Is This a Controversy?
Controversy is a great selling point for news. Sometimes the details of a story are stretched to fit the definition of controversy. I did a search on Google News using the term ‘controversial’ and one of the most recent items involved a store selling ‘goggle jackets‘ in a mall that prohibits people from wearing hoodies and other items of clothing that obscure their face.
Reporter Charlotte McDonald does not use an inappropriate amount of hyperbole. She doesn’t offer any opinion. She does use the language of controversy when presenting the facts related to the Mall’s policies and the opinions about the particular item of clothing.
The goggle jackets are knockoffs that sell for about 10% of what a person would have to pay for the original designed by an Italian company. A spokesman for the British manufacturer understands what the controversy is about and explained that the apparel would not be useful for criminal activity because the goggles would steam up so that the perp couldn’t see if they tried to run from the scene of a theft. I think he misunderstands crime. The point is to be anonymous when you are at the scene being recorded by security cameras.
