Comments on: Readers misled by headlines using passive voice http://bigmedia.org/2008/10/01/readers-mislet-by-headlines-using-passive-voice/ Rocky Mountain Media Watch Wed, 07 Dec 2011 23:53:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: conewsaddict http://bigmedia.org/2008/10/01/readers-mislet-by-headlines-using-passive-voice/comment-page-1/#comment-10634 conewsaddict Sun, 07 Dec 2008 16:26:51 +0000 http://bigmedia.org/?p=86#comment-10634 Passive voice is used by print media because the story is a historical record. You don't know when it is going to be read and could be read weeks or months after it is written. It's standard AP style -- nothing to do with "objectivity." Headlines are short. You can't tell all facets of the story in a headline. "Questions raised" is accurate. The story explains who raised the questions. Much better than radio and TV artificially "forcing" present tense, such as "A man dies when his car rolled" (even though it happened 12 hours ago. Passive voice is used by print media because the story is a historical record. You don’t know when it is going to be read and could be read weeks or months after it is written. It’s standard AP style — nothing to do with “objectivity.”

Headlines are short. You can’t tell all facets of the story in a headline. “Questions raised” is accurate. The story explains who raised the questions.

Much better than radio and TV artificially “forcing” present tense, such as “A man dies when his car rolled” (even though it happened 12 hours ago.

]]> By: bmenezes http://bigmedia.org/2008/10/01/readers-mislet-by-headlines-using-passive-voice/comment-page-1/#comment-10598 bmenezes Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:52:08 +0000 http://bigmedia.org/?p=86#comment-10598 The biggest problem with passive voice in this headline is it conceals the fact that the story itself only mentioned ONE conservative -- the known whacko Michelle Malkin -- as raising this question. The other conservative it quoted, John McCain, SUPPORTS Gwen Ifill as moderator. It is in fact, as you put it, a faux story. Further, the piece not only elevates one of Malkin's nonsensical screeds to the level of "news," it also entirely omits that CBS's Bob Schieffer -- who has said he's a personal friend of George W. Bush -- moderated one of Bush's 2004 debates. That's pretty significant context if one wants to raise the issue of moderator "impartiality," and neither the Rocky nor AP included it in this article. The biggest problem with passive voice in this headline is it conceals the fact that the story itself only mentioned ONE conservative — the known whacko Michelle Malkin — as raising this question. The other conservative it quoted, John McCain, SUPPORTS Gwen Ifill as moderator.

It is in fact, as you put it, a faux story.

Further, the piece not only elevates one of Malkin’s nonsensical screeds to the level of “news,” it also entirely omits that CBS’s Bob Schieffer — who has said he’s a personal friend of George W. Bush — moderated one of Bush’s 2004 debates. That’s pretty significant context if one wants to raise the issue of moderator “impartiality,” and neither the Rocky nor AP included it in this article.

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