From: jmc@SAIL.Stanford.EDU (John McCarthy)
Subject: Re: Media bias
Reply-To: jmc@cs.Stanford.EDU
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University
	<1992Jul23.162348.29281@afit.af.mil>
	<1992Jul23.180710.2368@umbc3.umbc.edu>
	<1992Jul24.173547.29523@afit.af.mil>
Distribution: usa
Date: 24 Jul 92 14:34:36

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, telling
     conservative audiences that his opposition is intent on
     reviving the big government ``liberal agenda'' on social
     issues.
	     ``The family is under siege and the choices in this
     election are clear,'' Bush said at a gathering at the Three
     Saints Russian Orthodox Church. ``On one side (are) the
     advocates of the liberal agenda, on the other side are you
     and I and those values of family that we share.''

Bush wasn't talking about the recession, so the reporter or rewrite man
puts in what he wants to call the public's attention to.

From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.usa,clari.news.politics,clari.news.religion,clari.local.new_jersey,clari.local.pennsylvania,clari.news.top
Subject: Bush *touts* Cold War record
Keywords: usa federal, government, political parties, politics,
	organized religion, religion
Date: 21 Jul 1992 22:37:58 GMT
X-Supersedes: <bushU2lL505pe@clarinet.com>
Location: new jersey, new york city
ACategory: national
Slugword: bush
Priority: major
Format: regular
ANPA: Wc: 632; Id: z6431; Sel: njngw; Adate: 7-21-630ped; Ver: 3/3; V: ld
Codes: yngwrnj., ynpprnj., ynrornx., tbza....
Note: (complete writethru -- Bush speaks in New Jersey)


	     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
     and promising a stronger, revitalized nation.
	     Speaking outside the Three Saints Russian Orthodox
     Church, Bush discussed his ``Captive Nations Proclamation,''
     which heralds the Eastern European nations that shook off
     Communist Party rule during his first term in office.
	     ``Think about it,'' Bush said. ``If we can tear down
     the Berlin Wall, we can build a strong economy, and if we
     can lift that Iron Curtain, we can bring the curtain down on
     immorality and indifference and lawlessness.''

"tout" is a verb generally used negatively.  It is derived from
race  track touts who tell you what horse will win in the hopes
of getting a tip from you if it does win.  See if you can find
a U.P. story describing Clinton as touting something.

	     MADRID, Spain (UPI) -- From the Pyrenees to Tierra
     del Fuego, free- market economics have been embraced by
     Spanish- and Portugese-speaking countries, with the
     exception of Cuba, as the way to development and out of
     poverty.
	     *But so far free-market policies have made little
     headway in ending the poverty and unemployment* that
     continues to plague the majority of Ibero-Americans.

	     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.

"ravaged" is gratuitous here.  The meaning of the sentence
wouldn't be changed by leaving it out, but the reporter wants
to single out the harm that has been done to Iraq and ignore
the harm that Iraq has done.

	     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.
	     Senate GOP whip Alan Simpson of Wyoming told
     reporters ``don't be absurd'' when they asked if Quayle
     might be replaced as Bush's running mate. Simpson was
     reportedly designated by the so-called ``Wednesday Group''
     of moderate-liberal Republicans to discuss the ticket with
     Bush.

It is common to describe the Republicans as about to lose.  The
reporters evidently think that will help the Democrats via a
bandwagon effect - or maybe it's just wishful thinking.
--
John McCarthy, Computer Science Department, Stanford, CA 94305
*
He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense.