Fiche de Révision – Anglais
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The Merchants of Chaos
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Type of document : Text
Source : Angels Flight
Date : 1999
Author : Michael CONNELLY
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I BOSCH’S POINT OF VIEW

* Rude expression (“fucking TV” l.22) * According to him, TV is a shaper / manipulator of public opinion. It incites people to riot. * TV is overreacting, as usual: He denounces this important fact. * He implies that troubles are often media-manufactured.

* Bosch has got a stereotyped point of view: He blames TV for the evils of the Society.

II CARLA’S OPINION

* She thinks that people are not so easily influenced, manipulated (l.33). ≠ Bosch’s opinion. * She tries to analyze the real reasons for the riot. * She has got an unambiguous / explicit opinion (l.35). * Bosch calls these events “riots”; Carla call these events “civil unrest”. * She doesn’t admit the cliché / stereotype. * Carla blames civil unrest on the society which ignores the minorities or even mistreats them. * According to her, minorities feel powerless and overlooked; They are hopeless and angry; So they become violent.

III WHY ARE THE RADIO & TV REPORTES SO DIFFERENT ?

* The main reason is mentioned on l.5 * Radio reports are more conservative / cautious, and less dramatic, because they read from a studio. * They are bound to be less spectacular and emotional than the live broadcast of TV news. * [A relier avec l’expression : “A picture is worth than a thousand words”] * On TV, spectacular events favor high ratings : The more the media focus on the spectacular the more they are likely to sell

CONCLUSION

* Because of competition, TV channels want to outdo each other, resulting in exaggeration and distortion. * Elia’s murder was the best straw; It triggered the riots. It