Political spin is as much a part of Americana as hot dogs, apple pie and baseball. It has become such an integral part of the political landscape that we hardly even know how to recognize it anymore. How do we know whether a candidate is shooting straight, or trying to put one over on us? Software programs are now being developed that analyze speech patterns, facial expressions, and other factors to help us determine when the truth is being stretched.
David Skillicorn, a mathematics and computer science researcher at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada has developed an algorithm that evaluates word usage and speech patterns that identifies when a speaker “presents themselves or their content in a way that does not necessarily reflect what they know to be true”. More information about that algorithm is available at New Scientist.
Skillicorn used his software to analyze a database of 150 speeches of various politicians involved in the 2008 election, and was able to identify an average rate of spin. Each of thre speeches — and speakers — could then be assigned a spin value. He discovered discernable differences between the speeches of John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. While each of the candidates gave some speeches with very high spin content, and other speeches with very low spin content, Obama’s speeches considerabley more spin than either McCain or Clinton (see graphic).
Obama’s nomination acceptance speech rated a spin value of 6.7 (where 0 is average and positive values represent higher levels of spin), while McCain’s acceptance speech rated a spin value of -7.58. Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention was almost perfectly average, with a value of 0.15.
The results do seem to back up McCain’s “straight talk” claim. I’d be interested to see how Bill “No Spin Zone” O’Reilly rates.
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