A spin spotter? Come on. First of all it’s one thing to push blame of spin on PR people but how lazy do we think newspapers are that they need spinoculars?
Apparently, there is a new program for journalists to download and it catches any bias or spin in their pieces. As Katherine asks the question herself “do you think this product is performing a task that editors and newspapers should be doing themselves?”
If you read the article they say 43 percent of UK newspaper readers don’t trust what they read. I think the 43 percent is spin itself. Yes, maybe 43 percent of people don’t trust what they read, but were there follow-up questions asked about that? Why? What are you reading? If the same question was asked to avid readers of the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, or Forbes would 43 percent still not trust what they read?
I say, in order to be smarter you need to read smarter. Don’t trust the tabloids and start reading one grade level above.
By giving new journalists tools to catch their spin we are allowing it to happen. We are allowing our writers to get lazy and that is not something we need right now.