A few turns of phrase
Its funny how explicitly the media defines our world. Even when we think we are immune to its influence we are influenced. I’ll give you a few examples.
Anytime I hear anything about the Abortion holocaust (although they call it a debate, deadliest debate in history I’d reckon) the sides are labeled as follows:
1. Pro Choice, as in “Ms. Mankiller, a Pro Choice advocate, spoke at yesterday’s rally.” Fine. I have no problem with that. Those folks want to emphasize the positive right? They’re not anti-life or pro-murder, they’re Pro Choice. Everyone like to choose, right?
2. Anti-abortion, as in “Reverend Smith, an anti-abortion protestor, lead the group in a march across town.” Wait, what? Anti-abortion? Well, sure we are against abortion, but not for any arbitrary reason. We are Pro-Life. That is how we describe ourselves. For life. Accentuanting the positive, see? Just like the other side. Did you notice the other slur? The good Rev. is a protester, not an advocate, or even a leader. The reporter, who likely has a very low opinion of Rev. Smith and his ilk, has used the report to influence the listeners.
I say listeners because I listen to NPR and they do this all the time.
http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1851368
http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1907667
Now I know there are those who embrace the AntiAbortion label. However, when I google Antiabortion almost every hit is a Pro-choice slanted site.
