Post-John Boehner, New York Times unleashes metaphorical tsunami
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Post-John Boehner, New York Times unleashes metaphorical tsunami

How many metaphors can The New York Times pack into one article about the resignation of House Speaker John Boehner? Enough metaphors to choke a . . . c’mon, help me here. To choke a something-or-other. Can you spare a metaphor? Metaphors are a great way to frame a story; knowledgeable people will often supply one in a…

Jeff Bezos’ non-denial denial of the New York Times Amazon takedown
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Jeff Bezos’ non-denial denial of the New York Times Amazon takedown

The New York Times published a brutal takedown of Amazon culture this past weekend. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sent around an internal email to deny the charges. But Bezos’ reply is so weak, it makes you wonder if his heart it is in it. The Amazon story, “Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace,”…

Even the New York Times’ apology is in passive voice

Even the New York Times’ apology is in passive voice

I wrote yesterday about the Times’ journalistic lapses and passive-voice innuendo in reporting about Hillary Clinton’s email account. Later on Monday, Margaret Sullivan, the New York Times‘ public editor, explained how the paper screwed up in an article called “A Clinton Story Fraught With Inaccuracies.” While her explanation clarifies what happened, it uses passive voice to allow…

The Times’ passive-voice innuendos about Hillary Clinton
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The Times’ passive-voice innuendos about Hillary Clinton

If you opened your New York Times on Friday, you got the impression that the Justice department was opening a criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton. Actually, it isn’t. After the newspaper recognized its errors, it papered over the original article and headline with passive voice. You’d expect this sort of innuendo from outlets with a conservative…

Farhad Manjoo misinterprets the history of tech adoption

Farhad Manjoo misinterprets the history of tech adoption

Writing in the New York Times, Farhad Manjoo decries “A Tech Boom Aimed at the Few, Instead of the World.” But he ignores the history of how successful tech adoption inevitably spreads experiences to everyone. According to Manjoo: The tech industry used to think big. . . . These were dreams of vast breadth: The founders of…

The truth vs. the story: How not to report an earthquake

The truth vs. the story: How not to report an earthquake

Jonathan Katz was a wire reporter in Haiti when the earthquake hit in 2010. In a fascinating piece in the New York Times, he explains how reporters covering a natural disaster — like the recent earthquake in Nepal — follow a script determined by what they have access to, rather than what’s actually happening. This script…

Greatest hits: I hate bullshit, why bullshit, Inovalon, Ellen Pao, & more

Greatest hits: I hate bullshit, why bullshit, Inovalon, Ellen Pao, & more

I root out bullshit where you tell me to. So far you’ve seem to enjoy watching me do what I love doing. Based on the research in this blog, a book is forming in my brain. I’ve opened up threads of research on mission statements and the causes of bullshit. If you’ve got new ideas or…

Generalization Z: The Times reduces generation Z to a caricature

Generalization Z: The Times reduces generation Z to a caricature

While generalization in writing is a sin, drawing broad conclusions about a whole generation is far worse. Alexandra Levit’s piece about Generation Z in the New York Times is a great — that is, awful — example. The sin of generalization has three basic flavors: generalizations hedged with weasel words; unsupported broad, sweeping statements; and generalization from one…