World War one Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

World War one - Essay Example Ignoring this law, it is reported that more than 124 000 tons of gas had been produced by the time the First World War was ending2. By using gas bombs and any other chemical weapons, Germans clearly ignored the then laws of war. These are the ones that specifically prohibited the use of chemical weapons. The basis for supporting chemical warfare or supporting its abolition was founded on the ethical issues associated with that kind of war. Presenting a range of premises in support of the use of chemical weapons in World War I, interwar ethical arguments considered it time-friendly, humane as well as economical among other advantages. This essay will present the scenarios before, during and after World War I which illustrate the pros and cons of the employment of chemical warfare and the reasons why the German used it extensively in wars. Gas attacks were some of the feared attacks by the troops in the battle fields. Therefore signs of gas weapons such as artillery shells, which encased the gas, and prevailing wind, which accelerated the spreading of the gas, were dreaded by the troops in gas stricken zones3. The gas attacks used to be major offensive when they would be discharged in massive forms. Attacks using Lachrymatory gases would temporarily disable soldiers in trenches such that attacking them further would be easier. The lachrymatory gases affected the eyes by causing them to tear. There are other gases which were lethal such as chlorine and phosgene. These normally disabled the tissues of the respiratory system thus causing the victim to die. For instance, Mustard gas caused horrors to the victims and was one of the most dreaded chemical weapons. This was partly due to the long period of time it would remain on the ground after being discharged as well as its adverse effects to the victims. Inhaling the gas caused death to the victim. In addition, its other effects included causing of temporary blindness as well as making the

Ordinary Citizens mediated by professional journalists Essay

Ordinary Citizens mediated by professional journalists - Essay Example In this regard, the media plays a crucial linkage role between the social institutions through various genres and narrative styles. This paper will consider the purpose of a specific newspaper article as an example of media discourse to establish the kinds of institutional procedures and practices that may have influenced why the contents of the article may be deemed newsworthy. In addition to that, this paper will examine whether or not any of the article’s contents explicitly refer to the media’s role as a communication medium and how language style and specific instances of terminology have been used to convey the story, among other things. Section One The newspaper article that is under consideration due to its purpose as an example of Media discourse is by Calmes Jackie, and is titled â€Å"The First Lady Refuses to Let a Heckler Go Unscolded† (Calmes, 2013). This newspaper article appears in the New York Times Politics column of June 6, 2013; it is importan t to identify the source publication details of this article for cross reference purposes, to determine validity of the news item content in the source publication. ... inds of institutional procedures and practices; in this particular case, the newsworthiness of this article may have been influenced by the practical and financial concerns. Institutions are shaped by discourse, and they in turn have the capacity to create and impose discourses (Mayr, 2008); in this regard, it cannot always be guaranteed that the news media will be obliged to provide an impartial and balanced coverage of important social and political events that shape the global landscape. Like all other institutions, the news media’s attempt to create a universal image of impartiality and balanced news coverage is always constrained by practical and financial realities such as the need for sustained efficiency. For instance, the news media is often under pressure to increase revenue for shareholders; in this case, the profit motive determines the kinds of events that are considered newsworthy and because of this, newspapers have been accused in the past of trivializing impor tant issues (Reah, 1998). The news media procedures and practices eventually determine what news becomes, thus the news media only offers a partial view of the world that suits the interests of the socially and economically powerful (Bielsa and O’Donnell, n.d). The content of the article explicitly refers to the media’s role as a communication medium because it is deliberately structured by rhetoric and inclusive language that encompasses emotional and moral loading (Timucin, 2010), i.e. through scaffolding, or structuring of sentences and paragraphs to affect readers’ responses. Overall, the article mediates between meaning and socio-cultural reality, for instance, this article seeks to mediate reality by and through language (Talbot, 2007); such encoding is necessary for the purposes of