Assignment Two

The news media only provides us with representations of reality. These representations are constructed by media conglomerates to manipulate our views on society; politics, international relations and current affairs.
While the media is meant to be an objective source of information, it is important to remember that this information is filtered, watered down and often manipulated before reaching its audiences. After all, “one apprehends reality only through representations of reality... there is no such thing as unmediated access...” (Dyer 1993, p. 3, as cited byO'Shaughnessy & Stadler, 2005, p. p.77) This is done by ruling classes of society in order to ingrain dominant ideologies into cultural knowledge and thus maintain their governing status- the process of “hegemony”. The media both mirrors and shapes society- it is a “mechanism of mass control” (Flounders et al., 2000, p.89). The news, as an integral part of the media, does the same. Therefore it is important for us to remember that the image of our world shown by the media is only a portrayal, and not always objective or truthful.

“The media define for the majority of the population what significant events are taking place, but, also, they offer powerful interpretations of how to understand these events.” (Stuart Hall, 1978, p. 426)

In this quote, Hall states that media broadcasters, although providing important (newsworthy), accurate and up-to-date information to the public, are nevertheless filters through which we are shown a ‘mediated’ view of reality. With reference to photojournalism, the composition, subject matter and thematic content of a photograph can alter viewers’ perceptions of the news it accompanies. After all,

A picture can add context, explain what is happening, allow us to identify someone or allow us to classify someone or a group of people. It also allows us to see the non-verbal communication...in the picture and start to add our own meanings to what is happening. (Frost, 2001, p. 22)

The news, regardless of what medium it is received in, is not an accurate depiction of the world- it is only one representation of the truth. Photojournalism is one of the ways in which the media’s ‘representation’ of important events can be achieved. . By using sign systems and connotations strategically throughout the news, the media are able to alter our perceptions of reality.

This essay aims to support Hall’s claim regarding media representation and its influence on the population, with reference to an image captured by Rafiq Maqbool, a renowned photojournalist of Associated Press. By breaking down Maqbool’s image into signs and analysing how they represent the event the image denotes, it is clear that the news media controls the way we perceive the news by interpreting the information for us, then influencing our views in favour of their interpretations through usage of well-chosen photographs.

The photograph (Appendice 1) accompanied an article in the New York Daily News online on 25 November 2009, a day before the one-year anniversary of the Mumbai terrorist attacks. It depicts a recent image of the wall on the side of the Nariman House that had been subject to gunfire during the 60-hour Mumbai terrorist attack of 2008 (referred to as 26/11).

The wall in Maqbool’s image is riddled with bullet holes which have been circled in red by investigators to determine the types of ammunition used by the assailants. We can see that at least one bullet hole has been labelled (also red) “AK47”, denoting the type of automatic rifle that fired the shots. This connotes war, violence and bloodshed, as the name of the rifle evokes the horrific acts it was designed to commit.
The bullet holes in the photograph serve as a sign- they are immediately recognisable as such, and their presence signifies gunshots, which again connotes acts of violence and terrorism. They are ugly scars on a previously pristine wall; thus they carry connotations of battle wounds that serve as a reminder of the brutality of the 26/11 attacks.

The top third of the photograph denotes half of a sentence in Devanagari; the main script of Hindi and Marathi (the main languages of Mumbai). The inclusion of the Devanagari text, and subsequently New York Daily News’s decision to exclude the English part of the text (which is above the Devanagari) gives the image a patriotic theme. While New Yorkers would not know enough about Indian culture to know these details about the script, they would certainly recognise it as an Indian language and automatically perceive it as the “code” language of Indian citizens living in that part of the country.
The script has been painted in dark red- the remainder of the writing on the wall has been cropped off the photo to enhance its composition. The sentence as a whole translates to “WE CONDEMN THE 26-11-08 TERROR ATTACK.” The writing was to honour the memories of all those who were murdered inside the building and serve as a permanent reminder of the brutality of the attacks to the residents of Mumbai. In terms of the signs and signified, the part of the sentence visible in the image is a sign, which signifies the whole text that has been painted on the Nariman wall, of which footage has been aired worldwide and will thus be recognized by many.
The text is notably dark crimson, and carries startling connotations of human blood- almost as though it was painted with the blood of the victims of the tragedy. This evokes the gore, violence and bloodshed that took place, the number of lives cut short, and the brutality and remorselessness of those responsible.
The presence of the text on the wall is also a sign that can be understood in a broader social context. It is an epitaph, which in the Western world is commonly written on tombstones of the deceased. The use of the pronoun “WE” in the epitaph is also a sign; it signifies the dead speaking from beyond the grave to “...CONDEMN THE 26-11-08 TERROR ATTACK.” Therefore, the inscription connotes death, loss and grief.

Another element of the image is the man in dressed in dark beige standing on the left. While the Western world might not recognize his distinctive attire, he is clad in the standard uniform of police officers in India- a monochromatic ensemble comprising of a shirt, pants, and a police hat. He is of indeterminate age, but his build suggests that he is in his forties.

The policeman’s pose in this photograph is important; we can see a three-quarter view of his torso, but his face, tellingly, is turned away from the camera. We can see no definite features to set him apart from any other Indian police officer. His skin is on the darker side of brown, made to seem darker through the stark contrast of his colouring to the pale, neutral shade of the wall he is facing. His arms are held loosely behind his back in an informal gesture of respect, and he appears to be gazing at the cluster of bullet holes in the wall.

The Indian policeman is riddled with signs. His uniform is a sign- it represents the police force of India, or more specifically, Mumbai. Furthermore, his facelessness or lack of identity is a sign; rather than an individual policeman, his featurelessness makes him interchangeable with the fifteen Mumbai policemen and two National Security Guard commandos who were killed on duty during the Mumbai attacks (as cited in Indian victims, 2008). He represents the casualties among India’s security forces.

Also, the dark brown colour of his skin is a sign (alongside the distinctive colour of his uniform) that makes it clear that the policeman in Maqbool’s photograph is Indian. As such, he represents the nationality of Indians living all over the world, a race that is collectively in mourning for the tragedy suffered by the victims of the terror attacks, and the extensive damage to Mumbai’s iconic buildings- e.g. the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel and the Oberoi Trident Hotel.

Lastly, his pose represents the grief and trauma suffered by the loved ones of the departed. As he gazes at the battle scars on the memorial wall, he is clearly mourning India’s losses; perhaps even bitterly contemplating vengeance against those who wronged his country.

The dramatic use of the Nariman memorial wall as a backdrop gives Maqbool’s photograph a poignancy which would otherwise have been difficult to achieve a year after the event, without recycling images from the attacks. The newspaper article describes both the nationality of the terrorists responsible and the resulting hostility between India and Pakistan in objective terms- as a third party, without indicating blame or empathy. However, Maqbool’s photograph alongside adds a sympathetic dimension to the text. It constructs the Mumbai attacks as a national trauma for India- for the benefit of New Yorkers, the majority of whom would have witnessed the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the aftermath firsthand.

The choice of Maqbool’s image to accompany this article can be further explained by exploring its intertextuality, or context in other text or images. A photograph on Life.com, an American website depicts “a man griev[ing] at the World Trade Center site- September 11, 2006 in New York City.” (Appendice 2) He is leaning against the grate and appears to be blowing a kiss through it to the memorial site. Beside him is a flower he has stuck through the bars, a gesture that indicates grief and remembrance of the deceased. The similarity between this image and that of Maqbool’s is clear; they contain the same messages of mourning, loss and memory brought on by terrorism. Many such images are circulated in the U.S media on 9/11 every year, and thus the composition of this photograph would be familiar to Americans. By using Maqbool’s photograph, New York Daily News interprets India’s trauma for its readers by drawing a parallel to the 9/11 terrorist attack by using an Indian image that would conjure connotations of similar 9/11 memorial images. Thus, the newspaper ensured New Yorkers would empathize readily with India’s trauma, as the photograph, through the power of association, would remind them of the effects terrorism on their own city.

Significantly, the article accompanied by Maqbool’s photograph primarily discusses the Pakistani terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Taiba (cited as the party responsible for 26/11), and also, briefly, the continuing hostility between India and Pakistan. The headline image of the article depicts Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving assailant believed to be a member of Lashkar-e-Taiba. The photograph was taken during the Mumbai attacks; in it, Kasab swings an AK47 in chilling nonchalance as he prepares to shoot another civilian. In context of the newspaper article, the nameless Indian policeman in Maqbool’s image could be contemplating revenge; on Kasab and his accomplices, Lashkar-e-Taiba, or possibly even Pakistan as a country.

According to Hoskins, “new events enable the past to be represented in comparison with the present, as well as providing a frame- a particular way of viewing the present.” (2004, p. 14) Thus, the New York Daily News draws another parallel to 9/11 for its readers- America was so incensed by the attacks that the government reacted appropriately; they sent American troops into Iraq. According to Kitty, the characters depicted in articles have “roles to play in the telling of the journalistic tale.” (2005, p. 184) A popular theme is that of the showdown between the hero and the villain- the ‘victim’ is given traits that will glean sympathy from readers, while the villain is depicted as “do[ing] wrong for the wrong reasons”. (Kitty, 2005, p.184) By using two images that portray Pakistan as the attacker (Kasab, through his nationality, represents Pakistan) and India as the wronged victim (the grieving Indian police officer represents India), and by invoking connotations of the violence of the 26/11 terror attacks through the bullet holes and the condemning epitaph on the Nariman wall- combined with the connotations of strained Indo-Pakistani relations through extensive media coverage of past disputes- New York Daily News suggests, by using the power of representation, that the 26/11 attacks will result in ‘justifiable’ war between India and Pakistan.

Conclusively, this supports Hoskins’ (and indeed, Hall’s) statement concerning the media’s power of representation- 9/11 was used as a “frame” (Hoskins, 2004, p. 14) through which to interpret 26/11- the present events of the Mumbai terrorist attack are compared to the past events of the attack on New York City, thus representing 26/11 as a second 9/11 and implying that action taken in the near future by the India’s government will echo the decisions made by the American government in the past. It was in the interests of American media to represent India as the vengeful victim. Although this depiction is justifiable, the U.S had an ulterior motive; what Bidwai describes as eagerness to form a “strategic alliance” with India and Israel to battle terrorism. (2003, as cited in Chomsky, 2003, p. 160) This is seconded by Schechter, who states that the Indian Press has begun to parrot the Western Press in terms of reporting Pakistani perspectives during crises; since America maintains an anti-Pakistani stance, supporting India against Pakistan, especially regarding terrorism, is a strategic political manoeuvre, which manifests itself in U.S media. (2003, p. 112)
Therefore, through the use of photojournalism- namely the twin techniques of denotation and connotation, the media acts as the middleman between information and the world, filtering it so that our perceptions of events are not strictly accurate nor objective, but rather, how the dominant figureheads in society (and in this case, politics) want us to perceive them.

References

Chomsky, N. (2003). Hegemony or survival : America's quest for global dominance. Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin.

College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Massey University. (2010). 154.101 Introduction to media studies: Course material. Palmerston North, New Zealand: Hamad, H.

Flounders, S. (2000). The Achilles heel of media power: loss of credibility. In L. Foerstel (Ed.), War, lies and videotape: how media monopoly stifles truth (pp. 85-94). New York: International Action Center.

Frost, C. (2001). Reporting for journalists. London New York: Routledge.

Hall, S., et al. (1978). Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order. Houndsmill and London: Macmillan Education.

Hoskins, A. (2004). Televising war : from Vietnam to Iraq. London: Continuum.

Indian victims include financier, journalist, actor’s sister, police. (2008, November 30) CNN.com, Asia. Retrieved May 9, 2010, from http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/29/india.victims/index.html?iref=topnews

Kitty, A. (2005) Don't believe it! How lies become news. New York: the Disinformation Company Ltd.

O'Shaughnessy, M., & Stadler, J. (2005). Media and society : an introduction (3rd ed.). South Melbourne, Vic. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Schechter, D. (2003) Media wars: news at a time of terror. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Yaniv, O. (2009, November 25) Pakistan indicts seven for aiding Mumbai attacks on eve of one year anniversary of massacre in India. New York Daily News. Retrieved May 8, 2010, from http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2009/11/25/2009-11-25_pakistan_indicts_seven_for_aiding_mumbai_attacks_on_eve_of_one_year_anniversary_.html

Appendix
1. The photograph: Photojournalist: Rafiq Maqbool/Associated Press
Original caption: “A Mumbai police officer surveys the bullet-scarred wall on the street outside Nariman House, the Jewish center targeted by terrorists, one year after the attacks.”
Image obtained from the official website of the New York Daily News newspaper, from an article published on 25 November 2009.
Printed from http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/11/26/amd_mumbai_bullet_holes.jpg
Article: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2009/11/25/2009-11-25_pakistan_indicts_seven_for_aiding_mumbai_attacks_on_eve_of_one_year_anniversary_.html
Article headline: “Pakistan indicts seven for aiding Mumbai attacks on eve of one year anniversary of massacre in India”

2. Full text of the writing on the wall: The New York Daily News chose to crop Maqbool’s original photo (Appendice 1) in their published article. To analyse the image adequately in context, I have attached this image of the entire text written on the bullet-ridden wall of the Nariman House, Mumbai. Phonetically, the Marathi sentence reads: “Hum 26-11-08 ko huai athanki humlon ki nindha karthey hain.” Its meaning is a repeat of the English text above it, which says “We condemn the 26-11-08 terror attack.”
The image has been cropped to remove irrelevant subject matter.
Printed from http://viciousbabushka.typepad.com/.a/6a010536b72a74970b012875e47f00970c-800wi

3. Photograph from Life.com Photograph from Life.com. I have cited this image in my essay, comparing Rafiq Maqbool’s photo (Appendice 1) to this screenshot, and have included it for purposes of clarification.
Original caption: “Five Years Later, New York Remembers 9/11 Attacks
NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 11: A man grieves at the World Trade Center site- September 11, 2006 in New York City. Today is the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.”

Printed from http://www.life.com/image/71856689

4. Photograph of Kasab Ajmal: Photojournalist: D’Souza/Associated Press
Original caption: “A gunman stalks the halls at the Chatrapathi Sivaji Terminal railway station during the Nov. 2008 massacre in Mumbai, India.”
Image obtained from the official website of the New York Daily News newspaper, from an article published on 25 November 2009.
This photograph was used alongside the New York Daily News article my chosen image (Appendice 1) accompanied. It is mentioned briefly in my essay when I analyse Appendice 1 in relation to other images and text.
Printed from http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/11/26/alg_mumbai_gunman.jpg
Article: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2009/11/25/2009-11-25_pakistan_indicts_seven_for_aiding_mumbai_attacks_on_eve_of_one_year_anniversary_.html
Article headline: “Pakistan indicts seven for aiding Mumbai attacks on eve of one year anniversary of massacre in India”