The Power Of Words

Hello all,

I'm really quite fired up today by a current story in the paper concerning mental health. i'm specifically angry at the choice of headline '400 killed by mentally ill', or words to that effect chosen by a national broad sheet paper.

the headline was awfull drawing attention to misleading figures.
fair enough no murder is a good thing of course not! but to spowt off a figure without putting it into context of other findings was completely irresponsible!

because in fact the % of murders committed by those diagnosed as mentally ill is tiny in comparison to murders committed by those not diagnosed as mentally ill.

i think that the very choice of headline only acts to reinforce stereotypes and to misinform individuals future judgments of people who are mentally ill health on the basis of statistics that were portrayed in a sensationalist mannor published for no other purpose than to grab attention without consideration of consequence!

i just think that in such cases papers and the media must be recognise the power of words and the consequences that words chosen are likely to have!

has anyone else seen the press coverage of this? what do you think?

positive thought....

i'm going to see Morrissey 2moro! yey!!! gonna buy me glads n everythin!