An Activist Campaign - Article Example

MРАIGN АNАLYSIS ЕSSАY Name of Student Institution affiliation САMРАIGN АNАLYSIS ЕSSАY Introduction Writers and editors of online articles have embraced the art of exaggeration in order to create awareness or stir a buzz on an issue. This was perfectly brought out in an online article; “Medibank and NIB spruiking some of the worst “junk” private health insurance policies” written by Esther Nana. This article perfectly reveals the fine line between activist campaign and propaganda. This chosen article is, therefore, relevant since it will help us in distinguishing the difference between propaganda and activist campaign in our analysis this particular discourse. Through this analysis, we will eventually distinguish the difference between activist campaign and propaganda as we determine where particularly this discourse falls in among this two confusing categories (Towner & Dulio, 2011). This paper, therefore, seeks to determine whether the campaign analysis in the article is an activist campaign or propaganda. Literature review The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasises on the need of a good health insurance by claiming that yearly an estimated 150 million individuals globally go through financial catastrophe forcing them to spend more than 40% of the income on health care. (WHO Factsheet N°320, 2007).This explains why the author of the article; “Medibank and NIB spruiking some of the worst “junk” private health insurance policies” is attacking the policies of Medibank and NIB in their health policy provision programme. Asfaw, on the other hand, stresses that a good health insurance programme should have better policies focused on reducing the health expenses incurred by the covered individual (Asfaw, 2003). The author of the article, Esther Nana, in this case, criticizes the policies taken up by Medibank and NIB by claiming that they are ‘effectively useless.' She goes on to claim that these two health insurance providers have the worst ‘junk’ health insurance that is not different from those provided by the universal healthcare schemes. (Fihn and Wicher, 1988) also claim that the policies provided by the health insurance providers are what determines the health insurance seekers choice for health care insurance providers. He further emphasise that there is no need for one to go for a health care insurance providers who has policies that do not directly benefit them. Esther Nana, the articles author seconds this claim by arguing that the ‘Young Hospital' and 'Accident Only’ policies offered by Medibank and NIB are "effectively useless" since junk policies cover only 1 % of the available services in the healthcare centres. Findings I used the Herman-Chomsky Propaganda Model to determine and explain the media behavior that led to the publication of this article by Esther Nana. Evidently the author of the article is a consumer affairs editor; in this case, the Herman-Chomsky Propaganda Model suggests that she is subjected to institution pressures which might have influenced her to write the article. Therefore, we can claim that this article contains propaganda content in order for it to serve the interests of the established power. Herman-Chomsky Propaganda Model that includes five filters of discourse were used to determine whether this article is newsworthy or not (Noam C. and Edward Herman, 2002). In line with the Herman-Chomsky Propaganda Model, it was notable that the article discourse was reliant on “expert” provided information and that from official sources. Where Sussan Ley, the Federal Health Minister is quoted saying that private health insurance should do what the majority individuals, which in this case is taking pressure off the public hospital system”. On the other hand, the article also uses information from the Australian Medical Association. This, therefore, reveals that the article is reliant on these two sources of information that are singled out in the Herman-Chomsky Propaganda Model. However, this does not make it a propaganda discourse but newsworthy (Wu & Dahmen, 2010). This, therefore, leads to the findings that the article is an activist campaign. It takes place in Australia which is made up of a pluralist society. The activist campaign focuses on a negatively one-sided view where the author Ester Nana reveals how the “junk” private health insurance policies from Medibank and NIB are ineffective. The main aims of this particular activist campaign are to create awareness to the public on the ineffective and inefficiency of the private health insurance policies offered by Medibank and NIB. The author, in this case, does not recommend an alternative for the health insurance providers however her vigilance in criticizing the policies offered by these two health insurance providers suggests that might be an advertising strategy (Eitel & Delaney, 2004). The Australian Pluralist society was generally involved in this activist campaign, however, looking keenly into it the Australian Medical Association, Australian consumers, Australian Private Health Insurance providers, health funds lobby Private Healthcare Australia and Australian Medical providers are the directly involved parties in this activist campaign. Esther Nana, the articles author, uses the constructive criticism technique which is more direct and sentimental. Despite the fact that the author offers relevant, specific and objective the level of Semitism used in this criticism leads to questioning whether it is positively intended (Hwang, 2010). This is also brought out by the fact that the author does not offer an alternative private health insurance providers which individuals should opt for. Rather she focuses on revealing why they should not go for Medibank and NIB as private health insurance providers. In this case, the targeted party is the individuals seeking private health insurance and those that are yet to get this cover. This discourse used the The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald online Australian newspaper as the platform to reach its targeted audience. On the other hand, the internet is another platform used by this discourse considering that it was shared more than 1,600 times over the internet in the span of a week of publication. After an in-depth analysis of the discourse, one will notice that the discourse contains some sort of biases. The author’s one-sided view of Medibank and NIB as private health insurance providers is further evidence to justify this claim (Krupnikov & Bauer, 2013). The author, in this case, does not mention any positive attribute of these health insurance providers rather she only focuses on their negativity and disadvantages that private health insurance seekers incur when they opt for them. Discussion The campaign context was to taint the reputation of the Medibank and NIB though revealing how their policies were ineffective. This is perfectly revealed by the authors choice of words where she describes these policies as ‘effectively useless.' Her emphasis, in this case, reveals an aspect of disgust, disappointed which is strategically meant to influence the public’s choice of private health insurance providers. This, therefore, refutes the idea of this discourse being propaganda; it is more likely to be a persuasion where the author clearly seems to go out of her way to try to talk out the public from choosing Medibank and NIB as health insurance providers. The author has used stages in making this discourse effective. In the first stage, she begins the article by revealing other individuals opinion on Medibank and NIB as private health insurance providers. This is meant to blind the audience into believing that she is not the only one against these two insurance providers (Kam & Lee, 2013). In the second step the dives into the policies offered by these insurance providers where she singles out two policies; 'Accident Hospital Only' and Medibank's 'Accident only' which she terms as ‘effectively useless’. In the third stage, Esther Nana reveals the expenses incurred by individuals covered by these two insurance providers as she claims that there is relatively no difference between an individual who is not covered by any insurance providers and those covered by Medibank and NIB since in the long end they incur almost the same expenses. In the last stage, she quotes individuals who are also against these health insurance providers as she concludes by claiming that consumers should choose insurance providers with beneficial policies (Overby & Barth, 2009). This activist campaign as revealed is extremely effective. The strategies and approach taken up by the author in this particular discourse has grabbed the audience attention and convinced them that the Medibank and NIB are not suitable health insurance providers for them. The use of quotes from individuals for instance Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley and Australian Medical Association have provided concrete evidence to show that the authors claim are true. On the other hand the author’s use of statistics to reveal the expenses incurred by the covered parties and those not covered also provided convincing evidence to back up her claim (Peoples, 2013). It can, therefore, be claimed that this particular activist campaign was quite effective. This discourse can, therefore, be categorized as an activist campaign since the information provided by the author is backed up by concrete evidence. We can therefore not claim any alteration of information in the article; hence, this refutes the possibility of the discourse being containing any sort of propaganda. However, the fact that the author arguments are one sided opinions might suggest that these is propaganda in the article. This approach by the author is therefore claimed to be an activist campaign strategy in order to persuade the public effectively against considering the Medibank and NIB as health insurance providers. Conclusion Evidently we can see that activist campaigns embrace persuasion as a strategy to convince the audience of a particular discourse into believing something. Despite that fact that the pubic in this case might be persuaded to believe something that is not true does not mean that it stirs propaganda. In this case, due to the provision of substantial evidence, this refutes any possibility of this particular discourse falling into the propaganda category. Appendices Appendix: 1 Appendix:2 Appendix:3 Appendix:4 Appendix:5 Appendix:6 Appendix:7 Appendix:8 Appendix:9 Appendix:10 Appendix:11 Reference Eitel, T. & Delaney, B. (2004). THE ROLE OF FORMATIVE RESEARCH IN A MASS MEDIA SOCIAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN. Social Marketing Quarterly, 10(2), 28-33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15245000490484482 Hwang, Y. (2010). Social Diffusion of Campaign Effects: Campaign-Generated Interpersonal Communication as a Mediator of Antitobacco Campaign Effects. Communication Research, 39(1), 120-141. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0093650210389029 Kam, J. & Lee, C. (2013). Examining the Effects of Mass Media Campaign Exposure and Interpersonal Discussions on Youth's Drug Use: The Mediating Role of Visiting Pro-Drug Websites. Health Communication, 28(5), 473-485. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2012.699873 Krupnikov, Y. & Bauer, N. (2013). The Relationship Between Campaign Negativity, Gender and Campaign Context. Political Behavior, 36(1), 167-188. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11109-013-9221-9 Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman (2002) Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. Chapter 1: A Propaganda Model Overby, L. & Barth, J. (2009). The Media, the Medium, and Malaise: Assessing the Effects of Campaign Media Exposure with Panel Data. Mass Communication And Society, 12(3), 271-290. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15205430802461095 Peoples, C. (2013). Campaign Finance and Policymaking: PACs, Campaign Contributions, and Interest Group Influence in Congress. Sociology Compass, 7(11), 900-913. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12079 Seaton, J. (1988) “The Sociology of the Mass Media”, in J. Curran & J. Seaton, Power without Responsibility. The Press and Broadcasting in Britain, London: Routledge. Towner, T. & Dulio, D. (2011). An experiment of campaign effects during the YouTube election. New Media & Society, 13(4), 626-644. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461444810377917 Wu, H. & Dahmen, N. (2010). Web Sponsorship and Campaign Effects: Assessing the Difference Between Positive and Negative Web Sites. Journal Of Political Marketing, 9(4), 314-329. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15377857.2010.522454 . Read More

In line with the Herman-Chomsky Propaganda Model, it was notable that the article discourse was reliant on “expert” provided information and that from official sources. Where Sussan Ley, the Federal Health Minister is quoted saying that private health insurance should do what the majority individuals, which in this case is taking pressure off the public hospital system”. On the other hand, the article also uses information from the Australian Medical Association. This, therefore, reveals that the article is reliant on these two sources of information that are singled out in the Herman-Chomsky Propaganda Model.

However, this does not make it a propaganda discourse but newsworthy (Wu & Dahmen, 2010). This, therefore, leads to the findings that the article is an activist campaign. It takes place in Australia which is made up of a pluralist society. The activist campaign focuses on a negatively one-sided view where the author Ester Nana reveals how the “junk” private health insurance policies from Medibank and NIB are ineffective. The main aims of this particular activist campaign are to create awareness to the public on the ineffective and inefficiency of the private health insurance policies offered by Medibank and NIB.

The author, in this case, does not recommend an alternative for the health insurance providers however her vigilance in criticizing the policies offered by these two health insurance providers suggests that might be an advertising strategy (Eitel & Delaney, 2004). The Australian Pluralist society was generally involved in this activist campaign, however, looking keenly into it the Australian Medical Association, Australian consumers, Australian Private Health Insurance providers, health funds lobby Private Healthcare Australia and Australian Medical providers are the directly involved parties in this activist campaign.

Esther Nana, the articles author, uses the constructive criticism technique which is more direct and sentimental. Despite the fact that the author offers relevant, specific and objective the level of Semitism used in this criticism leads to questioning whether it is positively intended (Hwang, 2010). This is also brought out by the fact that the author does not offer an alternative private health insurance providers which individuals should opt for. Rather she focuses on revealing why they should not go for Medibank and NIB as private health insurance providers.

In this case, the targeted party is the individuals seeking private health insurance and those that are yet to get this cover. This discourse used the The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald online Australian newspaper as the platform to reach its targeted audience. On the other hand, the internet is another platform used by this discourse considering that it was shared more than 1,600 times over the internet in the span of a week of publication. After an in-depth analysis of the discourse, one will notice that the discourse contains some sort of biases.

The author’s one-sided view of Medibank and NIB as private health insurance providers is further evidence to justify this claim (Krupnikov & Bauer, 2013). The author, in this case, does not mention any positive attribute of these health insurance providers rather she only focuses on their negativity and disadvantages that private health insurance seekers incur when they opt for them. Discussion The campaign context was to taint the reputation of the Medibank and NIB though revealing how their policies were ineffective.

This is perfectly revealed by the authors choice of words where she describes these policies as ‘effectively useless.' Her emphasis, in this case, reveals an aspect of disgust, disappointed which is strategically meant to influence the public’s choice of private health insurance providers. This, therefore, refutes the idea of this discourse being propaganda; it is more likely to be a persuasion where the author clearly seems to go out of her way to try to talk out the public from choosing Medibank and NIB as health insurance providers.

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