

Snowden arrives at Moscow airport from Hong Kong - haven
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23021767

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kintamanimatt
This BBC article tries to gloss over the fact he's an important whistleblower
that has been accused of committing a series of criminal acts in order to blow
the whistle on some particularly egregious domestic and international
surveillance by the US government and British government, and instead paints
him as a Wild West-style criminal on the lam. It's not that they're incorrect,
it's just the story's lead and first few paragraphs appear to be a not-so-
subtle attempt at framing [1] him in a negative light to sway perception and
erode support.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framing_(social_sciences)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framing_\(social_sciences\))

~~~
epo
Or it could be that this is impartial reporting of a situation where little is
known and _nothing_ has been proved, which is how things should be done in a
free press. But feel free to stick to your paranoid interpretation.

~~~
kintamanimatt
For it to be impartial the journalist would have given equal weight to his
status as a whistle blower and as someone who is wanted by the USG for blowing
the whistle and taking some government property in order to do so.

First impressions count. What you lead an article with serves as the context
for the rest of the story and is the part that's most likely to color the
reader's judgment. Also, most people only skim the first part of an article;
the abandonment rate drops precipitously with every passing paragraph, which
is why you put the most important things first, and the least important things
last. This idea is succinctly conveyed by the literary maxim: don't bury the
lede.

It's really not a paranoid interpretation. It's well known you can sway a
reader's view on a topic by the order information is presented, and being
aware of this tactic is useful for thinking critically about a news story.
Every news outlet has a particular bias; the BBC is no exception. This isn't
in any way to say it's a disreputable outlet.

