TASK DEFINITION: Given a document and an entity the task is to select the author's sentiment towards the entity. Sentiments can be Positive, Neutral and Negative. Select Positive if the article expresses a positive view towards the given entity or praises its quality or skills. Select Neutral if the document expresses no clear view towards the entity or has equal amounts of positive and negative statements or expressing some fact/quote by someone else. Select Negative if the article expresses a negative view towards like harsh remarks, criticizing entities action/decision etc. Note that URLs in the text have been replaced with [Link].
PROBLEM: What is the sentiment of the following document towards the entity Tyra Patterson ? WHIO-TV reports  Tyra Patterson   now 42  was freed Monday  Christmas Day.
 Patterson  was convicted in the 1994 murder and robbery of 15-year-old Michelle Lai. She was one of five people charged with killing Lai and robbing her sister and three other girls.
 Patterson  did not fire the shot that killed Lai  but under Ohio law accomplices can get the same punishment as killers.
Celebrity supporters of  her  innocence claims included documentary filmmaker Ken Burns  actress Alfre Woodard and “Mad Men” TV show creator Matthew Weiner.
 Patterson  was granted parole in October.  She  was being held at the Northeast Pre-Release Center in Cleveland.

SOLUTION: Positive

PROBLEM: What is the sentiment of the following document towards the entity Johnny Weir ? Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski during the start of the women’s singles competition. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
To many viewers  NBC figure skating analysts Tara Lipinski and  Johnny Weir  are Olympic darlings — a one-stop shop for knowledge  sass and brass. Others  however  reach for their ear plugs  calling the duo mean  obnoxious and distracting. This debate resurfaces every time Lipinski and  Weir  appear on television.
“They’re just awful ” one commenter wrote after a Washington Post interview with Lipinski and  Weir . Another added  “They chatter incessantly like a couple of squirrels.”
Whether you appreciate Lipinski’s and  Weir ’s “truth” — and their newfangled approach — it appears they’re here for the long haul. Aside from anchoring the final figure skating competition Thursday night (the women’s free skate)  and the exhibition gala over the weekend  NBC announced that Lipinski   Weir  and Gannon will also host coverage of the PyeongChang Closing Ceremonies this weekend. The reaction to this news? Predictably  it was both joy and agony.

SOLUTION: Positive

PROBLEM: What is the sentiment of the following document towards the entity Matt Lauer ? NBC News Fires  Matt Lauer  After Complaint Of 'Inappropriate Sexual Behavior'
NBC News says it has fired longtime Today host  Matt Lauer  following a complaint about "inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace."
"On Monday night  we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by  Matt Lauer . It represented  after serious review  a clear violation of our company's standards. As a result  we've decided to terminate his employment. While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over twenty years he's been at NBC News  we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident."
 Lauer  joined Today as the news anchor in 1994 and became a co-anchor in 1997  according to NBC.  He  was the highest-paid person at NBC News  NPR's David Folkenflik notes.

SOLUTION:
Neutral