Post Ac3Dt9WrDXK5ehfMGW by simon@fedi.simonwillison.net
(DIR) More posts by simon@fedi.simonwillison.net
(DIR) Post #Ac3BHQaj8DYBf3MMhU by simon@fedi.simonwillison.net
2023-11-22T02:10:53Z
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Written news articles often have a secret language to them which hints at the underlying reporting progress - language like "according to **two people familiar with** the board’s deliberations".I don't think these are at all obvious to people who haven't worked in news, so I wrote an article about them:Deciphering clues in a news article to understand how it was reportedhttps://simonwillison.net/2023/Nov/22/deciphering-clues/
(DIR) Post #Ac3Cf5dslsmHaogNTE by franktaber@mas.to
2023-11-22T02:26:49Z
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@simon My first guess was that you would have asked an AI model to read between the lines of the news stories to explain the subtext. I wonder what would happen.
(DIR) Post #Ac3DHACCI2Usiet6bg by simon@fedi.simonwillison.net
2023-11-22T02:33:27Z
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@nelson This stuff is so fascinating to me - good journalists are constantly thinking about the motives of their sources, trying to work out how to counteract those with additional reporting etc. I love talking to them about how they do it!
(DIR) Post #Ac3DRvSDRId8BUVog4 by simon@fedi.simonwillison.net
2023-11-22T02:34:17Z
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@franktaber I've actually experimented with that a bit, it's a really promising avenue. You can ask GPT-4 or Claude things like "identify the hints in this story that indicate who the reporter talked to" and get quite good results!
(DIR) Post #Ac3DgOLUolEjqPGcEq by franktaber@mas.to
2023-11-22T02:36:46Z
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@simon I wonder if the style of speech or word choice in the quotes from anonymous sources would be enough to give it away with context.
(DIR) Post #Ac3Dt9WrDXK5ehfMGW by simon@fedi.simonwillison.net
2023-11-22T02:40:24Z
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@franktaber Probably not - journalists are very careful not to directly quote anonymous sources in a way that might leak their identity like thatIf journalists fail at that, they risk losing the ability to work with anonymous sources in the future due to the hit to their reputation.
(DIR) Post #Ac3E50dg60VFYhVgRM by whynothugo@fosstodon.org
2023-11-22T02:41:47Z
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@simon The phrase “X accused of Y” is also very common. The article merely presents the accusers point of view in a tone where it is not obvious that it is not a confirmed actual fact.“W claims Z” is also a common pattern, where Z is laid out as factual and the reader must keep in mind that it isn’t.To be honest, I don’t know why this sort of deceptive journalism is allowed at all. It nowhere close to neutral, and tries to knowingly trick the reader .
(DIR) Post #Ac3GrLoQsOwh2Fie9Y by simon@fedi.simonwillison.net
2023-11-22T03:13:54Z
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@whynothugo Yeah, those are absolutely anti-patterns - that's a different category of journalism in my opinion from the kind I'm writing about here
(DIR) Post #Ac3In0tEvK1yta1kA4 by aburka@hachyderm.io
2023-11-22T03:35:29Z
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@simon 538 did a series on this during the Trump administration: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/which-anonymous-sources-are-worth-paying-attention-to/One thing I always remember from this piece is that sometimes "a person familiar with $subject's thinking" is... $subject.
(DIR) Post #Ac3J46bquZxLYc2pE0 by simon@fedi.simonwillison.net
2023-11-22T03:38:12Z
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@openartdata Yeah, that was a clear failure in terms of editorial integrity. Noteworthy that they published an editors note about it: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/23/pageoneplus/editors-note-gaza-hospital-coverage.html
(DIR) Post #Ac3JG6LxgrJiEmKdkW by simon@fedi.simonwillison.net
2023-11-22T03:39:34Z
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@aburka Thanks! Adding that to my article now
(DIR) Post #Ac3JS4OQnuAxdJC5c8 by LiveOutLoud@mastodon.online
2023-11-22T03:39:57Z
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@simon Wait... if the "news" is actually written in some kind of code, how is that actually news to the general public?
(DIR) Post #Ac3JfSoLKW4f81hVEe by simon@fedi.simonwillison.net
2023-11-22T03:44:34Z
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@LiveOutLoud It's not a deliberately deceptive code, it's more that there are conventions which journalists use which may not be completely obvious if you haven't learned how to interpret them
(DIR) Post #Ac3JtXMBE3GfHUEq2a by LiveOutLoud@mastodon.online
2023-11-22T03:47:46Z
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@simon Okay, i get that it is conventions and not malicious, but then who are journalists writing for? just The Initiated?
(DIR) Post #Ac3LBP058Jz0Wxz76e by jonsinger@wandering.shop
2023-11-22T04:02:07Z
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@simon thanks! i posted the link on FB. (i'm the same small fry there that i am here, but every little bit helps.)
(DIR) Post #Ac3MOd8A0ZiE4ddQDw by ernie@writing.exchange
2023-11-22T04:15:52Z
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@simon Great stuff, you made this understandable for normal people.
(DIR) Post #Ac3N2lwWfCKGzKKm9I by simon@fedi.simonwillison.net
2023-11-22T04:22:50Z
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@LiveOutLoud That's a great question - I think a lot of this stuff is decades of convention that isn't rethought nearly enough
(DIR) Post #Ac3OnrQUC7kPYhMhHs by williamgunn@mastodon.social
2023-11-22T04:42:55Z
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@simon This is a good set of tips, and it's worth pointing out that Cade Metz has a history of subpar reporting, including a really nasty hit piece on Scott Alexander a little while back. I'm not saying the facts are wrong, but it's very likely a subset of the available facts, chosen selectively by someone who seems to believe "SV is just a bunch of weird nerds who need to be taken down a peg".
(DIR) Post #Ac3P05yNw5Fo9L3TMW by gloriarheagrante@federated.press
2023-11-22T04:43:46Z
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@simon And of course it goes without saying that often the real story is found at the end of the article, esp., in investigative journalism, when there's an added need to protect the source(s).
(DIR) Post #Ac3PAKYSZkp2GooEc4 by Wikisteff@mastodon.social
2023-11-22T04:46:59Z
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@simon This is excellent, and very helpful! 🙏
(DIR) Post #Ac3PlVRl2i3GlWOvgG by paulsmith@hachyderm.io
2023-11-22T04:53:43Z
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@simon Good piece - my understanding, from talking with journalist friends and experience with political reporting, is that "a person familiar with" usually means someone with first-hand knowledge of the event (was there, said the thing, etc.), but that phrasing allows deniability in cases where a stronger attribution might reveal who the source is to other parties.
(DIR) Post #Ac3XC4uSVwtJxaRYLQ by Npars01@mstdn.social
2023-11-22T06:16:37Z
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@simon I love the coy language used to describe the anti-democracy Republican billionaire donors funding the GOP's sedition.It's artful in its misdirection.Example:https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/10/07/us/mandela-barnes-ron-johnson-debate-wiThe New York Times doesn't even mention Uihlein, Hendricks, Michels, John Shaffer, Howard Marklein, Robin Vos, Devin LeMahieu, Ronald Wanek, Roger Roth, Rob Hutton, Van Wanggaard, Donald Zietlow, Many of these are former GOP senators or congressman & no one asks how a government employee got so rich.
(DIR) Post #Ac3gxU9rMGqnSrKM0u by ratkins@mastodon.social
2023-11-22T08:06:25Z
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@simon Then there are the fun ones like “colourful racing identity” (organised crime boss), “tired and emotional” (drunk), “confirmed bachelor” (gay, when that was somehow scandalous in the 80s.)
(DIR) Post #Ac3kB01kTqOrvqfXl2 by Emi@newsie.social
2023-11-22T08:41:54Z
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@simon the amount of time I’ve spent explaining to people that anonymous sources aren’t made up or shady…next time I’ll just send this article! When I wrote for a newspaper, I had to disclose my sources to my editor and a fact checker, who would verify what they said (through documentation if possible - although that’s not always feasible) and that they were who they said they were. Sometimes you absolutely must grant anonymity.
(DIR) Post #Ac3vVdRAlO6pRobSwi by Moving_Pictures@metalhead.club
2023-11-22T10:49:08Z
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@simon I only granted anonymity to two people in a 20-year career. One was a rape victim, the other was the mother of a seriously disabled child who needed 24/7 monitoring. The mother was considering surrendering her child for adoption because the government was cutting respite funding.
(DIR) Post #Ac4OccYJLhBlOvcqR6 by simon@fedi.simonwillison.net
2023-11-22T16:15:04Z
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This new article from the Washington Post demonstrates another key phrase: "which has not been previously reported" - meaning the journalist found or confirmed a genuine scoop that no-one else had previously been confident enough to publish https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/22/sam-altman-fired-y-combinator-paul-graham/
(DIR) Post #Ac4P55URLxpBG2OAwi by pilhofer@journa.host
2023-11-22T16:20:32Z
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@simon This is really helpful. I think we could probably add to this list…
(DIR) Post #Ac4PNfAlQOaF8c2jDM by fabsass@mas.to
2023-11-22T16:23:39Z
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@simon I always found this Lawfare article from 2017 useful https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-read-news-story-about-investigation-eight-tips-who-saying-what
(DIR) Post #Ac4QluqosuJmfRqJcG by simon@fedi.simonwillison.net
2023-11-22T16:39:37Z
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@pilhofer that would be fantastic! I'd love to be able to point people to a glossary somewhere that was compiled people who really know what they're talking about
(DIR) Post #Ac4R6c9zZUzSmRgF7o by simon@fedi.simonwillison.net
2023-11-22T16:43:21Z
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@fabsass thanks! Added that to my further reading section https://simonwillison.net/2023/Nov/22/deciphering-clues/#further-reading
(DIR) Post #Ac4T35D5p2Q5cxZgPo by lupus_blackfur@mastodon.world
2023-11-22T17:04:56Z
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@simon @TechDesk Not paying WaPo to get past their paywall...They're not worth it.
(DIR) Post #Ac4UbOPz0vav02WmzQ by copiesofcopies@social.coop
2023-11-22T17:22:30Z
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@simon I appreciated your post explaining these journalism-isms! I had to chuckle when I saw this in the WaPo story: "said two of the people, as well as an additional person"
(DIR) Post #Ac4f27TF8C8bnZR4Qi by jimmygnarly@mastodon.online
2023-11-22T19:19:21Z
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@simon Welp.. it's all kinds of fraud out there.. so narrow thine scope ?https://www.wpbf.com/articl ise/florida-man-accused-fake-fau-transcripts-obtain-thousands-dollars-palm-beach-school-district/45908122IMHO proves conservatives leave MANY loopholes open...? Or don't care- profit off the faults? IF FL since ohhhh bvsh era THEN*?Someone may take this to heart...I'm just observing, generalizing. :ablobcatbongo:
(DIR) Post #Ac53jw4vFKyi6jUBZw by jason@logoff.website
2023-11-22T23:56:19Z
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@simon clashing with people at Y combinator never reduces my opinion of a person
(DIR) Post #Ac548w6cHXJfQqCQPg by nazokiyoubinbou@mastodon.social
2023-11-23T00:00:44Z
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@simon Anyone have a non-paywalled version of whatever is in this?
(DIR) Post #Ac5xuWIl1FvkmSa4Lw by earthworm@kolektiva.social
2023-11-23T10:25:32Z
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@simon @LiveOutLoud I think journalists cover with these practices their back, especially inside their community.Both in the cautious way ("I have this story and want to publish it but somehow I want to flag it as yet unconfirmed, at least for fellow journalists who then can decide whether they pick it up or not"), as well as, depending on the position, to be able to push certain ideas and framings without risking to get hold accountable. By nuancing the news with these codes, they can't get accused easily of malicious practices by colleagues when it comes out that X was talking bullshit about topic Y.