Posts Tagged “spin”

Are you hip to “framing”? If not, let me give you a crash course in the latest marketing jargon:

Framing is the term used to describe the coining of phrases and the spin used to focus the discussion on a specific issue from the point of view of a partisan position.

Framing is a term born from the idea of “framing a discussion,” or using subtle words and phrases to cast a discussion in a particular light. Think about the ongoing argument over gun rights in this country. Those that want to ban possession of certain types of guns (or for that matter, all guns)  by all save the police and military want to frame the discussion in their own terms: “assault weapons,” “gun control,” “Saturday Night Specials,” “Cop Killer bullets” and the like. These terms have helped the Left set the terms of the discussion on their turf, forcing the NRA and those that seek to preserve the rights of individuals to own guns to play defense.

Well, campers, the Episcopal Church has been framed – and those that disagree with that framing are fighting back. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been reading a pretty interesting book – John Stossel’s latest. He makes some fascinating points, especially regarding the inequities of how rules and laws are used to enforce social policy. Stossel points out that rules like Title IX (the Federal statute dictating that boys and girls sports programs must be “equal.” The result of the law is that schools are finding they have to cut down on boys sports, because of a lack of enrollment/participation by girls.

Other chapters cover how attorneys have profited by suing over junk science witch hunts (DDT, irradiated foods, et cetera). It’s riveting stuff, especially when you realize that there is a radical disconnect between what we are told is the “truth” and what’s really going on. What emerges is a pattern – a pattern that shows that one little erroneous factoid or malicious story generated by some special-interest group can get picked up and amplified by a media hungry for any kind of story that can be sensationalized. Their over-hyping then triggers an over-reaction government, motivated by self-interest and a desire to “fix” everything by way of taxation and/or regulation. In effect, within this system, the truth is either immaterial, or collateral damage to the goals and aims of the special interests/media/government. Read the rest of this entry »