Archive for September 2008
Machines to spot the spin?
A friend sent me a link to a new Internet browser add-on that claims to highlight occurrences of spin in web pages. The site owners say that spin is a threat to democracy.
I don’t doubt that lies are told in the name of public information and news on any given day, but I (perhaps naively) continue to think that the best protection for democracy is not machines telling us when something is awry, but using our brains to review, interpret and judge information.
I will continue to feel safer making up my own mind about whether something seems informed, properly sourced, balanced, logical and so on.
