Re:Super Micro says review found no malicious chips in mothe...
by lioeters on Tuesday December 11, 2018 @12:36PM
(#18657002)
Regarding this last point, I'd call it a "dark pattern" in journalism - it's intentionally designed to trick readers.
Re:Super Micro says review found no malicious chips in mothe...
by drak0n1c on Tuesday December 11, 2018 @06:03PM
(#18659821)
This common dark pattern has a name for those interesting in reading news critically: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasel_word
A story can be interesting and relevant but impossible to prove, and you can still report it honestly by simply making it clear what came from an anonymous source and what is verifiable fact. But it's very easy (and appears to have happened all over the place in this particular article) to cite what someone tells you as fact without making it clear you're just reporting what somebody said.
In fact, the article in a couple of places appends "sources say" at the end of some statement, making you think you're reading a fact until you've reached the end of the sentence. Which IMHO is a "journalism anti-pattern".