BURYING THE LEDE ON RUSSIA, IRAN, AND SYRIA

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10/16/2015

Burying the Lede on Russia, Iran, and Syria

Filed under: General — JVW @ 12:53 pm

[guest post by JVW]

 

Burying the lede is a common journalistic pitfall in which the most interesting aspect of a story is put in a subordinate role to a less-important aspect. It can be done as a result of ignorance on the part of the reporter and editor, but it can also be a sneaky way to insert an agenda or bias into the reporting of what are otherwise supposed to be straightforward news accounts. Running a lede paragraph stating that The Titanic set steam from Southampton six days ago as the largest, most expensive, and must luxurious cruise ship ever built and then mentioning in paragraph six that it hit an iceberg and sank would be a classic example of this sort of reporting.

 

Arthur Herman over at National Review Online points out today a great example in which the reader is left to wonder how much agenda and bias might have come in to play in a recent New York Times article that clearly buries the lede. Ostensibly about how the advanced weaponry and updated tactics Russia has brought to the battle against opposition groups in Syria has impressed military observers in the west,