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What is media<br />
gaslighting?<br />
Are we victims of this sinister form of manipulation? With the help of a<br />
life coach, we explore how to spot and stamp out media gaslighting<br />
Writing | Katie Hoare Illustrating | Rosan Magar<br />
Have you ever found<br />
yourself confused<br />
by guidance from a<br />
newspaper? Listened<br />
to a politician continuously<br />
deny a fact when science says<br />
otherwise? Read a news story<br />
with scary health facts that don’t<br />
add up elsewhere?<br />
This type of reporting actually<br />
has a name: media gaslighting.<br />
Gaslighting is a form of<br />
psychological manipulation<br />
that seeks to sow seeds of doubt<br />
in a person’s mind, making<br />
them question their own<br />
reality, memory, or beliefs. A<br />
gaslighter aims to gain control<br />
over another person, group, or<br />
nation by trying to convince them<br />
they’re wrong, reinforcing their<br />
preferred narrative by repetition,<br />
regardless of fact.<br />
“The term is derived from<br />
the play Gaslight (1938) which<br />
features a husband’s systematic<br />
psychological manipulation of<br />
his wife,” says Nikki Emerton, a<br />
life coach and hypnotherapist.<br />
“This eventually leads to her<br />
questioning her own sanity.”<br />
So how does this translate to the<br />
media? “In media and societal<br />
terms, ‘gaslighting’ may be seen as<br />
propaganda, indoctrination, or mass<br />
brainwashing. Telling people what<br />
to think to fit in. Creating a ‘gang<br />
culture’ so that if you want to ‘fit in’<br />
and be part of the gang, you must<br />
think a certain way, no matter how<br />
inaccurate it is,” Nikki explains.<br />
It isn’t just about spreading<br />
misinformation, but extends to<br />
the deliberate act of attempting<br />
to rewrite the narrative to control<br />
public opinion, and refusing to<br />
acknowledge information that<br />
tarnishes said narrative.<br />
Classic examples of media<br />
gaslighting include the portrayal of<br />
vulnerable women. When Britney<br />
Spears, Paris Hilton, and Lindsay<br />
Lohan came into the limelight,<br />
social media didn’t exist, they didn’t<br />
get to choose how they wanted to<br />
present to the world. The paparazzi<br />
made the choice for them, and the<br />
media ran with that persona.<br />
For Britney, that persona<br />
involved a sexualised childhood,<br />
vilification when she embraced that<br />
sexualisation, and her public mental<br />
health deterioration. Lindsay was<br />
heralded as a child star before being<br />
blacklisted by Hollywood, as we<br />
witnessed her multiple mugshots<br />
being bandied around. In other<br />
words, their only narrative was one<br />
of damaged goods.<br />
Doctors and scientists are<br />
often also at the mercy of media<br />
gaslighting when they offer an<br />
alternative opinion or fact that<br />
doesn’t fit with mainstream media.<br />
They’re vilified, dismissed as<br />
‘radical’, and even their level of<br />
stability comes into question.<br />
So with never-ending scope to<br />
distribute ‘fake news’, how do you<br />
sort fact from fiction?<br />
How to spot gaslighting<br />
in the media<br />
Nikki shares five ways you can<br />
identify when the media is using<br />
gaslighting techniques to tell the<br />
desired narrative...<br />
14 | September <strong>2021</strong> | <strong>happiful</strong>.com