Eliciting Emotion and Emotive Conjugation

Here is a trend that I personally find concerning.

By now it it generally recommended that writing should elicit emotion. In fictional writing, this is great; in factual reporting, this should not be done.

One method widely used in reporting is Emotive Conjugation. The same behavior is written differently to portray a person positively or negatively depending on the writer's intention. For example:

• I am firm, you are obstinate, he is a pig-headed fool.
• I am righteously indignant, you are annoyed, he is making a fuss over nothing.
• I have reconsidered the matter, you have changed your mind, he has gone back on his word.

You can read a longer explanation on Wikipedia.

Emotive conjugation is divisive. As readers, we should be aware of it use in media and keep ourselves neutral. We should extract ideas from content we consume, reflect on these ideas, and form our own conclusions.

This is not easy to do in the age of social media. We consume so much content that we hardly have time to reflect and to form our own conclusions. However, this is why this is important to highlight this (and the reason I am writing this post).

What are your thoughts on this topic? Feel free to chime in in the comments.