Here is an example of the power of the written word. How it can shape public opinion and how it can trigger emotions.
The Star online on I March 2010 headlined a story as follows ‘Teoh could have been strangled, choked before death’.
Berita Harian on the same day for the same story headlined it as follows ‘Ahli patologi tak dapat pastikan Teoh dicekik’. Roughly translated, the Berita Harian headline says ‘The pathologist could not determine whether Teoh was strangled’.
It is very interesting how the same event can be reported so as to convey opposite meaning just by being clever and creative in the choice of words.
Actually both headlines say the same thing. But because the emphasis was on different angles to the story, the reader was presented with seemingly opposite viewpoints.
This reminded me of the description of the half-empty glass or the half-full glass.
Politicians are clever at this game of saying the same thing but conveying different meaning.
