Britain cracks down on female genital mutilation

[Morrigoon]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19700137/

The topic's been discussed ad nauseum, I know, but what I actually wanted to point out was the way journalists twist words to fluff up the stories and make them sound even worse. Look at this paragraph:

Criminal offense
Arranging or carrying out the procedure — in Britain or abroad — is a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison, but no one has been prosecuted since it was banned under British law in 2003, Jeffrey said. Police estimate up to 66,000 girls in Britain face the risk of genital mutilation.

"face the risk".... nice way to pump up the numbers there.

I'm not saying it's not a huge problem, clearly it is, BUT I hate it when journalists pull this crap instead of reporting facts.

[Alex]

Another way you can tell a reporter's point of view is with appellate court decisions.

If the reporter agrees with the decision they'll quote from the opinion; if they disagree they'll quote from the dissent. The local NPR did a long segment on the end of session SC decisions week before last and I of about about a dozen direct quotes from the opinions I think only one was not from a dissent.