Friday, May 21, 2004
Headline News
It's something that a lot of people never notice (especially not in the red states), but headlines lie. Or, at least, they distort. And, even as W is having his "troubles" over Abu Ghraib, Kerry stories are being twisted.
Case in point: As a possible campaign strategy, John Kerry may delay acceptance of the Democratic Party nomination until August, so that he will have the same length of time to spend without federal funding limits as will George Bush. Those are the simple facts of the story.
Here are three spun versions, two real and one invented. Drudge puts his headline/link this way: "Kerry considers delaying nomination to raise more $$..."
Now, what does that sound like to you? Hm. Money-hungry liberal is going to dictate what his party can do, all so he can get more cash. A bit disingenuous, at least. And note the subtle difference between "considers" and "may consider".
Second version, TV news division: at least two local news programs here have teased the Kerry story in this way, as a lead-in to commercial (paraphrasing): "...and, John Kerry may not accept the Democratic Party's nomination at their convention. Find out why next."
Yeah, sure. They can't give away the whole story, because they want people to come back, but the more honest version of this blurb would be, "Kerry may not accept nomination until a month after the convention." Again, a subtle difference. The not-so-bright viewer might hear the tease, thinks it the news and never come back for the story, and wind up thinking that Kerry is dropping out already.
And to show you that the spin can work both ways (but almost never does, because the "liberal media" is a myth), here's the liberal version of the headline: "Excessive Bush Campaign Spending Could Delay Kerry Nomination by a Month." Like the other headlines, technically true, but also patently false.
Keep this in mind in the coming days as more revelations come out of Iraq, more Administration blunders backfire on them, more shit hits the fan. Ignore the headlines completely, read the stories carefully. You'll often find them, in the mainstream American media, to be two very different things.
Case in point: As a possible campaign strategy, John Kerry may delay acceptance of the Democratic Party nomination until August, so that he will have the same length of time to spend without federal funding limits as will George Bush. Those are the simple facts of the story.
Here are three spun versions, two real and one invented. Drudge puts his headline/link this way: "Kerry considers delaying nomination to raise more $$..."
Now, what does that sound like to you? Hm. Money-hungry liberal is going to dictate what his party can do, all so he can get more cash. A bit disingenuous, at least. And note the subtle difference between "considers" and "may consider".
Second version, TV news division: at least two local news programs here have teased the Kerry story in this way, as a lead-in to commercial (paraphrasing): "...and, John Kerry may not accept the Democratic Party's nomination at their convention. Find out why next."
Yeah, sure. They can't give away the whole story, because they want people to come back, but the more honest version of this blurb would be, "Kerry may not accept nomination until a month after the convention." Again, a subtle difference. The not-so-bright viewer might hear the tease, thinks it the news and never come back for the story, and wind up thinking that Kerry is dropping out already.
And to show you that the spin can work both ways (but almost never does, because the "liberal media" is a myth), here's the liberal version of the headline: "Excessive Bush Campaign Spending Could Delay Kerry Nomination by a Month." Like the other headlines, technically true, but also patently false.
Keep this in mind in the coming days as more revelations come out of Iraq, more Administration blunders backfire on them, more shit hits the fan. Ignore the headlines completely, read the stories carefully. You'll often find them, in the mainstream American media, to be two very different things.
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