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The Words Are on Fire!


Extra, extra! Read all about it!

Starting at about fifteen hours ago, an account on Bluesky begin posting the following:

Allegations of dishonesty shake the foundation of a liquor license application in Howard County, raising critical questions about integrity and transparency in the process. 

Click to read more!

Tensions rise in Howard County as the Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board grapples with a contentious liquor license application amidst community opposition and procedural debates. 

Click to read more!

The Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board faces a heated debate over a new liquor license in Howard County, where community opinions clash and expert testimonies weigh in on the future of local business. 

Read the full story

The Howard County Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board is grappling with the contentious decision of granting a liquor license that could reshape the local business landscape and community dynamics. 

Click to read more!

The debate over a new liquor store in Howard County is heating up as officials question its necessity amidst market saturation and community needs. 

Get the details!

Do you think they want you to click?

The account is Citizen Portal News Maryland, a part of a larger network called Citizen Portal AI. Here’s what I found at the Citizen Portal AI website.

Revolutionizing Civic Engagement with AI

Citizen Portal AI is the ultimate tool for staying informed and holding leaders accountable. Get direct access to what elected officials say and do—no spin, just facts. Empower yourself with clear, reliable information straight from the source and make smarter decisions with confidence.

Each of the posts above link to actual government meetings. So where does AI come in?

NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING

Our AI uses smart algorithms to analyze meeting transcripts, picking out key themes and details accurately, so there's less chance for human error.

Okay, I’ve never said this on the blog before, but: I call bullshit.

Look at the language used in the Bluesky posts above, specifically:

Allegations of dishonesty shake the foundation…

Tensions rise in Howard County…

…a heated debate…community opinions clash…

…grappling with the contentious decision 

…debate is heating up…

This is emotional language. It borders on melodrama. This is the kind of language that inserts opinion directly into the framing of the piece. Whether there is a human being that writes these or they are concocted by AI, they are trash.

Real journalism doesn’t tell you what to think or how to feel in advance. It presents the facts and lets you decide. 

Journalism tells you who, what, when, where, why. 

  • Who is at the hearing. Who will be impacted. Who will make the decision.
  • What business are they conducting. What decision needs to be made. What is the language of the decision.
  • When did they meet. When do they need to make a decision. When will their decision go into affect.
  • Where did they meet. Where is the property in question. Where do those giving testimony live, if relevant. 
  • Why are they having the meeting. Why are community member testifying. Why is there disagreement. 
I don’t pretend to know exactly what this stuff is, but it is not journalism and it is not helping.

If we want people to take more interest in meetings of the liquor board (or other government meetings) maybe we should have a free dish night. What Citizen Portal AI is doing is not much different than the old school melodrama device of holding up signs encouraging the audience to cheer and/or boo.

Please tell me that we are still teaching young people enough about critical thinking skills that they are capable of seeing this for what it is. I truly hope so. The sad thing is - - apparently nobody taught AI.


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