A Problem with Newsweek's "Fairness Meter"

[ThoughtCriminal]

When you read a Newsweek political article, there is a meter at the bottom for rating the "Fairness" of the article. Aside from the potential for abuse, there's another problem.

Until you click to select your rating and confirm, it LOOKS like the current article has been rated as "Unfair Left Leaning" because the gauge defaults to point left:



The actual reader rating does not show up until you make a rating and click to confirm.

Maybe I'm being a bit picky here, but I think Newsweek should re-design this feature.

[Silent Type]

1. Think you have to actually click on meter. Besides, wouldn't make sense to put

“Unfair left leaning” on the right side.

Now, the whole “hold us accountable” is likely BS.

[unblock]

4. It's worse than bs.

It's been a well-known right-wing tactic to manipulate such unscientific polls and surveys to bend the media to their will.

Working the ref, as it were.

They've been doing this since the days of jamming radio station fax machines.

So, yeah, the right-wing will come out in force to say anything the put out is left-wing biased to force them to go even more right-wing

[RockRaven]

2. Perhaps the feature is functioning exactly as they intend it to?

Maybe that is the issue...

[Fiendish Thingy]

3. Newsweek is a RW rag

They gave John Eastman (yes, that John Eastman) a column before the 2020 election to explain why Harris was ineligible to serve as VP because her parents weren’t born in the US.