Entry #3 Slanted Reporting

In our society, when people tell a story or write a report, they tend to not include everything into it. Even when companies try to sell a product to you, they don’t tell you everything. The main reason this occurs is because they want to say things that will appeal to a certain audience or themselves, creating an opinionated perspective. I’ve noticed slanted reporting a lot in the makeup industry recently.  

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As someone who wears makeup almost everyday, it’s important for me to not believe everything I see. For instance, L'oreal Paris came out with a new mascara called “Telescopic Lift Mascara”. It seems like a good product based on the ad but there were a few things I observed that seemed slanted. Word choice plays a significant role when it comes to slanted reporting. Throughout the ad, they were using words/phrases to speak highly of the product such as “Lift your lashes to the next level” and “We’re worth it”. Even on the packaging, we can see how word choice plays a part in slanted reporting. In addition, they show a before and after of how the mascara looks on a model. The thing they don't show is the application process which is what can make a mascara a hit or miss. 

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Overall though, the ad makes me believe it is a good product to invest in but I’m definitely going to take someone else’s word for it before doing so. Sometimes it is hard to believe a company because their purpose is to make the product look good but that’s not always the case after you buy it. I can tell L’oreal Paris is trying to inform people about how effective their mascara is and what it does when it’s applied on. As well as saying they are worth your money. From an audience perspective, it will most likely influence people to buy the product but it’s not that credible since they are using models and not ordinary people in the commercial. 

To conclude, we need to understand that everything we see or read may be slanted based on our wants and desires. Yes, commercials can talk about what they claim to be true but should instead discuss facts. Which is why it is important to fully comprehend what they’re really trying to say.