Hurricane spin

Same set of facts and speculation about the upcoming hurricane season, two different approaches.

USA Today is all about the scare, hey folks, "Federal scientists predict another active Atlantic hurricane season in 2006," with as many as 13-16 named storms this season. Just so you get an idea about how bad things will be, it is pointed out that the long-term average is about six hurricanes per year, and it isn't revealed until the end of the fourth paragraph, briefly in passing, that the predictions re well below last year's 28 storms, 15 of them hurricanes.

The Associated Press, on the other hand, takes the "Hurricane Center Predicts Calmer Season" angle and points out in the very first sentence that "conditions don't appear ripe for a repeat of 2005's record activity." It also gives a more recent perspective that doesn't make this year's projections sound too bad: "Between 1995 and 2005, the Atlantic season has averaged 15 named storms, just over eight named hurricanes and four major hurricanes, according to the National Hurricane Center."

It's all about the spin, even when politics isn't involved. So much for "objective journalism."