Comments 1 - 7 of 7 Search these comments
Just to be clear, you're saying that the frequency that those words are used is some how not only highly correlated to, but causal to, so called "fake news."
What if it's just highly correlated to the literacy of it's readers ?
The basic idea behind this framework is that writers, when using Causal Expressions, are communicating how you should perceive the relationships between facts and other facts, or between facts and certain conclusions and analysis. This conflation is a common way to present a judgment or opinion as objective fact. It is a writer coaching you on the logical path they wish you to follow. Sometimes that is innocuous, because sometimes the relationship between two ideas, two facts or two statements really is incontrovertible. Often it is not. When using Common Knowledge Expressions, the writer is encouraging you to think less critically about an assertion or argument. It is, after all, obvious to everyone else. Value Expressions are more straightforward and easily understood. They also look a bit more like an analysis of bias, although these words may just as easily be used to tell you how to think about what is good and what is bad without any element of structural favoring of one point of view.
These are 4th-5th grade words. They appear in books for children, like "The Hobbit" or "Treasure Island"
... and Orwell.
Interesting how Leftist Go-Tos are the worst offenders, with a NeverTrump publication also in the top ten.
But a tabloid like the NY Post is far less of an offender towards the end of the list!