Comments on: Verbal Clues That a Reporter Doesn’t Like You

By: Matthew Stibbe (Bad Language)

Matthew Stibbe (Bad Language) — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 17:24:00 +0000

You might be interested in a post I wrote about Why interviews go wrong, written from my perspective as a former journalist.

By: George Plumley

George Plumley — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 05:35:00 +0000

I was glad you showed three variations on each example; quotes can be skewed in quite subtle ways. I would also add that I’ve seen many reporters who had such a poor command of the english language that they simply didn’t see much difference between “declined” and “refused”.

By: Tim Jackson- Masi Guy

Tim Jackson- Masi Guy — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 03:38:00 +0000

Wait.. how’d you know?

By: SB

SB — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 00:00:00 +0000

I’m sure you get that last one a lot, Tim.

By: Tim Jackson- Masi Guy

Tim Jackson- Masi Guy — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 23:26:00 +0000

I agree, in principle, but let us not forget that many “reporters” on the Boob-Tube are just reading the teleprompter with words written by somebody else. It isn’t a totally clear situation where you can know that what the reporter “says” is what the reporter “thinks/ believes”.

I usually look for visual clues like rolling the eyes, raising an eyebrow, or that whole pointing at the side of the head and making circular motions with the index finger.