Posted by Amy McDougall, SpinSpotter Community Manager
So much for easing into the new year, huh? From mounting job losses to inauguration hoopla, the abundance of January news made me feel like a bloated belly after Thanksgiving dinner. Quick, somebody hand me a Tums.
Speaking of thanks, we owe huge props to our SpinSpotter community for capturing some of the most glaring spin on the Web over the past month. We hope this list sparks some enlightening discussion with journalists, bloggers, editors, and anyone else ready to make the Web a more honest place.
Want to be featured in a future “Hall of Shame” release? Simply shine up those Spinoculars and submit your nominations to amy@spinspotter.com
SEATTLE, February 2, 2009: SpinSpotter, a new online service that makes it easy for people to find, fix and share bias, inaccuracy and misrepresentation on the Web, today announced the SpinSpotter Hall of Shame for January 2009. According to SpinSpotter founder Todd Herman, most reporters work hard to maintain objectivity and avoid factual error. “Many of the examples our community of SpinSpotters uncovers can be traced to rushed reporting or the need to over-simplify headlines,” said Herman. “But some contain patently false information or political theater presented as real news. We’re pleased people are discovering SpinSpotter and using our Spinoculars toolbar to bring truth and transparency to the Web. While I personally disagree with some of what our community thinks is spin, I’m thrilled to see a monologue become a dialogue.” Among the most recent examples of inaccuracy and bias in online media identified by SpinSpotter’s avid users are:
Sins of Omission
Reuters: Obama Pledges New Start With Muslims, January 20, 2009
SpinSpotter’s take: “This reporter accepted a blanket statement that all Muslims are ‘excited’ by President Obama and failed to mention that Muslims in Gaza were burning pictures of the President as he spoke,” said SpinSpotter founder Todd Herman.
http://spinspotter.com/article/306676
http://spinspotter.wordpress.com/2009/01/20/reuters-who-needs-balance-and-context
Associated Press: Israeli Forces Storm Gaza City Neighborhood, January 13, 2009
Text: Much of the ongoing diplomacy focuses on an area of southern Gaza just across the Egyptian border that serves as a weapons smuggling route, making Egypt critical to both sides in any deal.
Israel wants smuggling tunnels along the border sealed and monitored as part of any deal, and has bombed suspected tunnel sites throughout its campaign.
SpinSpotter’s take: “While the tunnels are an important conduit for smuggled weapons, the reporter neglects to mention that some of the tunnels are also used to smuggle food and medicine,” said SpinSpotter Community Manager Amy McDougall.
http://spinspotter.com/marker/409459
Reuters: Microsoft Stuns with Profit Miss, Job Cuts, January 22, 2009
Text: The company blamed the miss on the weak PC market and the popularity of low-cost netbook computers, which have combined to badly undercut sales of its Windows operating system.
SpinSpotter’s take: This is a clear example of disregarded context. “Is it really fair to blame declining PC sales when Apple saw nine percent growth in sales during the same time period?” said Herman. “It is a reporter’s responsibility to provide any facts which might contradict a company’s claims—if a SpinSpotter user can provide that context, why not a reporter? The lower sales at Microsoft are a reflection of both slow sales overall and a declining share of the high-end laptop market,” said Herman. New headline suggestion: “Microsoft blames slow sales, not improving competition, for unexpected loss.”
http://spinspotter.com/marker/410106
When Numbers Lie
New York Times: The First Test, January 22, 2009
Text: Eleven of the programs in the bill account for the vast majority of the actual job creation. The rest may be worthy or not, but they have little to do with stimulus. The total package is so diffuse, it costs $223,000 to create a single job.
SpinSpotter’s take: This Op-Ed column by David Brooks is an unfortunate recycling of a Republican press release from January 15 titled Stimulus Quick Facts. Instead of considering the whole picture, the per-job cost was calculated by dividing the sum of the stimulus package by the predicted number of jobs created. In doing so, the package has been reduced to being solely about creating jobs when it was designed to have numerous benefits beyond job creation, in areas ranging from health care and education to infrastructure and public safety.
http://spinspotter.com/marker/410143
New York Daily News: Obama’s inauguration is most expensive ever at $160 million, January 14, 2009
SpinSpotter’s take: “Obama’s inauguration may very well have been the most expensive ever. But the reporting on this story was just sloppy,” said McDougall. “The comparisons to Bush’s inauguration are misleading. The $42.3 million dollars estimated for Bush’s 2005 inauguration do not include logistics, crowd control planning, and security, costs which were factored into the calculation for Obama.”
http://spinspotter.com/marker/409990
Don’t Look Now, but Your Bias is Showing
Associated Press: Some Blacks Choose Inauguration Over Work, January 14, 2009
SpinSpotter’s take: “Proud Americans of all backgrounds missed work to watch the inauguration,” said Herman. ”The reporter, though, seems to insinuate that African-Americans don’t deserve to take days-off like other hard-working people. And, the reporter actually uses the term ‘whooping it up’. If Rush Limbaugh said that there would be big trouble,” said Herman.
http://spinspotter.com/marker/409592
Associated Press: Retirees No Longer Counting on Home Equity, January 4, 2009
SpinSpotter’s take: Reporter claims that elders spent home equity like “yellow and blue Monopoly money.” “This generalization is flippant, assumptive and sensationalized. What about those retirees who spent their home equity on essential living expenses?” said Herman.
http://spinspotter.com/article/286803
PR Stunt Masquerading as News
Yahoo! Green: Pop open your champagne, Obama is taking the train, January 16, 2009
SpinSpotter’s take: “This writer fell for a basic act of political theater,” said Herman. “Yes, the Obamas rode a train to D.C—a private train. And they took a private jet to Philly in order to board the train there, too, which all sounds more wasteful than green.”
http://spinspotter.com/article/308578
New York Times: Obama Celebrates Holiday with Service, January 19, 2009
Text: Barack Obama rolled up his sleeves on Monday and helped out at a homeless center, devoting much of his last full day as president-elect to paying tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and to the spirit of volunteerism and public service he said Mr. King represented.
SpinSpotter’s take: “This is a photo-opp, pure and simple. Note the dress shirt and slacks. If the President really wanted to help, he could have donated a small percentage of the money raised for his inauguration,” said Herman.
http://spinspotter.com/user/TMills/307858
WSJ.com: Blogger Infighting Played Role, Says TechCrunch Founder, January 28, 2009
SpinSpotter’s take: “This story is an example of how a savvy opportunist can manipulate the press and create news where there isn’t any,” said Herman. “Arrington has whipped up a storm in a teacup by claiming he is being viciously attacked for being the ‘top blog.’ No one questions — or supports — his claims of supremacy. And he even gets the reporter to mention he was at the World Economic Forum at the time of the interview, making Arrington seem more important, instead of just saying he was calling from Davos, Switzerland.”
http://spinspotter.com/user/godsdog/323615
Just Plain Wrong
Fox News: Geithner Failed to Pay Taxes, Hired Housekeeper Without Proper Immigration Documents, January 13, 2009
SpinSpotter’s take: ”Sometimes the need for a shorter headline leads to trouble,” said McDougall. “This headline makes it sound as if Obama’s nominee for Treasury Secretary broke the law by hiring someone without proper documents. And while the article later explains that the housekeeper’s immigration status lapsed while under Geithner’s employ and that she was eventually granted a green card, there is no denying that the misleading headline hurt Geithner’s reputation.”
http://spinspotter.com/marker/409492
Fox News: Obama, Roberts Finally Get It Right in Oath Do-Over, January 21, 2009
President Obama retakes the oath of office after he and Chief Justice John Roberts stumbled over the language the first time.
SpinSpotter’s take: Fox News is alone in insisting both Obama and Roberts ‘flubbed’ the oath.
http://spinspotter.com/user/prepare_for_y2k/323337
NBCWashington.com: Obama to Get Thumbs on Secure BlackBerry, January 21, 2009
SpinSpotter’s take: The Sectera Edge is not a Blackberry. Blackberry is a trade-marked PDA from the Canadian tech company, RIMM. The Sectera Edge is made by an American company.
http://spinspotter.com/marker/410048
About Spinoculars:
Spinoculars are a free plug-in to your Web browser to let you easily highlight and share the spin you find and also let you see what other SpinSpotters have deemed biased, dubious, or patently false while you’re surfing the Web. The beta version of Spinoculars can be downloaded at www.spinspotter.com.
About the Company:
SpinSpotter is a people-powered online technology and community dedicated to bringing truth and transparency to the Web though its flagship toolbar, Spinoculars. With Spinoculars, people can mark-up, correct and share any examples of inaccuracy or spin they see on the Web. SpinSpotter executives and community members believe that every time journalists, marketers or bloggers posts text online, they should be held accountable for the veracity of their information. The company is based in Seattle and is led by veteran technology executives and entrepreneurs.
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Community Guy, Jake McKee - SpinSpotter announces Hall of Shame for Online Spin // February 3, 2009 at 9:56 pm |
[...] has started a monthly Hall of Shame project to showcase some of the more egregious examples Spotted by users. The sins are divided [...]