https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/09/middleeast/israel-hostage-rescue-gaza-intl-hnk/index.html

  • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
    ·
    20 days ago

    "274" takes up a lot less space and is far more informative than "scores of". I hate the word phrase "scores of". When media outlets want to manipulate public sentiment they use to make the number in question seem a lot (if not vastly) smaller.

    I think when the average American hears the word "scores" they very roughly imagine something like 50 to 100. That sounds a hell of a lot better than the first media reports that indicated the estimated number was - at the time - probably ~200.

    And even now when the number is 274 - they still use it!

    • Rx_Hawk [he/him]
      ·
      20 days ago

      if only there was a word for like a multiple of a hundred...hmm maybe "hundreds"!

      • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
        ·
        20 days ago

        Am curious what the US media will do in following situation - god forbid it happens. Israel launches an monstrous attack in Gaza on a UN school. An Al Jazeera reporter eye witness watches the attack unfold and she's nearly killed herself. In the immediate aftermath she says that it appears that the IDF killed at least several hundred people. It's clearly a bloodbath.

        It's obvious the US media will avoid the word "school" and it will use passive grammatical constructions. But they will want to avoid "hundreds" if they can. Will they still use "scores of"?

        My first thought is the go-to hasbara phrase that becomes their copypasta is "large scale operation". Hours later when the number of dead is estimated at least 500 - they use euphemisms like "There was an unfortunate large scale loss of life".

        ---

        What do you (person reading this) think?

        • Evilsandwichman [none/use name]
          ·
          20 days ago

          the US media will avoid the word "school"

          It'll be the icing on the cake if they use the word 'madrasa', the Arabic word for school, used by the media correctly for once since ever

        • Rx_Hawk [he/him]
          ·
          20 days ago

          I mean that sounds like exactly what just happened, unless that's your point