societal mentality. The employment of such a comparable image to this in the UKIP Breaking Point poster demonstrates that a disturbing cyclical pattern is emerging regarding public sentiments towards immigration. Although we as a society no longer scapegoat Jewish immigrants, but rather Islamic refugees, this demonstrates that scapegoating is still occurring in popular media.
Conclusion
During the course of my research it has become increasingly apparent that the vested interests of the corporate media are paramount in its reporting and serve more to steer public opinion than to inform in an unbiased way. Through the use of emotive language and images, they manipulate and evoke emotional responses to events. Violent acts become terrorist attacks, and in the subtle alteration of neutral words to antagonistic vocabulary, a judgement is passed on the perpetrators of the violence, and the filtered truth handed on to the public[18]. This minimal but constant subliminal distortion of the truth serves to perpetuate the west’s sense of cultural superiority. The massive increase in available sources of information through the internet mean that we now live in a world where multiple truths coexsist.
It is important to disclaim that the examples used in this investigation serve first and foremost to help support my original hypothesis of this study; that Islam is being used as a scapegoat by popular media, and is in turn perpetuating and validating Islamophobic narratives and attitudes. However, the validity of my primary sources still stands, as the techniques employed, combined with the original intention of the text types, suggest strongly that this is in fact the case. Granted, there are an infinite number of media publications ranging from news articles, to posters, to documentaries, or otherwise that all counter my arguments, and in turn disprove my hypothesis. Perhaps no number of primary sources could provide sufficient evidence to corroborate the presence of Islamophobic attitudes in the media, although what does stand testament to this hypothesis are current socio-political events. The recent event of the United Kingdom voting to leave the European Union and closing its borders, the potential presidency of the likes of Donald Trump in the United States and Marine Le Pen in France. One must question how such far right political figures and parties have risen to such prominence within recent years. The evidence presented within this essay is open to debate, but what cannot be denied is that we live in a society that is becoming increasingly weary of immigrants and the Islamic religion.
With violent attacks in “the so called name of Islam”, continuing to spread fear throughout the world, it appears inevitable that Muslims will continue to be used as scapegoats by the world’s media. We in turn will also fall victim to the “language used to corrupt thought” and yet it remains my hope that each individual will take responsibility for revealing the truth, and that one day the media will reflect opinion, not be its guiding force and creator.
Bibliography
Abbas, Tahir. Islamic Political Radicalism: A European Perspective. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press, 2007.
Ahmad, Bint. "How Does the Media Fuel Islamophobia." Hizb ut-Tahrir. Last modified February 9, 2015. Accessed September 3, 2016. http://www.hizb.org.uk/current-affairs/how-does-the-media-fuel-islamophobia.
Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution. Image. Aljazeera. June 18, 2016. Accessed October 23, 2016. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/06/brexit-anti-immigration-ukip-poster-raises-questions-160621112722799.html.
Awan, Imran. "The UK's Far-Right Is Using the Islamic State as a Powerful Propaganda Tool, and It's Working." The Independant, September 24, 2014. http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-uks-far-right-is-using-the-islamic-state-as-a-powerful-propaganda-tool-and-its-working-9751657.html.
"Crusades." History. Accessed September 3, 2016. http://www.history.com/topics/crusades.
Dalrymple, William. "Islamophobia: It's Not Just Robert Kilroy-Silk Who Rants against Arab Culture and Muslim Faith. Prejudice against Islam Has Become a Disease, and Attacks on Mosques Are Now Routine." New Statesman, January 14, 2004, 18. https://www.questiaschool.com/magazine/1G1-112794046/islamophobia-it-s-not-just-robert-kilroy-silk-who.
Dearden, Lizzie. "Isis: New Terrorist Group Jahba East Africa Pledges Allegiance to 'Islamic State' in Somalia." Independent. Last modified April 8, 2016. Accessed September 3, 2016. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/isis-new-terrorist-group-jahba-east-africa-pledges-allegiance-to-islamic-state-in-somalia-a6974476.html.
"Defining 'Islamophobia.'" University of California, Berkley Center For Race And Gender. Accessed September 3, 2016. http://crg.berkeley.edu/content/islamophobia/defining-islamophobia.
Fradkin, Hillel, and Lewis Libby. "The First Gulf War and Its Aftermath." Hudson Institute. Last modified October 14, 2015. Accessed September 3, 2016. http://www.hudson.org/research/11787-the-first-gulf-war-and-its-aftermath.
Gilens, Martin, and Benjamin L. Page. "Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens." Princeton Scholar. Accessed September 3, 2016. https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf.
Grosfoguel, Ramon, and Eric Mielants. "The Long-Duree Entanglement between Islamophobia and Racism in the Modern/colonial Capitalist/patriarchal World-System: An Introduction." Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge 5, no. 1 (2006). https://www.questiaschool.com/library/journal/1G1-227788685/the-long-duree-entanglement-between-islamophobia-and.
Jeory, Jed. Jed Jeory to Independent newsgroup, "UK Entering 'Unchartered Territory' of Islamophobia after Brexit Vote," June 27, 2016. Accessed September 19, 2016. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/brexit-muslim-racism-hate-crime-islamophobia-eu-referendum-leave-latest-a7106326.html.
Kellner, Douglas. "The Media in and after 9/11." Working paper, University of California, Los Angeles, 2007.
Kincheloe, Joe L., and Shirley R. Steinberg. The Miseducation of the West: How Schools and the Media Distort Our Understanding of the Islamic World. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004. https://www.questiaschool.com/library/120079942/the-miseducation-of-the-west-how-schools-and-the.
Klausen, Jytte. The Islamic Challenge: Politics and Religion in Western Europe. New York, USA: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Kramer, Micheal W. "The Jewish Scapegoats and the Holocaust." Blex.org. Accessed September 3, 2016. http://www.blex.org/research/scapegoats.html.
Lutz, Ashley. "These 6 Corporations Control 90% of the Media in America." Business Insider. Last modified June 14, 2012. Accessed September 3, 2016. http://www.businessinsider.com/these-6-corporations-control-90-of-the-media-in-america-2012-6?IR=T.
"Struggling against Stereotypes." The Pluralism Project Harvard University. Accessed September 2, 2016. http://pluralism.org/religions/islam/issues-for-muslims-in-america/struggling-against-stereotypes/.
UKIP Breaking Point. Image. Aljazeera. June 18, 2016. Accessed October 23, 2016. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/06/brexit-anti-immigration-ukip-poster-raises-questions-160621112722799.html.
Welch, Michael. Scapegoats of September 11th: Hate Crimes and State Crimes in the War on Terror. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2006. https://www.questiaschool.com/library/117285468/scapegoats-of-september-11th-hate-crimes-and-state.
Weltman, Dave. "The Rise of Islamophobia." The Socialist Review. Last modified June 2010. Accessed September 1, 2016. http://socialistreview.org.uk/348/rise-islamophobia.
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[1] Jed Jeory to Independent newsgroup, "UK Entering 'Unchartered Territory' of Islamophobia after Brexit Vote," June 27, 2016, accessed September 19, 2016, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/brexit-muslim-racism-hate-crime-islamophobia-eu-referendum-leave-latest-a7106326.html.
[2] Ramon Grosfoguel and Eric Mielants, "The Long-Duree Entanglement between Islamophobia and Racism in the Modern/colonial Capitalist/patriarchal World-System: An Introduction," Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge 5, no. 1 (2006): [Page #], https://www.questiaschool.com/library/journal/1G1-227788685/the-long-duree-entanglement-between-islamophobia-and.
[3] "Defining 'Islamophobia,'" University of California, Berkley Center For Race And Gender, accessed September 3, 2016, http://crg.berkeley.edu/content/islamophobia/defining-islamophobia.
[4] Micheal W. Kramer, "The Jewish Scapegoats and the Holocaust," Blex.org, http://www.blex.org/research/scapegoats.html.
[5] Micheal W. Kramer, "The Jewish Scapegoats and the Holocaust," Blex.org, accessed September 3, 2016, http://www.blex.org/research/scapegoats.html.
[6] Michael Welch, Scapegoats of September 11th: Hate Crimes and State Crimes in the War on Terror (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2006), [Page#9], https://www.questiaschool.com/library/117285468/scapegoats-of-september-11th-hate-crimes-and-state.
[7] Douglas Kellner, "The Media in and after 9/11" (working paper, University of California, Los Angeles, 2007), [Page #2].
[8] ""Struggling against Stereotypes," The Pluralism Project Harvard University, accessed September 2, 2016, http://pluralism.org/religions/islam/issues-for-muslims-in-america/struggling-against-stereotypes/.
[9] Ashley Lutz, "These 6 Corporations Control 90% of the Media in America," Business Insider, last modified June 14, 2012, accessed September 3, 2016, http://www.businessinsider.com/these-6-corporations-control-90-of-the-media-in-america-2012-6?IR=T.
[10] Bint Ahmad, "How Does the Media Fuel Islamophobia," Hizb ut-Tahrir, last modified February 9, 2015, accessed September 3, 2016, http://www.hizb.org.uk/current-affairs/how-does-the-media-fuel-islamophobia.
[11] Ahmad, "How Does," Hizb ut-Tahrir.
[12] Ahmad, "How Does," Hizb ut-Tahrir.
[13] Ahmad, "How Does," Hizb ut-Tahrir.
[14] Martin Gilens and Benjamin L. Page, "Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens," Princeton Scholar, accessed September 3, 2016, https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf.
[15] Gilens and Page, "Testing Theories," Princeton Scholar.
[16] UKIP Breaking Point, image, Aljazeera, June 18, 2016, accessed October 23, 2016, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/06/brexit-anti-immigration-ukip-poster-raises-questions-160621112722799.html.
[17] Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution, image, Aljazeera, June 18, 2016, accessed October 23, 2016, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/06/brexit-anti-immigration-ukip-poster-raises-questions-160621112722799.html.
[18] Ahmad, "How Does," Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Take a look at the examiner's marks and comments and compare them to your own:
A: 5
B: 4
C: 8
D: 3
(E: 5)
Overall: 25 (B)
This essay addresses an important topic for the internationally-minded student, and does a good job of contextualising something broad with well-chosen secondary research. The analyses of the posters allowed for some close primary deconstruction to prove the points being made, though the latter source was a little unreliable. This reliability and the limitations of the research weren't addressed effectively. However, this student was clearly engaged by a worthy topic and presented a valuable piece of research and analysis.
Category 3: Example 2
Consider this additional example, and, given the comments above, mark it according to the assessment criteria. Decide upon what you can take away in terms of what is effective and what is less so. Please note, the original was thoroughly and accurately footnoted throughout:
Extended Essay
An Exploration of the Effect Mainstream Media has on Public Perceptions of Global Warming
To what extent does the mainstream media allow petroleum business companies to influence public perception on global warming?
English A
Word Count: 3984
Table of Contents:
| Title Page……………………...…...…...…...…...…...…...…..…....…...…..1 Table of Contents…………….…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...2 Introduction…………………...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...……......…...3 Do Petroleum companies contribute to Global Warming?…….......…... 5 Media Manipulation…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...……..…...11 Engineering the consent of the Canadian and Norwegian public.…...… 15 Conclusion…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…....……. 19 Bibliography…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…...…....…... 22 |
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Introduction
Despite the number of scientists who believe that global warming has been accelerated by human activity, “74% of the world’s population is not convinced or denies that this element is the main cause of this concern. In addition, 97% of scientists are convinced that global warming is heightened due to business.” Media coverage misrepresents scientific understanding of man-made global warming mainly because of the positive effect petroleum companies have on the economy. As a result, people are left with imbalance in media coverage, which affects public opinion globally.
The information provided by the media most frequently gives a favorable representation of petroleum business. The propaganda of media affects public perception on global warming due to its collaboration with such companies. The socio-economic theorist Shah Anup explains how “petroleum companies are chains of oil production that have a negative effect on the environment due to their processes of extraction in environmental areas” This theory is considered credible although it can be argued that petroleum extraction is very beneficial, therefore making the positive effects overlap the negatives. The question that will be discussed in this investigation is: To what extent does the mainstream media allow petroleum business companies to influence public perception on global warming?
The first topic that will be discussed in this investigation is the effect petroleum companies have on global warming. They “function due to the extraction of oil around the world. When burned, petroleum products become dangerous to the environment because they give off a large amount of emissions such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.” The second topic that will be discussed is the influence media has on public perception of global warming. It can be noticed that the media seems to be operating just like any other powerful company. It has a product and a market. In media, the product is advertising and the market is the big company that has the largest market shares. Lastly, the third topic is the public’s opinion on global warming. Examples of such are the reactions that the public has on the attitudes that petroleum business have towards global warming. Therefore, through the three topics above, it will be shown that the propaganda of the petroleum business companies in the media influences public opinions on global warming to a large extent.
II. Do Petroleum companies contribute to Global Warming?
Petroleum companies are so successful because of the extraction of crude oil, dependent on the increasing recovery of undrained substances in reservoirs. Nonetheless, “oil extraction releases gases that get trapped inside the atmosphere”, thus warming up the Earth and accelerating global warming. However, companies put aside the negative factors and focus on the money they gain from oil and gas exploitations. Their priority is to develop as a company and be the best at their job.
Petroleum companies are constantly seeking for legal territory in order for their economy to develop. This is seen with Canadian Natural Resources and Statoil. These are perfect examples of companies that put aside environmental necessities and put forward their economic development. Businessmen are aware that global warming is partially caused by the increasing amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and results from human activities, including the extraction of oil, yet they deny it publically. The graph below predicts a rise in oil until 2018 that might expand in the near future before the run out of reserves, where a massive drop will be graphed. When this occurs, if no action is undertaken, it will be too late for environmental protection, too late to slow down Global Warming and too late to find effective alternatives to sustain our lifestyles. (fig. 1)
One main reason oil extraction is frequent is because of the ample money that companies gain from this activity. Even if they are aware of the effects oil exploitation has on global warming, their intentions are based on the high profits that they gain from it. The report on Media frames of collective action and scientific certainty in Canada, mentions that when “companies collaborate with the mainstream media; it creates a transnational character of environmental risks that call for a collective responsibility transcending the borders of the nation-states.” This is seen with Canadian Natural Resources, one of the largest independent crude oil and natural gas producers in the world.” Environmental risks are increasingly exceeding society’s capacity to predict and control. Mainstream media plays a big role in this lack of control. News adapted to the national population result to a change in public opinion because the population believes in what the mainstream media tells them, thus people do not think it is necessary to take down petroleum companies. This type of manipulation was seen with an article called Take Advantage of Cheap Oil, Invest in these Exchange-Traded Funds by Shobhit Seth, a freelance financial writer, who gave a favorable representation of oil extraction and encourages people to buy petroleum products. “The level of interest in the approach to discourse comprehension has markedly increased within the field of media studies.” This shows how journalists who collaborate with Natural Canadian Resources and Statoil are rather biased and increase the level of analytical abstraction to put forward their product.
Companies gain from exploitation and utilize their propaganda to convince the public that their business is efficient. As mentioned in the report, Petroleum Resources Management and the Environment Regulation in Norway by Catherine Banet, “reducing petroleum extraction would have a negative effect on the environmental, social and economic interests, calling for a reflection on the sustainability of petroleum activities.” Companies argue that oil and gas production is essential and that alternatives should be found to reduce the speed of global warming because get rid of oil and gas extraction would be chaotic for transportation, heat production and more. Although this may be true, the exploitation of petroleum doesn’t increase for the benefit of people but because of competition. Companies prioritize the money they gain from oil and gas over public interest. Because of so, they collaborate with newspapers to be advertised and win clients. Statoil collaborated with Bloomerang, a newspaper company. They published an article on the 4th of September 2016 called, Statoil to Invest $200 Million in Renewable Energy by 2022. It only focuses on the goals that the company wants to achieve regarding the environment. It can be argued that these are concrete goals that the company is willing to achieve. However, nothing can guarantee its reliability until the year 2022, thus making it pure advertisement for the moment. In addition, this does not change the fact that the main issue with these companies is that they provoke negative secondary effects such as an increase in the amount of CO2 causing the nature’s capacity of absorption to highly decrease, which in the long-term can potentially lead to a lack of oxygen. Despite these observational consequences, they remain powerful, because they use propaganda to their advantage to convince the public that their program is efficient. As a result, they become reputed for their efficient petroleum exploitation, resulting to a successful economic state for the business to operate.
III. Media Manipulation
Through media, business companies are able to employ propaganda to communicate their interests and efficiency to the public in a way that will build their market. “The media includes every broadcasting and narrowcasting medium.” The media that cooperates with business companies is referred to as the the mainstream. Mainstream media is “mass media that influences a large population and both reflects and shapes prevailing events.” This type of marketing and advertising is strongly concentrated in terms of ownership, wealth and power. Its news represents the perspective of small elite of wealthy businessmen. George Orwell, an essayist, novelist and critic argues in The Freedom of the Press, that “the issue involved here is a simple one: Is every opinion, however unpopular — however foolish, even — entitled to a hearing? Put it in that form and nearly any English intellectual will feel that he ought to say ‘Yes’.” In the media, the public’s opinion is not regularly entitled to a hearing. It can be argued that newspapers have an opinion column, but full articles on one’s opinion will not be published if it goes against the principles of the newspaper’s business or collaborators, thus challenging the concept of freedom of the press. As further explored in the last section, local Canadian and Norwegian newspapers that collaborate with these companies only feature the companies’ opinions, thus all supporting the business. It is clear that the mainstream media supports large companies before the public due to reliability, economic, political and social reasons. In contrast to George Orwell’s judgement on public opinion, Joseph Stiglitz, an economist and professor at Columbia University, argues that “markets know foremost and that the government should be deregulated from its controls over mass media.” It is a genuine concern that the government cannot be considered as a source of reliability. In fact, the most recent 2016 news that can help notice this corrupted government, are the revelations of the Panama Papers. These papers “exposed the sordid details of how the rich and powerful hide their wealth by using tax havens to avoid paying taxes”. Such information makes the public realize that governments cannot be trusted and how impactful inequality is. Princeton Professor Martin Gilens elaborates on this injustice by mentioning that “The ability of citizens to influence government policy is at the heart of democracy,” .This is true because citizens are quite unequal in their ability to shape government policy to their liking.
Although ideal political equality is unrealistic, changes in media content and consumption affect public opinion and the mainstream media uses this to influence the population. Noam Chomsky, a philosopher and cognitive scientist mentions that, "in Economics you learn that markets are based on informed consumers making rational choices. Mainstream media is trying to delude the public into making an irrational choice based on lack of information. One of the major goals of business is to undermine market by making uninformed consumers who will make irrational choices." This suggests that since big business own the mainstream media, they are able to manipulate the public into making the wrong choices for their own benefits. Canadian Natural Resources and Statoil do this by striking all information that exposes their weaknesses, this including their negative impacts on the environment and how they contribute to the acceleration of global warming. We do not live in a market economy, but instead in a world governed by the public relations’ industry and big business, cheer led by the mainstream media who instead, are meant to hold those in power to account on behalf of the electorate in a democracy.
Media coverage connects to the effect petroleum companies have on global warming because it misrepresents scientific understandings to delude public perception. The Norwegian and Canadian public is very rarely informed of collaboration between the media and the two companies, because that allows them to publish bias information that put in favour Canadian Natural Resources and Statoil. This is unfair because people buy products without knowing the real facts.
Media seems to be operating just like any other powerful business, with advertising as the product and their companies as the market. The Canadian and Norwegian population cannot count on the information system to receive honest ideas and facts on Canadian Natural Resources, Statoil and their impact on global warming. The public is never told the entire truth, thus forced to rely on their opinions to determine what is suspicious, in contradiction to what is trustworthy. As mentioned in the Canadian report by Ulrika Olausson and the Scandinavian Institute report, the main benefits advertising brings to their country’s companies are increased exposure, generated leads, improved search ranking, partnership growth and improved sales, thus promoting the company and resulting to an increase in their level of development.This information is not mentioned anywhere but in the country’s primary reports because if it was exposed in the media, this would make the public question the interests of the company. Is it their personal development or a sustainable lifestyle for their clients?
Next, from the companies ’point of view, only the positive aspects of their production is revealed to maintain their company’s functioning, thus it is each individual’s responsibility to do further research to determine whether the balance between the positive and negative is justified. Is this a fair and rational perspective? Companies and the mainstream media will say ‘yes’, but the public will say ‘no’, yet the government prioritize the companies’ opinions, thus imposing the public to take the responsibility to do further research before signing a contract.
IV. Engineering the consent of the Canadian and Norwegian public
Public opinion is influenced by mass media to the extent that it is widely acknowledged as a misleading degree of information. Public opinion is defined as “citizens’ views on politics and government actions.” People form opinions either based on considerations, relevant information or reasoning of the underlined topic. Nonetheless, these may change considering the amount of advertising used to deter public perception. “Magazines such as Time, Newsweek, and The Economist have widespread circulation and offer in-depth coverage of the news. By contrast, most expressly political magazines, such as the New Republic and The Nation have very small audiences.” This suggests that while international newspapers talk about events that affect the world as a whole through the common use of biased opinions or misleading information, small papers focus on local events, strike the bias and expose their articles with true facts.
The role media plays in order to influence public opinion leads to the misunderstanding of the critical status of global warming. As argued by David Potter and Douglas Van Belle, two writers for the Philpapers, “the newspaper coverage of development issues influences bureaucrats who carefully watch issues in key daily papers.” Thus, they discuss how bureaucrats influence the media in order to deter public opinion. It can be noticed how public opinion is not reliable anymore since advertisers mislead these opinions and implicitly direct people towards following an opinion that isn’t theirs. This idea can be compared to the concept brought by George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four which develops the conviction that “In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it”. This slogan is an example of a dogma which is based on the principle that the government has progressively forced the public to believe that two plus two was equal to five and make them adhere to this shared opinion. Nowadays, media has become a large source of public manipulation. Current research has shown that citizens begin to synthesize more coherent frameworks which differentiate research programs to the constitution of literal foreign policy. Within this research, it was concluded that “literature does not consistently link the relationship between media coverage and public opinion.” On the contrary, it demonstrates how democracy and political processes reveal marketing procedures. An example of such is the concept of attracting the public towards a certain product to increase the sales. As mentioned by Forbes magazine, “Media manipulation currently shapes everything you read, hear and watch online,” being the reason why Canadian Natural Resources and Statoil still function so well despite their prodigious impact on the acceleration of global warming. Furthermore, the articles that are published and read on a daily basis cannot be trusted due to the power of advertisement. This reality is both unfortunate and politically inaccurate but allows Canadian Natural Resources and Statoil to develop their economy, infrastructure, status and awareness.
Outstanding key extracts that reveal mass media news articles tend to show how obvious media can distort critical facts, vital stories and work with companies to promote manipulative corporate agendas to the public. In order to create a more effective advertising, companies modify the truth through “the presence or absence of certain keywords, stock phrases, stereotyped images, sources of information and sentences that provide thematically reinforcing clusters of facts or judgements.” This is seen with both Canadian Resources and Statoil’s websites. Canadian Natural Resources introduces their company by saying that it “is one of the largest independent crude oil and natural gas producers in the world. The Company continually targets cost effective alternatives to develop our portfolio of projects and to deliver our defined growth plan, thereby creating value for shareholders. We have a proven, effective, value driven strategy that works.” Their first sentence sets their power by mentioning that they are one of the largest producers in the world, thus hinting that they are a developed business. Next, the company uses the words “continually, projects, growth, plan and creation”, all being projections towards the future, giving the impression that the company has looks on future needs. They talk about cost effective strategies to portray diversification and low priced operations, thus being stock phrases used to attract customers. Furthermore, they “continually strive for safe, effective, efficient and environmentally responsible operations while developing [their] diverse asset base.”Including environmental safety in their corporate profile is destined to blur out the critical negative effects they have on the environment. As they mention “they strive”, which discreetly acknowledges their negative impact on the environment. However, they do not mention what these negative factors are, nor do they warn the public that petroleum extraction is dangerous and accelerates global warming due to its immense release of greenhouse gases. Next, Statoil, “the largest Norwegian petroleum company,” also does this by putting values and ethics as their number one priority. They mention that “Statoil expects high ethical standards of everyone who acts on [their] behalf and will maintain an open dialogue on ethical issues, internally and externally.” By using the word “expect”, they set assumptions on their business partners in the aim to achieve sustainable and ethical goals. Next, they mention that “our values embody the spirit and energy of Statoil. They are at the core of our management system. Our values drive our performance and guide us in how we do business, and in how we work together and towards external stakeholders.”The constant repetition of “our”, emphasized a symbol of collaboration and shared opinions, thus building trust and confidence from worker to worker, and from worker to customer. In addition, using values as their embodiment portrays care towards the public’s lifestyle. However, if the truth was spoken, ‘values’ would be replaced by ‘money’, being the company’s main, if not only interest. The company further mentions that there four main keywords are: ‘courageous, open, hands-on and caring’, being a lexical field of custody. These techniques deform information, being a form of public manipulation. Canadian Natural Resources and Statoil use this to have clients and make profit with their product, being unfair but legal. Conversely, certain newspapers are against the principle of editorial manipulation.The Guardian, a British national daily newspaper, believes that editorial independence is essential. It finds it essential to have “a strict policy of not allowing advertisers to influence editorial content.” The press achieved editorial independence through the efficient growth of advertising. Before advertising, petroleum companies raised awareness on their productivity through direct dialogue between the workers and the public. Nowadays, this source of communication has majorly disappeared because of the tremendous development of technology. This idea is also noted by the Britain historian Francis Williams in his book Dangerous Estate. He mentions that “the daily press would never have come into existence as a force in public and social life if it had not been for the need of men of commerce to advertise.” It is deduced that editorial independence is now so rare that anything published by the mainstream media connected to advertising should be questioned.
Ever since mass media has been associated with the petroleum business, companies have been using this means of communication to the extent that “10% of their revenue is spent to attract the masses.“ Advertising has been skeptically defined as “the art of arresting the human intelligence just long enough to get money from it.” American philosopher and political activist Noam Chomsky investigates the two perspectives of this concept in his article, What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream. He uses The New York Times as a reference to emphasize his analysis and mentions that they can be metaphorically represented as a corporation selling a product. The product is audiences. The New York Times does not make money when the audience buys the newspaper. In fact, they lose money but “you have to sell a product to a market, and the market is advertisers (that is, other companies). Whether it is television or newspapers, corporations sell audiences to other corporations.” Therefore, in order to sell a product to a large audience, petroleum companies have to first sell their product to advertisers and then hope to influence public opinion to make profit out of this means of communication, being dangerous, yet very strategic.
V. Conclusion
In 2007, an investigation was made “across 127 countries, [whose] median percentage of people who report[ed] knowing about global warming [was of] 62%. This leaves a worldwide median of 38% who either report[ed] having never heard about it or did not have an opinion.”
Petroleum companies are pulling on a rope against scientists, economists and the public. People are led to believe that they do not increase the rapidity of global warming, even though scientists affirm that the collaboration between the companies and the mainstream media influences public perceptions on global warming to a large extent. Even though this tug of war is ongoing, companies have an advantage. Since more than half of the world’s population is unaware of global warming or is not conscious of its critical state, it allows them to keep selling their products to a large amount of people. In addition, because of their cooperation with the mainstream media, petroleum companies are able to advertise their products and convince the public that they have no or little effect on global warming. This current situation is a perfect example of a democratic deficit. In theory, “democracy is a means for the people to choose their leaders and to hold their leaders accountable for their policies and their conduct in office.” According to a democratic system, the rule of law limits the power of the government and the people are considered as the highest form of political authority. However, in this situation, the people want to stop global warming whilst large companies are indifferent. This act of selfishness leads to a democratic deficit because companies are supported and heard by the mainstream media and the governments before the population. Therefore, the first step that must be taken to end global warming is to reiterate the democracy deficit by giving the public a voice that takes over the business’ opinions. By doing so, even though petroleum companies will have an economic fall, the public will not be driven by manipulated information and will know what to abrogate in order for the world to remain sustainable for the future generations.
If the reiteration of the democracy deficit succeeds, the main solution thought through by the population is to “reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by either reducing the level of emissions-related economic activities or by shifting to more energy-efficient technologies that would allow the same level of economic activity at a lower level of CO2 emissions.” This solution would be critical to petroleum companies since their business is part of the ‘emissions-related economic activities’ that the public proposes to reduce. Yet politicians are left with two options: give priority to companies in order to keep their power and economic status, or give a voice and an opinion to the public so that future generations are welcomed on a sustainable planet.
Global warming is an existential threat to humanity. Petroleum companies challenge their way of perception to influence the perception of others. The relationship between these companies and the media must be monitored to limit the influence of public perception on global warming, nevertheless, it also becomes essential for citizens to reinvestigate the state corporate complex and be more critical in their consumption of news.
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