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The article “Why not everyone is a torturer” by Stephen Reicher and Alex Haslam was published on the BBC News website on 10th of May, 2004.

BBC News was launched in 1997 and it is one of the most popular news websites in the UK; it also reaches around 14 million global readers every month. Considering that the article was published online, we can say that the article is aimed at readers who use the internet to inform themselves. The BBC News' target audience is readers in the UK but also global readers who are interested in news on current issues.

In their article, Stephen Reicher and Alex Haslam express their views on the phenomenon of torture, specifically on how people become torturers. The article is written for the community in general. The writers frequently use the pronouns “we” and “our” to express the fact that the human race is responsible for closely examining why torture occurs: “So how do we prevent these kinds of episodes?” (p. 192, l. 1); “We need an analysis that makes us accept rather than avoid our responsibilities.” (p. 192, ll. 24-25) )

The writers approach the subject from ...