happiful september 2021

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