Analyzing the Psychological Dimensions of Normalization in BBC's News Channel through Semiotic Analysis

Abstract

This academic study aims to explore the psychological aspects of normalization within the context of the BBC's news channel. Specifically, it employs semiotic analysis to examine the ways in which psychological factors contribute to the process of normalizing certain narratives, discourses, and ideologies within the news content presented by the BBC. Readers are in need to get acquainted with a number of ways for making sense of reading visual imagery. To build meaning, a wide range of semiotic resources have been employed, so visual meaning systems provide a variety of tools and opportunities for meaning creation. The present study deals with the concept of normalization in a semiotic track. It involves selected political news reports from BBC's website channel. It also documents the visual analysis of the presented images within the reports that focus on normalization between Israel and Arabs. So, this study aims at investigating the following concerning normalization in BBC selected news channels' images: the type of gaze that is mostly prevailed in BBC's presented participants images, the widely used social distance between the presented participants and the viewers in BBC's reports that deal with normalization, the main indication of the mostly used angle in BBC's reports images, the dominant colours utilized in BBC's reports regarding normalization and the way the presented participants  are placed according to new-given structures. By conducting a semiotic analysis of the BBC's news channel, this study seeks to uncover the psychological factors at play in the process of normalization within their news programming. It aims to offer a nuanced understanding of how the selection, framing, and presentation of news stories contribute to shaping public perception and the acceptance of certain ideas or values. Ultimately, this research provides insights into the complex interplay between media, psychology, and the construction of societal norms.

Keywords: Normalization ,Semiotics, BBC, Visual