SpinDoctor
Having trouble with spin in the news?
Spin Doctor is a tool that helps you find spin in online articles from any webpage. It is not a medical professional, but instead the service aims to leverage machine learning to inform users about the content they find online. While in beta mode this site serves as a preview to judge interest.
Spin Doctor is designed to be unbiased, with the goal of helping you make more informed decisions. There are several techniques that news articles may use to manipulate the reader's perception.
Here are the techniques Spin Doctor can help you with:
Emotional Manipulation
Appeal to Fear/Prejudice
Builds support for an idea by instilling anxiety and/or panic in the audience towards an alternative.
Example
- Stop those refugees; they are terrorists.
Flag-Waving
Playing on strong national feeling (or with respect to a group, e.g., race, gender, political preference) to justify or promote an action or idea.
Example
- Entering this war will make us have a better future in our country.
Persuasion Tactics
Bandwagon/Reductio ad Hitlerum
Justify actions or ideas because everyone else is doing it, or reject them because it's favored by groups despised by the target audience.
Example
- Would you vote for Clinton as president? 57% say yes.
Doubt
Questioning the credibility of someone or something.
Example
- Is he ready to be the Mayor?
Exaggeration/Minimisation
Either representing something in an excessive manner or making something seem less important than it actually is.
Example
- I was not fighting with her; we were just playing.
Repetition
Repeats the message over and over in the article so that the audience will accept it.
Example
- Our great leader is the epitome of wisdom. Their decisions are always wise and just.
Logical Fallacies
Black-and-White Fallacy
Gives two alternative options as the only possibilities, when actually more options exist.
Example
- You must be a Republican or Democrat
Causal Oversimplification
Assumes a single reason for an issue when there are multiple causes.
Example
- If France had not declared war on Germany, World War II would have never happened.
Whataboutism/Straw Men/Red Herring
Attempts to discredit an opponent's position by charging them with hypocrisy without directly disproving their argument.
Example
- They want to preserve the FBI's reputation.
Appeal to Authority
Supposes that a claim is true because a valid authority or expert on the issue supports it.
Example
- The World Health Organisation stated, the new medicine is the most effective treatment for the disease.
Language Manipulation
Loaded Language
Uses specific phrases and words that carry strong emotional impact to affect the audience.
Example
- A lone lawmaker's childish shouting.
Name Calling/Labeling
Gives a label to the object of the propaganda campaign as either the audience hates or loves.
Example
- Bush the Lesser.
Slogans
A brief and striking phrase that contains labeling and stereotyping.
Example
- Make America great again!
Thought-terminating Cliches
Words or phrases that discourage critical thought and useful discussion about a given topic.
Example
- It is what it is