The contemporary world has evolved significantly as a result of collaboration. One crucial aspect that has helped to shape society today is the way in which we communicate as we undertake our duties. As a result, this has necessitated the incorporation of proper communication conventions to ensure harmony in the communication between an author and the reader. In today’s fast-paced society where information and intelligence have become the principal raw material for effective journalism, there is constant need to ensure that every journalist can entertain. Moreover, the journalist should keep the viewers glued to their posts and websites for both financial reasons and relevance in the industry.
The extent to which information is passed to the viewers is not only a significant area of concern to both scholars and professionals but also a factor that contributes to effective communication. This helps a lot in ensuring that consumers of information are satisfied. A lot of writing in leading news websites like the New York Times and CNN have elicited mixed reactions from their audiences as a result of deviation from the standard communication conventions. For instance, taking Meredith Artley in her article entitled “performance was our top story this month” on the CNN website. It is vivid to conclude that this form of deviation from the norms of communication is a voluntary measure that helps keep the viewers glued to their sites. This helps them to increase traffic in the website which has a corresponding rise in the revenue earned by the company.
Deviation from the norm
Competent use of language and communication is a powerful tool that helps maintain harmony among the intended audience. The article written by Meredith in a bid to explain why Miley Cyrus’s twerk performance in VMA was the top story has painted a bad picture of modern day journalism and has, in my opinion, disgraced the audience for which the writing was intended. This is because the author does not have any regard for the audience which is evidenced by the language used. Meredith Artley, who is the managing editor of CNN.com, clearly shows that she is not interested in the viewer but cares much about the success of her career and that of the company. She deliberately refers to the viewers of her post as idiots who are dumb and bored enough to read the article she wrote. She further goes ahead to refer to the content of the article as bullshit. The use of such language in communication can be viewed as insulting the reader and is potentially able to hinder effective communication between the parties involved
Public communication is intended not only to inform the audience but also to shape the course of humanity. Therefore, it is necessary that the author considers the viewer’s intention seriously. Meredith refers Miley's story as bullshit, and this shows that she does not care about it but still made it the main story amid more important news that the audience might want to hear. This in effect deviates the attention of the people from more important issues that need to be addressed and hence not an effective way of shaping the course of humanity.
Reason
Most of the today’s companies save for non-profit organizations have put so much concern on matters that only help to increase their profit margins. Driven by this desire Meredith Artley in the article explains why the Miley’s performance was the top story but does this in a very sarcastic manner. It is true to say that her reasons are genuine and that the explanation she gives is satisfactory, but there is some lack of sympathy with the readers of the article. Making the reader understand the reason behind the story does not necessitate the use of such language. Even though viewers understand that some information does not add value to them, it is however not important to keep reminding them of this fact.
The deviation from the conventions of communication has been used since time immemorial for a vast array of reasons. Most of these help to capture the reader’s attention and maintain rapport with the viewers and readers in general. Meredith uses this as a powerful tool to stimulate the readers thinking for them to understand the reason behind what takes place in modern day journalism. Despite her absurd use of language, the reader can get a clear picture of the reason as to why we keep visiting the news websites despite understanding that much of the content is useless to the reader and adds little value to the reader himself. Meredith’s use of language could seem insulting but, in essence, it is not. It categorically helps the reader to demean information posted on the website but make him understand the reason behind her actions. She can grab the bull by its horns by showing the viewers that their efforts of wanting kill boredom are what helps the company to run through moneys collected through advertising.
