SpinSpotter

[Laurence Horn]

At 1:05 AM -0400 9/9/08, Michael Covarrubias wrote:
>over at headsup the blog there's a look at this.
><http://headsuptheblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/kings-camelopard-or.html>
>
>at least one problem that fev finds with the algorithm (or the reporter
>doing the story): the usual confusion about passive voice.
>
>"passive voice (example: a story says "bombs land" without stating which
>party is responsible for them);"
>
>i suppose it's passive because the bombs just sit there being landed by
>gravity? what should it say? 'bombs fly downwards'?

"X dropped bombs (on Y)"?  I guess they could have called it
"unaccusative voice", but that might have been a bit obscure for some
readers.  Presumably the "passive" character stems from the fact that
both true agentless passives ("The boat was sunk", "Mistakes were
made") and unaccusatives ("The boat sank", "Bombs land on X") are
devices to suppress the agent and thus to duck the assignment of
responsibility, especially to oneself.

LH

>
>at least it wasn't called 'passive tense.'
>
>i'm sorry -- at least *the writer didn't call it* passive tense.
>
>
>Baker, John wrote:
>>SpinSpotter, a new online tool designed to expose news bias, has just =
>>come out in beta.  I haven't tried it yet - you have to install their =
>>toolbar, it will only work with Firefox 3, and it sounds maximally =
>>annoying anyway.  It seems unlikely, however, that it will achieve its =
>>stated goal.
>>=20
>>The tool is supposed to spot bias using "rules of spin" based on =
>>journalists' codes of ethics, see http://spinspotter.com/rules.  The =
>>prohibited forms of spin are:  reporter's voice (the reporter employs =
>>modifiers or other language that conveys meaning beyond the supporting =
>>evidence provided in the article); passive voice; biased source (failure =
>>to disclose a source's view or affiliations); disregarded context; =
>>selective disclosure (failure to mention a critical element of the =
>>story); lack of balance (failure to give equal voice to all sides of a =
>>controversial story); and overreliance on press releases.
>>=20
>>I'm not sure how useful these guidelines will be in reliably detecting =
>>bias.  In any case, it seems that the tool will rely heavily on user =
>>input, and therefore will be susceptible to gaming.   You can judge for =
>>yourself at http://spinspotter.com/home.
>>=20
>>=20
>>=20
>>John Baker
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org