(Roughly) Daily

The contentious times in which we live are perhaps nowhere more obvious than in the language we use… or perhaps better said, in the way we use language. MIT’s Center for Constructive Communication is here to help…

In our highly polarized society, it’s not surprising that we see significant differences in how words are used by those with opposing political and cultural viewpoints. The Bridging Dictionary, an interactive web-based prototype developed by MIT’s Center for Constructive Communication, identifies the different way words and phrases are used by different constituencies and–similar to a traditional dictionary or thesaurus–gives meanings and also attempts to suggest less polarized (bridging) alternatives.

Utilizing natural language processing, the Bridging Dictionary compares how two media outlets on the opposite sides of the US political spectrum–foxnews.com on the right, and msnbc.com on the left–differ in the meanings assigned to the same words or phrases. This involved gathering approximately 18,000 articles from foxnews.com and 13,000 from msnbc.com published since 2021. The content was then split into millions of sentences for analysis. The first analysis measured the differences in usage frequency and sentiment. For those terms that show significant differences, a further qualitative comparison was done using a large language model (LLM) to describe the way the usage varies between the two outlets. The LLM was then prompted to provide evidence for its conclusions by citing specific references, as well as alternative “bridging” terms…

How words common in American political discourse are used differently across the political divide: “Bridging Dictionary.”

Learn more about its current challenges, and possible future potential at (CCC advisor and former CBS News head) Andrew Heyward’s post— then explore it.

* Bertrand Russell, speaking of the difference between England and America, though the observation is only too apt here. (Russell may well have been paraphrasing Oscar Wilde…)

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As we watch our tongues, we might recall that it was on this date in 2012 that The Disney Channel premiered Frenemies, an anthology TV film that follows three pairs of teenage friends who go from friends to enemies and back again. The ensemble cast featured Zendaya (who went on to win two Emmys for her leading role in the HBO series Euphoria, and then to success in features like Dune, Spiderman, and Challengers) and Bella Thorne (who has continued to work successfully in television and film, and has authored successful novels, but is perhaps best known these days as the first person to earn $1 million in the first 24 hours of joining the platform OnlyFans in 2020).

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