this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2025
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I'm kind of amazed that we are two years into the Gaza genocide and you still do not know the difference between active and passive media voice.
This is irrelevant. The brains of people only register what they see in the headline.
The perpetrator is the cop.
There shouldn't need to be "clues"
I think they're point is that a better headline might be something like "Reporter targeted and shot with rubber bullet by police". That more clearly calls out that it was intentional and not a stray, which most people are probably going to assume.
I understand you; the point is it’s not just grammatical pedantry. Passive language is deliberately used to reduce feelings of culpability. “The suspect died in custody” is less blame pointing than “Police denied suspect treatment for injuries, leading to his death in custody”.
Even if people understand that the police would be the ones with the rubber bullets, there’s an emotional response behind “Police shot at reporter” that you don’t get from “reporter was hit by bullet”.