I need more test posts to see if I have fixed the problem. And this old one attracts spam, so I’m deleting the original and pasting the text below (from 11/29/2007).
I was listening to NPR today, and there was a story about the arrest of some people who were allegedly plotting to blow up the Sears Tower. The report, after giving the basic facts, went on to say that “The Administration conceded that the scheme was only in the planning stages.” Note the use of the words “conceded”. To concede means you are giving in, that you have lost a point in an argument. But NPR didn’t tell us what the argument was. They didn’t even say there was an argument, only that the Administration had lost it. It’s a very odd way to state facts. It’s as if I told someone that you had conceded you read Muttroxia. It’s not a concession unless you unsuccessfully deny my assertions.
So why this phrasing? Liberals like myself believe that the Administration’s arrests have mostly been ludicrous PR campaigns that bear little reality to any real terrorist threat. Viewed from this context, a reporter would want to find out if the plot was serious or not. If the Administration said that no action had been taken, it supports that viewpoint, and may be seen as a concession.
Here’s another way of looking at it. Would you rather have these people blow up a building!? Of course not, you want to arrest them before anything happens! You could equally well say “Reporters conceded that no harm had been done to innocent civilians”.
And that’s bias goes in the media. Supposedly objective journalism that really isn’t. I happened to pick on NPR here, but there are a thousand examples every day.
There are certain words that trigger my skepticism (that’s why I remember one lone sentence in a news report). Conceded is a new one for me. Also notice the use of the word “only”. “The Administration conceded that the scheme was only in the planning stages.” Is that word needed? What does is add? More bias!
The worst offender is the word “just”. I am guilty of it myself (see here, here, here, and here for starters). I sometimes make people repeat sentences without using the word “just” and when they do they realize they aren’t saying anything important.
2009 Update: For some odd reason, the spam merchants have focused on this one post exclusively. So I’m editing a few phrases in the hopes it will help. If not, I’ll try removing links, or maybe even removing the post altogether.