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BRITISH ARMS SALES TO SIERRA LEONE.
Term Paper ID:25291
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Essay Subject:
Analyzes press coverage of 1998 British involvement, comparing reports from [The Guardian} & [the Daily Mail].... More...
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7 Pages / 1575 Words
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Paper Abstract:
Analyzes press coverage of 1998 British involvement, comparing reports from [The Guardian} & [the Daily Mail].
Paper Introduction:
PRESS COVERAGE OF THE ARMS SALE TO SIERRA LEONE: COMPARING AND CONTRASTING THE GUARDIAN AND THE DAILY MAIL
The recent coup d’ état and counter coup d’ état in Sierra Leone embroiled the British Foreign Office, the Foreign Secretary, and the Prime Minister in controversy. Charges were made that British aid in the form of arms made possible the success of the counter coup d’ état, and that the supply of arms violated United Nations sanctions against Sierra Leone. Rumors also circulated that British mercenaries who largely staged the counter coup d’ état for the outset government in Sierra Leone operated, if not under the direction of the Foreign Office, at least with the knowledge of the Foreign Office.
The British press has not let the controversy go unnoticed. All of the national newspapers have carried stories and
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Mythologies. The second system, the actual myth, is built on the linguistics system ina way that creates an interpretation, or a meaning, of the language. The third point is concerned with the use oflanguage to produce meaning for readers by reinforcing the position of thenewspapers on the affair. The Daily Mail coverage, however, was more focused on itsperception of the character and style of the foreign Secretary than it wason the actual facts of the affair. [ix]Ibid., 19 . While presenting the facts of theaffair, as those facts are known publicly, without condemning the LabourGovernment for behaving any differently from past British governments, TheGuardian did oppose governmental policies that focus on end objectives withlittle regard for moral position. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1993.Partridge, M. The bias of The Daily Mail against the Labour Party andagainst the Foreign Secretary was clearly conveyed in the newspaper'scoverage of the Sierra Leone affair. Thisposition, however, may not in fact be a myth at all. Thus, the signification is"the myth itself."[v] The second theory is that of balance, neutrality, and impartiality asespoused by Stuart Price. The Guardian, by contrast,used moderate language to explore the ramifications of the issue, as wellas to convey the message that this affair, whatever new facts may emergethrough the inquiry, is far from being inconsistent with the behavior ofpast governments in Britain, regardless of political ideology. In comparing and contrasting the coverage of the Sierra Leone affair,theoretical perspectives are considered. Barthes, Mythologies (London: Vintage, Random House, 1993), 1 9. [xv]M. Price describes in this theory the use oflanguage to promote ideology.[vi] For Price, the opposing ends of thecontinuum with respect to the relationship between language and ideology inthe media are "bias" and "discourse."[vii] The third theory is memetics, a geopolitical theory which appliesbiological models to the spread of ideas both between and amongcultures.[viii] The theory of memetics views information as a virus. [viii]J. ENDNOTES BIBLIOGRAPHYBarthes, R. A similar censorship effort may be found in several countries,however, in relation to television violence content and support forabortion. Within the context of the theory of memetics, ideas are infectious,and spread around the world in a way similar to that of an epidemic.Selective, or evolutionary, characteristics of human thought create anenvironment within which the fittest, or strongest, ideas survive. Media Studies. The fourth point addresses any evidence of political bias ormisreporting. The first of these twonewspapers is The Daily Mail, a middle-market tabloid, while the second isThe Guardian, an upmarket broadsheet. By contrast, The Guardian, as opposed to a reference to Cook's"blazing guns," referred to the same performance in the House of Commons bythe Foreign Secretary as a "tour de force."[xiv] The Guardian portrayedthe Foreign Secretary as anything but a "loose canon," while simultaneouslycautioning readers that the inquiry into the affair is far from over, andthat judgements should be held in abeyance until all of the facts are madepublic. With respect to misreporting, The DailyMail likely is guilty in this context with respect to the Foreign Secretaryand the Red Box materials. The strength of these concepts allowed the ideas to take rootin opposition to governmental imperatives. By contrast, however,conservative social forces have been successful in pressuring governmentson a global basis to censor some types of media. This research compares and contrasts the press coverage of theaffair with a focus on the coverage of issue by two national newspapersthat target different audiences in Britain. [v]Ibid., 121. Price, Media Studies (London: Pitman Publishing, 1993), 373. All ofthe national newspapers have carried stories and commentaries on theaffair. are contrary to human survival."[xi] The first point of interest involves the language used in reportingthe events with an emphasis on the description of the contestants for powerin Sierra Leone, as well as the political antagonists in Britain. The Daily Mail used inflammatory language in its coverage of theSierra Leone affair in a way that provided support for its ideologicalposition that holds that the Labour Party is not competent to governBritain, and in any event is not to be trusted. 4. Hughes, "Cook's Guns Blazing As He Denies Arms Plot By theFO," Daily Mail (13 May 1998), 6. In each instance, the spread of these messages reflects theaction of the theory of memetics. [xiii]D. [xii]D. With respect to myth theory, The Daily Mail, in its coverage of theSierra Leone affair, did appear to be adding further construction to itsmyth that Labor governments generally and the Blair Government inparticular are both incompetent and untrustworthy. Thesignified is the message concept, "the motivation which causes the myth tobe uttered."[iv] The sign, or signification, of the myth is theassociation of the signifier and the signified. In the case of The Guardian,the myth being developed appears to be that all governments, regardless ofpolitical ideology, tend to focus on narrow political imperatives in theshort-term, as opposed to broad moral values over the long-term. [xvi]S. Four focal points are addressed in the comparing and contrasting ofthe coverage of the two newspapers. Ideas develop according to certain predictable rules. [iv]Ibid., 118. [x]Ibid., 192. Partridge, "Revealed: Secrets of the Red Box," Daily Mail (12May 1998), 8. Unanticipated meme structures may exist. Jacoby and W. The cultural spread of ideals of all types occurs inaccordance with the predictable rules. In one sense, the coverage in the British press of the Sierra Leoneaffair can be explained within the theoretical context of memetics.Several issue phenomena over the past two decades reflect the functioningof the theory of memetics in the global communication of ideas.Environmental and ecological preservation concepts have spread around theworld through a process that clearly reflects the functioning of the theoryof memetics. Thetheory of memetics visualizes the world as "one vast information ecosystemwherein memes of many kinds compete to find host organisms within which tolive."[x] Unlike "genes, whose purpose is survival of the organism, somememes ... The Guardian also described the response of the Labour Governmentto the charges made in relation to the Sierra Leone issue in language thatmade the Government appear to be more competent than the oppositionConservatives in the give and take of Question Time.[xv] The Guardian alsoobserved that the Foreign Secretary launched into "full-scale Cookie-speak"in his response in the House of Commons, which while effective indispatching his antagonists in the short-term, did not settle the issue forthe longer-term.[xvi] The second point is the space devoted to the coverage of the affair.The examples cited in this comparing and contrasting of the coverage by TheDaily Mail and The Guardian involved only the reporting of the affair onthe 12th and 13th of May 1998. [vii]Ibid. Price wouldexplain the coverage of The Daily Mail within this context as a tactic usedto promote the political ideology of the ownership of the newspaper, whichtends to be highly conservative. A similarity exists between the evolutionary character ofmemetics and that of genetics. The first point of interest involvesthe language used in reporting the events with an emphasis on thedescription of the contestants for power in Sierra Leone, as well as thepolitical antagonists in Britain. In relation to the theory of balance, neutrality, and impartiality,there was less exhibited in the coverage of The Daily Mail on all countsthan was true of the coverage of the affair by The Guardian. The British press has not let the controversy go unnoticed. it is a message."[i]Barthes holds that myth is "not defined by the object of its message, butby the way it utters the message ...."[ii] Myth for Barthes has three dimensions-"the signifier, the signified,and the sign."[iii] The three dimensions, according to Barthes, functionwithin two semiological systems, the first of which is the language itself. While much lessobvious, The Guardian also may have been involved in some myth constructionin its coverage of the Sierra Leone affair. ForBarthes, the signifier of myth is full of meaning and empty of form. The third point is concerned with the use of language to producemeaning for readers by reinforcing the position of the newspapers on theaffair. London: Vintage, Random House, 1993."Cook's Tour de Force." Guardian (13 May 1998), 3.Hoggart, S. On these two days, The Daily Mail devotedmore space to its coverage of the issue that was devoted to the affair byThe Guardian. [ii]Ibid. Charges were made that British aid in the form ofarms made possible the success of the counter coup d' état, and that thesupply of arms violated United Nations sanctions against Sierra Leone.Rumors also circulated that British mercenaries who largely staged thecounter coup d' état for the outset government in Sierra Leone operated, ifnot under the direction of the Foreign Office, at least with the knowledgeof the Foreign Office. [vi]S. 3. Contending Theories of Global Communication. 2. [xiv]"Cook's Tour de Force," Guardian (13 May 1998), 3. TheDaily Mail used language in its reporting of the Sierra Leone affair thatclearly portrayed Robin Cook as a liar and the Labour Government asconfused and untrustworthy.[xii] The Daily Mail also cast ForeignSecretary Robin Cook as a "lightweight" intellect who cannot even bebothered to read the materials provided to him by Foreign Office civilservants.[xiii] The "guns blazing" metaphor, together with the contentionthat the Foreign Secretary attempted to shift blame for the affair tounderlings in the Foreign Office allowed The Daily Mail to signify bothCook and the Labour Government as "loose canons" who should not be runningthe affairs of state in Britain. Norton-Taylor, "Cook Rebuffs Tories Over Arms toAfrica," Guardian (13 May 1998), 2. Hughes, "Controversy Flames Around Cook," Daily Mail (12 May1998), 9; M. press coverage of the arms sale to sierra leone: comparing and contrasting the guardian and the daily mail The recent coup d' état and counter coup d' état in Sierra Leoneembroiled the British Foreign Office, the Foreign Secretary, and the PrimeMinister in controversy. Thisgeopolitical theory "holds that natural selection applies to behavior inthe same way that it applies to genetics."[ix] Central to the theory ofmemetics are the following concepts: 1. The second point is the space devoted tothe coverage of the affair. Curtailment of governmentfunding for the arts has effectively censored this medium on both sides ofthe Atlantic. Similar phenomena have occurred in Australiaand Canada over the past decade. D. While the Sierra Leone affair isimportant in its own right, the coverage of the affair by The Daily Mailespecially is reminiscent of the nearly incessant coverage in the Americanpress of the attacks on the character and untrustworthiness of thePresident and his advisors. D. Within the context of this concept, Barthescontends that "myth is a system of communication ... Three theoretical perspectivesare addressed. The first theory is the concept of speech as myth, astheorized by Roland Barthes. The coverage by The Guardian, whilegiven somewhat less space that that of The Daily Mail, nevertheless,devoted more space to the actual facts of the affair that was true of TheDaily Mail. Hoggart, "In Arms Sales It is not What Your Know That Countsbut What You Do Not Know Than Counts," Guardian (13 May 1998), 5. Hoyer, Contending Theories of GlobalCommunication (New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1993), 187. "Cook's Guns Blazing As He Denies Arms Plot By the FO." Daily Mail (13 May 1998), 6.Jacoby, J., and Hoyer, W. The Guardian, while taking a morebalanced approach in its coverage of the affair still may be accused ofsome bias, as the newspaper tended to be far more critical of the ThatcherGovernment on similar issues that it was of the Blair Government in theSierra Leone affair. [iii]Ibid., 114. "Controversy Flames Around Cook." Daily Mail (12 May 1998), 9.Hughes, D. White and R. The fourth point addresses any evidence ofpolitical bias or misreporting. "Revealed: Secrets of the Red Box." Daily Mail (12 May 1998), 8.Price, S. London: Pitman Publishing, 1993.White, M., and Norton-Taylor, R. "In Arms Sales It is not What Your Know That Counts but What You Do Not Know Than Counts." Guardian (13 May 1998), 5.Hughes, D. By contrast, The Guardian does not appear tohave engaged in any misreporting in relation to the Sierra Leone affair. Bias was much less evident in thecoverage of the affair in The Guardian. [xi]Ibid. "Cook Rebuffs Tories Over Arms to Africa." Guardian (13 May 1998), 2.----------------------- [i]R.
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