Media Running A Muk

A letter to the editor is a letter sent to a newspaper, usually focusing on current issues of concern within society. Letters intended for publication and are usually between 150 to 300 words. The Australian, for example, has a readership of over 3 million, mainly consisting of males in their late 30s. They write to a reading standard of a 12-year-old compared to tabloid publications for example The Advertiser aimed at a reading age of 8. My letter to the editor uses reasonably sophisticated language and so would be featured in newspapers such as The Australian. The Pokemon Go topic would pique reader's interest as this app has been mentioned on all forms of media and therefore would want to know what the younger generation are doing with technology.

This is the first thing the readers will see that grabs their attention. By using the word Muk the readers who understand the reference will be enticed to read on to see what the letter opines; people who do not understand the reference will, due to the odd spelling and they may be tempted to give it a glance.

The purpose of my letter was to express my opinion on the media and also reveal the contradictions I have noticed with their stories and ideologies. Due to the relevance of the issue, I chose to take a unique and controversial stand opposing what is commonly presented in the media and other letters. The most common viewpoint observed is slanderous and ignorant rants about how people could or have been injured by the game. By highlighting how the media uses fear and uncertainty to create sensational headlines, I wanted the readers to reconsider everything they heard about the situation.

To further enhance my commentary, I used diction such as “demonised”, “regime” and “onslaught”, these all have connotations of war and oppression. I also used sarcasm such as “‘social experiments’” as a way to identify how ridiculous something seems if taken from a different perspective. This expresses to readers that the media is trying to control people's opinions and they need to start assessing situations

I opened with a declarative statement and then went into its explanation. I mentioned the research the media claimed to have used, then mocked “‘social experiments’” and incompetence in choosing such poor sources. I also talked about how the implications they are imposing restrict children’s ability to go outside. To the older audience, this would seem ludicrous as there has been issues, controversy about children not spending enough time outside.

The concluding paragraph utilises the repetition of keywords such as “hypocrisy” and “confusing” to further bolster my point that the media only has profit on their agenda. I cement my point of view and the final exclamatory sentence “People demand real news and they should get it!” should convince and enlist readers.

My letter opened with an introductory paragraph with a clear opinion. Then I used a varying range of sentence lengths throughout to engage the reader's attention. The second main paragraph exposed the media's capitalist values, by revealing their sources as frauds. The concluding paragraph summarises the key points made throughout the other paragraphs. This cements my point of view and further enforces the idea that the newspapers try to control people's