Spotting Spin In The News

Depending on your point of view, we’re either living through one of the most exciting journalistic periods in history, or one of the worst.

On the up side, the Internet is bringing new, influential forms of citizen journalism to the forefront. Average people now have the means to report and opine on events happening around them and to spread the news immediately.

On the other hand, traditional journalism is struggling. Public trust in mainstream media outlets is eroding. Many people simply don’t believe that U.S. journalists are doing a good job presenting unbiased news and information. And according to a study by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, the most cynical are those who get their news mostly from online sources.

That mistrust is one of the reasons Todd Herman created Spin Spotter - an Internet application that, once installed on your computer, will highlight subjective word use and spin in the articles you read online. Todd’s goal is to create a more objective, fair media environment, where readers get the straight story and spot the spin, and joins Word of Mouth with more.

Download your own Spinoculars here.

(Photo by starfire)