#trustwashing — Public Fediverse posts

This is a (sadly) persistent and continuing bugbear of mine, so look away now if you already know or don’t care.
The ABC are by no means the only offenders, but as our supposedly impartial, publicly funded broadcaster they have clear Charter to uphold, and they fail on a daily basis.
For chapter and verse on this pernicious practice, see Hijacked Headlines: How To Lie Enticingly In A Single Sentence https://infinite8horizon.wordpress.com/2021/12/24/hijacked-headlines-how-to-lie-enticingly-in-a-single-sentence/
For a larger set of ABC sins, there are plenty here https://infinite8horizon.wordpress.com/greatest-hits/#ABC

This morning brought a couple, both telling lies by implication, which of course is the clever way to do it.
The first headline tells us, but never explicitly, that ChatGPT is ethical and rule-following (rule-following, that is, in a presumably legal or moral sense, not the trivially true algorithmic sense). This is subtle trust-washing, implying but never saying that it’s true. Of course, there are well publicised and legitimate concerns about the ethics of ChatGPT, but you’d never think so from this.
The second allows us to assume, by deliberate omission, that Turnbull’s “concerns” about RoboDebt were the same ones now shared by the whole of Australia, about legality, fairness, & damage to vulnerable individuals. Of course, Turnbull’s “concerns” were for his own arse, like any politician, but we’re deliberately misled by the headline.
#ThisIsNotJournalism #ABC #HeadlineBias #TrustWashing #Propaganda