Illustrating the Importance of Word Choice in Reporting

Let's examine this headline from the Associated Press:

Obama aide accuses Fox of operating as GOP arm

Now ponder how a similar headline would read when we swap in the concept of professional wrestling:

Sports commissioner accuses professional wrestling of being "fake".

What would your reaction to the second headline be? Probably something like "Well, of course professional wrestling is fake! Everyone knows that..."

You see, that reaction comes, in part, due to the use of the word "accuses". To properly use the word "accuse" and the connotations that come along with it, there needs to be some kind of open, debatable point involved.

Think about a story involving a man arrested for child molestation. Headlines about the man before and during his trial would read something like this:

Prosecution accuses John Doe of repeated instances of molesting children

After Mr. Doe is convicted of child molestation, later headlines would read something like this:

School district refuses to hire John Doe, pointing out that Doe is a child molester

You see how "accuse" would seem funny in the last example? Why would the school district "accuse" Doe of being a child molester? The guy was convicted of child molestation.

Getting back to the example of professional wrestling, it would seem funny to read a story about someone "accusing" professional wrestling of being fake, because everyone whose parents weren't related by blood knows that professional wrestling is indeed fake.

Now that we've wound our way back to Fox News, you can see why the AP headline sounds funny. After all, we're talking about a network whose own Senior Vice President for Programming said that Fox News is the "voice of opposition" to the Obama administration. Again, anyone whose parents weren't related by blood, and anyone who sports an IQ above the atomic weight of carbon, knows that Fox News is primarily a propaganda outlet for the conservative movement and the Republican Party.

As a result, I hereby perform a public service and provide the Associated Press with free headline editing services:

Obama aide points out that Fox operates as GOP arm

Fixed!