Human being a social being; He is curious and wants to know what is going on in the world, in his own society. Therefore, the language of the media and the way it delivers the news are very important in these vehicles that heavily affect our mental health. It can lead them out of individuality and into society. Many factors such as the duration of the news, the images used, and the language used determine the direction in which we will be affected.
Fearing/encouraging us from time to time; Let's take a closer and more detailed look at how the language of the media, which motivates us / causes us to be cornered, affects us negatively, and what we can do to minimize these effects.
1. Intense empathy can be established
Violence, harassment, disaster, etc., which are given in great detail in mass media. news can cause secondary trauma in people. In secondary trauma, the person is not directly exposed to an event, but he/she has feelings as if he/she has experienced the event with the things he/she sees and develops reactions in that direction.
In the media; As the detailed flow of the negative event experienced, the images of the exposed person, the relationship between the offender and the exposed person and similar things are detailed, the rate of this trauma will increase and the person will have similar feelings and thoughts as if they had experienced it by empathizing with the exposed person.
2. Our traumas can be triggered
We may also have traumas due to events that we are directly exposed to or that a relative of ours has been exposed to.
Maybe more recent ones maybe our traumas that are still in the recovery phase can be triggered by the news given as I mentioned above and cause us to live more intensely or to return to the beginning as we progress.
3. It can legitimize violence and support people with a tendency to violence
We have become similar The details given in these two images, which are too many, are; readers create the perception that there may be reasons for violence for the audience.
The emphasis on "staying in the same house" can create a perception as if the victim/killer is guilty rather than blamed on the suspect/murderer. Or, as in the other example, the sentence "He cheated on me" can place the thought that there may be justifiable reasons for this murder to be committed. Unfortunately, these news, which draws perception to very different points by focusing, can legitimize the violence that has been experienced and will be experienced. In addition, a person who has experienced a similar incident -who was deceived by his partner- may have the thought that what he should do is to use violence or even kill his partner, or a person who is already committing violence can justify what he did because of the news given in this way.
4. It can weaken social bonds
We are more or less connected to the society in which we were born, grew up and continue to live.
We need to give to society There are certain things that we believe and expect to receive from society, these are personal things that can change for everyone. The traumatic news, which increases day by day, weakens our trust and belief in the society and weakens the bond between us and the society. and this will unfortunately cause disconnections.
What Can Be Done?
- Media organizations should pay attention to the news value of the event.
- Studies should be carried out considering that people of all ages will be exposed to the news. Care must be taken.
- Disaster, terror, attack, harassment etc. In incidents, the privacy of individuals should be considered, and abuse of people exposed to them should be avoided.
- Travm Attention should be paid to the language chosen in the news. p>
- In addition to these, it is important for the viewers to be conscious and not expose themselves to news that they know may affect them, and to report their complaints to the necessary places when they realize that harmful news is being published.
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