ImmediacyA B C D E F G H IJKL M N O P R S T U VXYZWwith images of the good life; they play upon our
perceived needs (see hidden needs; maslow’s
hierarchy of needs). Image is also something
we present of ourselves – our best face, the way
we want the world to perceive us. Politicians
work at their images more than most, and these
are portrayed to fi t in with the image appropriate
to a public fi gure whose aim is to impress voters
by his/her qualities of leadership and trustwor-
thiness.
Sometimes we talk of a person whose image
has ‘slipped’, which seems to indicate a connec-
tion between image and performance (see
impression management) and that it relates
to an ideal. For the artist, whatever his/her
medium, imagery is central to expression. It is
a part of style and a key to the construction
of meaning. See metaphor. See also topic
guide under representation.
Image, rhetoric of In its contemporary use, the
word rhetoric is interchangeable with persua-
sion or propaganda; thus the rhetoric of the
image indicates the use of images as a means of
persuasion; of inculcation or reinforcement of
ideological positions. Th e power of the image is
employed, particularly in the news, to empower
the overt or covert message. Such images have
the eff ect of closing off , by their dramatic and
emotional nature, alternative ways of reporting
and interpreting realities.
IMAX Canadian fi lm-projection system developed
in the 1970s, notable for the vastness of its screen
for 70mm fi lm; installed in the UK in 1983 at
the National Museum of Photography, Film and
Television in Bradford, and later in London. See
omnimax.
Immediacy A prime news value in Western
newspaper, radio and television news-gathering
and presentation. At the centre of decision-
making and of news control is the time factor,
usually related to the daily cycle. In his article
‘Newsmen and their time machine’, in British
Journal of Sociology (September 1977), Philip
Schlesinger points out that in industrialized
societies an exceptional degree of precision
of timing is necessary in our working lives.
‘Especially noteworthy are those who operate
communication and transport systems ... News-
men ... are members of a stopwatch culture.’
Immediacy shapes and structures the approach
to news-gathering. Th e report of an event must
be as close to the event as possible, and ideally
the event should be reported as it happens;
the pure type of immediacy would be the live
broadcast. News, says Schlesinger, is ‘hot’ when
it is most immediate. ‘It is “cold”, and old, whensulated in the song Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best
Friend. Says Brown, ‘Such romantic ideology
positions young women in such a way that they
can easily decide to buy into the system.’ Most
feminist writers would argue that the ideology of
romance is coterminous with the notion of the
ideology of dependence.
Ideology of silence Th e belief, held chiefl y by
governments, that the best way of ‘getting things
done’ in, for example, attempts to win the release
of political prisoners or hostages, is through
secret, behind-the scenes diplomacy. Th e same
rule would apply in cases where one government
may feel obliged, perhaps through public pres-
sure, to protest to another country. Th e problem
in such cases is that there is no real proof that
a protest has been made and consequently no
evidence as to the nature of that proof.
In an article entitled ‘Against silence’ in Index
on Censorship (February 1987), Jacob Timer-
man, formerly a political prisoner in Argentina,
expands on the notion of the ideology of silence
and concludes that ‘the only way to solve prob-
lems of decency and civilization is to speak out’.
Idiolect An individual’s personal dialect which
incorporates the individual variations that exist
between people in their use of punctuation,
grammar, vocabulary and style. No two people
are likely to express themselves in exactly the
same way.
Idiot salutations See phatic language.
Image A likeness; a representation; a visualization.
Th e term can have several meanings depending
on the context in which it is used. It may refer to
a visual representation of reality such as is seen
in a photograph; it can also refer to a mental,
imaginative conception of an individual, event,
location or object as, for example, one conjures
up an image of a character in a novel. Th e image
does not merely reproduce, it interprets; it has
added to it certain meanings. Th e writer, artist,
architect, photographer and advertising image-
maker all use assemblies of signs in order to
represent or suggest states of mind, or abstrac-
tions. Van Dyck’s equestrian portrait of Charles
I portrays the monarch on a noble steed against
a background suff used with dramatic light. All
the details of this painting converge to create an
image of kingship, thus a process of symboliza-
tion has taken place.
The purpose of image-creation obviously
varies, but all images are devised in order to
evoke responses of one kind or another, usually
emotional. Images often serve as psychological
triggers eff ecting responses that are not always
easy to articulate. Advertisements regale us