false truths

After researching a variety of areas within the broad topic of language, many directions were uncovered for further research and exploration. Within this, language manipulation was chosen as an area of interest as it is something that could affect all members of society. We set out to find who does the manipulation, how it is done and when it has been done before.
Our interest in the topic was sparked by Steven Poole‘s book Unspeak, which opened our eyes to a multitude of issues. We started to learn about words used to cover up a message or meaning; using the term ‘climate change’ instead of global warming, ‘ethnic cleansing’ instead of mass murder, and ‘waterboarding’ instead of partial drowning. This led us into other areas within the topic.
We were particularly interested in how people perceive language from figures of authority and what lead them to believe certain things. The ‘Children Overboard’ affair in 2001 is an example where language manipulation influenced the public to re-elect a government. The important thing we are discovering is that language manipulation can have massive consequences depending on the issue at hand.