From: pjm@anegada.sps.mot.com (Patrick J. McGuinness)
Subject: Re: Media bias
Organization: Motorola Inc., Austin TX
Distribution: usa
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1992 00:25:16 GMT

In article <1992Jul25.004904.1879@umbc3.umbc.edu> alex@umbc5.umbc.edu (Alex S. Crain) writes:
>In article <JMC.92Jul24143436@SAIL.Stanford.EDU> jmc@cs.Stanford.EDU writes:
>>Here are some opening paragraphs of Clarinet U.P. stories of the last
>>few days.  I have inserted *s to mark some of the places where I think
>>Chip Switzer's grumbles about bias are confirmed.
>
>>	     GARFIELD, N.J. (UPI) -- President Bush, *virtually
>>     ignoring the recession*, attempted Tuesday to push the
>>     Democratic Party off its centrist platform,
>
>	This is an entirely valid point, *if* the recession has been
>the topic for awhile. This statement implies that a change of course
>has been made by the president.

Nope. It asserts that he is ignoring a thing, the recession, not an issue.
Otherwise it should have said:
"Bush, ignoring economic issues in the campaign, portrayed the Democratic
party platform as non-centrist [on social issues]."

Note the "attempted to" in the UPI sentence. The implication is a failed
attempt, (else why not say 'knocked them off' directly), so the sentence
lends subtle credence to the claim of the Democrats that their platform
is centrist -- without (at this point) even addressing the issues
Bush actually raised.

So there are 2 unfounded and unnecessary assertions in the lead sentence:
a) the recession exists.
b) The Democratic party has a centrist platform.

Fascinating how this resonates with what the Clinton campaign wnats
you to hear.

a) Has been discussed in other threads: with 2.5% growth in Q192, and
1.5% growth in Q292, we are in slow/moderate growth, not recession.
b) No doubt the "trojan horse" platform will be discussed, but
centrist wouldn't be my description, and wasn't George McGovern's.

>This sort of reference is made whenever
>a campaign is perceived as changing direction.

Perhaps then you can find the reference that said:
"Clinton, ignoring his evasions on his avoiding the draft,
attempted to knock the Republicans off their pro-family and economic
reform platform."

>>	     GARFIELD, N.J. (UPI) -- President Bush made a direct
>>     appeal Tuesday for the support of so-called Reagan
>>     Democrats, *touting* his achievement in ending the Cold War
>
>'touting' is used correctly here, and is used fairly regularly in the print
>media, probably as a result of the Word-Perfect Thesaurus. I saw it used
>during the democratic convention, when somebody was blowingtheir own horn.

*Cite* would be the correct word. "Tout", says Webster's, means
"praise or publicize loudly or extravangantly". As such it is a charged
word, with implied extravagance in the claims. You might believe that
Bush is being extravagant, but the journalist shouldn't make that
judgment for you.
Off subject, journalistic pet peeve - the use of "so-called"; it's only
"so-called" because journalists calle them that, so just use the word,
or if not appropriate, don't. 

>>	     WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The administration, facing
>>     continuing defiance from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein,
>>     warned Wednesday that it may take military action against
>>     the *ravaged* country to force its compliance with U.N.
>>     resolutions.
>
>	I've seen the pictures of Iraq, I think that ravanged applies.
>
>>	     WASHINGTON (UPI) -- President Bush discussed his
>>     *flagging* re-election campaign Wednesday with a group of
>>     Senate Republican leaders who came away convinced that he
>>     will retain Vice President Dan Quayle on the ticket.

"flagging" and "ravaged" are examples of the common overuse of
unnecessary adjectival descriptions in news reports. I cracked
up when a poster claimed terseness was a reason to use
pro-choice over pro-abortion. If journalists *really* wanted
to save trees, they would cut out the unnecessary (and sometimes
biased) adjectives.
---------
P McGuinness

Omit needless words.
Xref: sparky alt.activism.d:2417 talk.politics.misc:35131