Live online chat with Michael Kirk, Producer of FRONTLINE’s “Breaking the Bank”
Wednesday, June 17, 11:00 am EDT
FRONTLINE’s “Breaking the Bank” reveals the inside story of two banks at the heart of the financial crisis—Bank of America and Merrill Lynch—the rocky merger, and the government’s new role in taking over the American banking system. Join a live discussion with producer Michael Kirk.
FRONTLINE Season Finale
BREAKING THE BANK
Tuesday, June 16, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on WOSU
The bets were huge and risky—billions of dollars on the housing market. The upside was undeniable—superbanks reaped billions of dollars, dominated the landscape, and gobbled up competitors. Then the bottom dropped out—the massive losses on Wall Street nearly broke the banks. In the worst crisis in decades, brand name banks are on the brink. Now as the federal government implements an unprecedented intervention in the industry, FRONTLINE goes behind closed doors to tell the inside story of how things went so wrong so fast and to document efforts to stabilize Wall Street. Veteran FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk (Inside the Meltdown) untangles the complicated financial and political web threatening one particular superbank-Bank of America.
Part of my job as news director is to complete yearly evaluations of the news staff. It’s a pain in the neck for them and for me, but it’s very valuable.
Like many organizations WOSU is moving away from paper, so the evaluations are done via special computer software. The software has always included a spell checker which can be helpful though slightly annoying (it continues to flag WOSU as a misspelled word). This year’s version includes an upgrade.
It has a Language Checker.
The language checker sifts through comments we’ve written and identifies the words that are potentially offensive. Below are the “offensive” words I used and the reasons the software finds such words objectionable.
Master
What I wrote : “___ is a master in the use of sound.”
Software objection: Gender Oriented
Software suggested replacement: Chief.
Christmas
What I wrote: “___ always volunteers to work holidays, even Christmas.”
Software objection: Religious Overtones.
Pretty
What I wrote: “___ runs a pretty clean (radio control) board.”
Software objection: Physical attribute
King
What I wrote: King is the name of a female reporter.
Software objection: Gender oriented
Shine
What I wrote: “____should let (his/her) personality shine through.”
Software objection: Prejudice
Software suggested replacement: African-American, man, woman, girl and boy.
Broad
What I wrote: ” ..has given (him/her) broad experience.
Software objection: insulting
Software suggested replacement: woman, female
Ad
What I wrote: ” ___ should ad-lib more.”
Software objection: Religious overtones.
Software suggested replacement: C.E.
Fair
What I wrote: “____ made a public appearance at the Ohio State Fair.”
Software objection: Physical attribute.
American
What I wrote: “_____ hosted a local screening of the movie This American Life.
Software objection: Not specific enough.
Software suggested replacement: US Citizen, someone from the US.
This checker is not only annoying but insulting.
If employees and managers at any level in any organization cannot avoid offensive language on their own, they should be fired.
I would expect to be canned on the spot if I every used or wrote in an evaluation the word “broad” or “shine” in the way the software feared I did.
-Mike Thompson