Abstract
In Morocco, public service announcement is a complex field in which various linguistic practices and semiotic representations collide. Hence, the aim of the present work is to demystify the misalignment between language and visuals in the public service announcement in a video on the protection of the environment, namely towards forests. This study adopts a discourse and a visual analysis to clarify the extent to which the interpretation of the announcement leas to misunderstanding and causes a lot of ambiguity. The study also shows that the trees and forests are linguistically reported as feminine constructs while the visuals portrayed them as masculine constructs. This article has a lot of implications for public institutions, advertising companies, and future researchers whose efforts are required to reconsider the pendulum between the linguistic and the visual in public announcements so as to effectively raise people’s awareness towards environmental issues.
Highlights
Public service announcements (PSAs) aim to influence the general public in order to bring social change by informing and educating: “[they] trigger a sort of mediatic contagion”Jurnal Pengajian Media Malaysia / Malaysian Journal of Media Studies (Peverini, 2014, p. 220)
In the present study we argue that this function is still in force, since the confinement of women to particular roles in Moroccan advertising and public announcements remains a cultural stereotype that restricts the treatment of critical social issues to men
What is unusual with this PSA is the misalignment of the visual and the narrative
Summary
Public service announcements (PSAs) aim to influence the general public in order to bring social change by informing and educating: “[they] trigger a sort of mediatic contagion”Jurnal Pengajian Media Malaysia / Malaysian Journal of Media Studies (Peverini, 2014, p. 220). Public service announcements (PSAs) aim to influence the general public in order to bring social change by informing and educating: “[they] trigger a sort of mediatic contagion”. Deforestation, degradation, and pollution of forests are challenges and threats that preoccupy Moroccan officials, the High Commissioner for Water and Forests and the Fight against Desertification (HCWFFD). While forests are negatively exploited, strategies to combat against negative human behaviors are implemented by the HCWFFD to sensitize the public to preserve the national heritage. To achieve this , HCWFFD launches many public campaigns via PSAs to reinforce public awareness to the importance of trees and forests
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