ARAB AND THE BRITISH MEDIA

Arab and the British media are ''linguistically significant and different'' making the two medias distinct



Arab and the British media are ''linguistically significant and different'' making the two medias distinct

Aspects Both Medias and Linguistically Distinct

Telecommunications and news agencies, the two other areas of mass communications, differ from them in a number of ways, but the boundaries are being blurred by modern, especially digital, information technologies. Important characteristics that they all share are the unidirectionality of the information flow from a source to a target and the constraints they impose on feedback. Broadcast and print media have developed response channels, which differ in kind, immediacy, and effect as a result of the technology they are based on. They are often referred to as news media since they normally carry news, current affairs, and sports. But news need not be a defining criterion as music, film, or weather channels show. Although they will be ignored, one should add that the linguistic effects of entertainment media may surpass those of the informational and educational media and may further endanger aid endangered languages.

Before turning to linguistic aspects, one must emphasize the fact that they are (sociopolitical) institutions with, as a special characteristic that emanates from their purpose, developed mechanisms for the flow, categorization and packaging of information, and a history of professionalism. In terms of communicational function, they can thus be defined as domains whose goal it is to make content public, accessible to debate. But they are better referred to as hyperdomains since all domains, e.g. politics, law, business, lifestyle, are providers of content. Their sociopolitical role, especially their relationship with sources, and their impact on audiences remain controversial. What is clear is that they are not mere transmitters of information; they may indeed have a symbiotic relationship with sources (e.g. in sport). Minimally, they should be called co-orchestrators of what is 'in the air' in the public arena.

Turning to language, co-orchestration means that the media collect, select, manipulate, shape content, and create a packaged, marketable product that is recognizable to large audiences and helps maintain a media outlet's audience share. Language is the central, but not the only, component in these processes, the others being visuals, film, sound effects, presentation, and layout. The linguistic concept of register has been used to describe such differences as they were seen to emanate from a particular configuration of situational features or context-of-situation. Early definitions of this term highlighted lexicogrammatical features or clusters of co-occurring features. Recent ones define it in terms of semantic potentials, the typical meanings expressed in such contents, and the typical linguistic expressions used to do that end. Expressions range from text or discourse properties to features of pronunciation. Such a wide definition is to better able to capture the diverse means of expression that are used in restricted reported domains to shape content and to express underlying ideological stances.

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