Reflection

Introduction

George Orwell’s essay, "Politics and the English Language," criticizes the "ugly and inaccurate" English grammar written during his time whereby he examines the connection between the debasement of language and the political orthodoxies of the period. Orwell focuses on the political language, which, according to the author, is designed to feed the audience follicles which appear as truths. Particularly, the same issue that Orwell was concerned about is taking place in our media outlets and more so in contemporary newspapers. Since whatever is written in newspapers can be referenced accurately later on, it is possible to pinpoint the inaccurate and ugly use of English language in newspapers. This paper analyzes and expounds on how Orwell’s ideas in politics and the English language connect to what is in the media today, especially with an emphasis on the similarity between his ideas and the contemporary newspaper media.

Discussion

Through critical analysis, one can decipher similarities between Orwell’s ideas and the contemporary media, especially the newspaper media outlet. Some of these similarities encompass the use of the rotting language expostulated upon by Orwell. It is also prudent to ascertain that some of the similarities surpass the realm of bad language use to encompass the contemporary schools of thoughts encapsulated in the media industry, particularly the print industry which encompasses the newspapers. Some of these similarities are as discussed herein.

First, the newspaper industry has been taking part in the use of bad grammar (Wilkin 114). This is one of the factors that Orwell seems to be incensed about when he picks up five passages which illustrate various mental vices which his society was suffering from. In this case, it is observed that the print media, especially newspapers, are no longer careful with the use of correct grammar when conveying their messages. Just like the stipulations of Orwell, contemporary newspaper messages lack the basic aesthetics of the English language, imagery, and are without any precision. According to research done by Schwarz, contemporary newspapers have disregarded the use of precise, concise, and correct grammar when reporting their messages (144). Examples of some of the phrases used by contemporary newspapers include headings such as ‘David Cameron to address parliament today in the evening after touring Edinburg palace where he will have a talk with the queen before proceeding to parliament’ is an example which is noted by Wilkin in his exploration on the poor grammar used by contemporary newspapers (144). In this case, even an untrained eye can point out that this heading is redundant and is not concise. This is shown by the repetition of the issue of going to parliament twice in the same sentence, yet these are some of the headings which grace our newspapers. It is, therefore, important to regulate the quality of the content released to the public.

Secondly, the use of derogatory language and the newspaper media being aligned with politics is an aspect which connects to the scenarios which Orwell was against. In contemporary society, it is evident that most media outlets, especially the print industry, have been compromised by politics. In this case, when a reader is going through the newspapers, it is common to come across articles which appear to encompass a critical analysis of a given situation yet when one reads them, the content comprises the opinions of a certain politician. This has been a common occurrence, particularly during critical issues such as the discussion of Brexit or the war between North Korea and the U.S. (Schwarz 144). In this case, instead of the media reporting concretely on what is happening, most of what is printed encompasses the perceptions of the individuals in power. Moreover, since the voices behind such articles encompass little adherence to authentic and correct English grammar, it is possible to come across fallacies which masquerade as truths which should be taken as the absolute facts about a given topic.

The third similarity encompasses the use of meaningless words by the media (Meyers 144). When analyzing the five passages chosen by Orwell in Politics and the English Language, one cannot pinpoint the serious violation of English grammar at a glance. However, over an in-depth study, one can decipher the validity of Orwell's argument. Essentially, Orwell suggests that contemporary writers lack motivation and innovation hence they employ the use of worn-out metaphors instead of imagining their own. Some resort to using Greek and Latin phrases in an attempt to sound impressive. Some of the words which are carelessly used in the print media include phrases such as ‘mutatis mutandis’ which refers to a comparison between two situations (Wilkin 114). This approach has led to vagueness in the newspaper industry since writers are prone to use meaningless idioms to save on mental energy. This has led to a scenario whereby the writers only memorize the writing styles previously used by other writers and simply regurgitating the messages. Consequently, the writers have become writing robots through reproducing what has been said but with a minuscule touch of altercations. Lastly, the use of area-specific terminologies such as slang in newspapers is also a factor which lowers the quality of the language being used to pass information to the reader.

Fourthly, the use of euphemism when reporting on political messages by the print media waters down the message which is being passed (Meyers 144). As noted by Orwell, contemporary writers seem to use euphemism to blur the message that they strive to pass to the readers. In this case, it is possible to find a popular newspaper reporting that the behavior of a certain politician is “impolite” instead of stating that the politician’s behavior is “appalling” (Wilkin 114). This approach is often undertaken to safeguard the reputation of the respective politician. Hence, it can be ascertained that newspapers have developed the habit of politely calling a spade a“big spoon" to safeguard the reputation of some few individuals (Lemann 34). This scenario connects to Orwell’s observation of how politics had worn down the quality of language use, especially in the public arena encompassed by various media outlets.

Conclusion

From the above expostulation, it can be ascertained that there are similarities between what is being done in the newspaper media and the ideologies that were postulated by Orwell. The main similarities encompass the use of bad grammar by newspapers, derogatory language, the use of meaningless words by the media, and the use of euphemism when reporting on political messages. Moreover, with careful observation, a reader and a listener can detect the common ways through which the quality of language is being lowered due to lack of imagination among writers and speakers as postulated by Orwell. Therefore, through a critical analysis of the essay, one can juxtapose the current media and Orwell's stipulations and hence figure out the similarities. These similarities can help in addressing the language decay in contemporary societies and hence restore the glory of the spoken and written English language.

Works Cited