Saturday, September 05, 2020
Techniques of Distortion
Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957), "How Free Is the Press?" Unpopular Opinions (London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1946), pp. 127-133 (at 129-131):
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I should like to illustrate, with quite trivial examples drawn from personal experience, the various ways by which both fact and opinion can be distorted, so that a kind of smear of unreality is spread over the whole newspaper page, from reports of public affairs down to the most casual items of daily gossip.
1. Sensational Headlines; False Emphasis; and Suppression of Context....
2. Garbling....
3. Inaccurate Reporting of Facts....
4. Plain Reversal of the Facts....
5. Random and Gratuitous Invention....
6. Deliberate Miracle-mongering....
7. Flat Suppression.
