Media Soft-Balls

R.J. Eskow wrote an article for his newsletter, The Zero Hour Report, recently about the gentle language the media is using, now that it has to report about what is actually happening in Gaza. The piece is titled 'A Hell Made for the Innocent' with the subtitle 'Of monsters, media, and the gentle language of genocide'.

Cartoon from here.

I, myself, even though I'm not paying much attention at times, have noticed what R.J. is highlighting in this article. I'm sure most of us have noticed it, how the media soft-balls what is actually happening, how the titles of the news' pieces deflect and confuse readers about the truth. The thing is, I've noticed this in almost every sphere of media/news concern, from local news articles to national and international. Has it always been this way? Did the media talk about Iran, and Iraq and Vietnam in this same way? I bet it did.

I wonder how much AI generating the articles has to do with this, now (not in earlier times, of course). For example, I've noticed a lot of strange wording and weirdness in local news titles, as if an actual human editor isn't reading them. I have no idea if AI did this, perhaps it didn't, but the title, '13-year-old found asleep with plush dog after Kitsap Fairgrounds vandalism', is pretty confusing (to me). Yes, after reading the article, the 13 year old was arrested for doing the vandalism, and was found asleep holding a plush dog toy in a nearby playground. Me, I was wondering what breed of dog was a plush dog, and wondering who did the vandalism and got the boy so tired? And isn't it cute that he was sleeping with his dog? Hah. I guess I really don't live in the real world, do I?

Anyway, Eskow's article is good, and worth a read if you've got the time.

Here's the open thread! What's up, whatcha doing? Reading? Thinking? Remember, everything is interesting if you dive deep enough, so tell us about where you're diving!