Obama’s Afghanistan Speech as Word Clouds
Did CNN hear President Obama’s Afghanistan speech the same way as the rest of us?
Two word clouds — one from CNN, one created by PR Professor Barbara Nixon using Wordle — show very different interpretations of the speech.
Here’s the word cloud Professor Nixon created using the full transcript of the president’s speech (click the image to see it larger):
Here’s the word cloud from CNN.com. The graphic links to video of post-speech commentary from their political team:
Notice any differences?
Granted, CNN doesn’t claim this word cloud is based on the complete transcript, nor that it’s a factual reporting of the speech. Still, it definitely borrows from the speech and serves as a selective interpretation.
What are your thoughts?
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Scott Hepburn is a veteran PR and marketing professional. He blogs here about marketing, PR, advertising, journalism and social media.