Dissecting Crowhill Spin

24 January, 2006. 320 words.

[Originally posted January 4, 2006.]

On January 3, GK posted Germany tests potential immigrants for cultural fit. GK applies the age-old spin techniques of misdirection and subtle misquoting. Let’s take a look, shall we?

First, let’s read the source of his outrage, the article Muslims To Be Excluded from Germany Because of Views on Homosexuality by Gudrun Schultz. Now there are many examples of journalistic deception in the article itself, but I won’t get into those. The only factual information in this article appears to be: “The southern state of Baden-Wurttemberg now requires all Muslims requesting citizenship to undergo an extensive test designed to reveal their views on such issues as gay rights, women’s equality, topless beaches, and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 against the United States.” The rest of the article looks like opinions, responses, and typical journalistic thought-control propaganda, so I don’t consider it relevant. (Don’t take my word for it though, read the article for yourself and decide.)

Now let’s look at what GK got from this article. First of all, notice how he subtly changed the issue. Germany is no longer testing Muslims; now they are testing potential immigrants. He has changed the issue from blatant discrimination against an entire culture to “gay rights, women’s equality and topless beaches.” (GK didn’t mention the terrorist attacks, apparently those are not as threatening to him as those other three things.) We also find that he has subtly altered the facts of the story. The test is no longer “designed to reveal their views.” Now the test is “to make sure they believed in gay rights, women’s equality and topless beaches.” A slightly different spin, wouldn’t you say?

I also find it somewhat ironic that GK feels the media wouldn’t “howl with displeasure” about these immigrant tests, but then goes right on in the next sentence to link to a media article that does that very thing.

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