I remember as a kid getting spun round and round by friends and then they’d step away and laugh as I dizzily stumbled this way and that and finally falling to the ground. Of course, I’d do it right back to someone else… all in the name of fun.
Well, I’m old enough now that I don’t have to worry about being spun around by friends anymore. However, a new spinning game is very prevalent. Instead of physically spinning your body around in circles, the new game attempts to spin our minds around in circles. And some are very affective. Spin is best achieved in the title, especially in a browsing culture. Too many will just read the lead title and skip the article and never come to appreciate the details. That’s how those who “spin” their agenda win.
As I have thought about it, I’ve seen some spin with such topics as education, entertainment, politics, religion, and culture. For example, just this week an article from the Associated Press quickly spread through the web. It was titled: “4 Out of 10 Americans Say Marriage is Obsolete!” Now that sounds pretty serious.
A friend of mine sent me a link to the story. I could tell it had concerned her. Being a basic “married” guy, that ominous sounding headline also concerned me… at first. But you see, once you become aware of the “spin cycle” which is so widespread in our society, you get a little suspicious of peoples motives. Everyone has an agenda and they try makes things appear in a way that promotes their worldview. The “spin” in this articles title suddenly looked like an agenda talking.
Note this title from an article in the Deseret News on November 18th: “Study reports Americans are optimistic about the family unit” (see http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700083108/Study-reports-Americans-are-optimistic-about-the-family-unit.html. What’s interesting about this article is that it is based on the same Pew Study as the Associated Press article, but clearly this writer had a different agenda.
So tell me, in your opinion, which one of these two approaches represents spin and which one represents reporting a news story? Is it spin to report that “6 Out of 10 Americans are Optimistic about Marriage” or that “4 Out of 10 Americans Say Marriage is Obsolete”? Some may argue that both are spin… one written by a writer who opposes traditional marriage and the other by a happily married person.
Well, as far as I’m concerned, I know which one is spin to me. Since when do we emphasize the smallest number in a report and give it the weight of the biggest number? Well, when it helps promote your agenda… that’s when. Now, I’m just a basicguy, but that just seems wrong. So, here’s some spin for you. I’m glad to be part of the biggest number… the side where 6 out of 10 who are optimistic about marriage. You see, it’s all about spin.
