Negotiating the concept of offence is like walking a greasy tightrope for the media. What offends one person can delight another, which is why the national newspapers – in theory, at least – are written for different readerships.
Earlier this week, the Daily Mail (so often ridiculed for its frenzy-whipping) published an attack against media scaremongering. As well as being astonishingly ironic, it suggested that as well as being scared of everything we ought also to be scared of being scared.
The same paper has made an art form of being offended. Who else could have engineered Sachsgate? Or published film reviews where the reviewer is too pre-emptively offended to go watch the film?
Aside from selling more newspapers, offence on a large scale often leads to action. After Sachsgate, Jonathan Ross was suspended and Russell Brand resigned from the BBC. During the Celebrity Big Brother race row, Carphone Warehouse pulled its sponsorship of the show. But the effects of offence can also cause offence, and sometimes this comes full circle.
Today, the Mail reported on how the UK police can wear Union Flag badges after they were originally deemed offensive. Again, the commenters fail to consider the subjectivity of offence:
So there we have it. This week, we're told to be afraid of being afraid. And now, it's time to be offended by others’ offence.
Nadia Saint has written for titles including the New Statesman, and is a member of the creative team at LEWIS PR. She also blogs at www.lewis360.com.
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