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This is why all of these media outlets use words like "as" and "after", and never "because of". They do all the "post hoc" lifting and assume that the reader will automatically add the "ergo propter hoc".

"Google stock tumbles 8% after its"

which every consumer of media reads as

"Google stock tumbles 8% because its"



This shady use of temporal sequence to imply a causal link is one of my most hated writing tactics.

"HN Reader barfs aggressively after reading yet another intentionally misleading headline!"


There's probably an algorithm out there that just writes financial news all day using the MadLib:

"[COMPANY] stock [RISES|FALLS] amid [NEWS]."

All you have to do is foreach company, look up whether the stock is up or down, and then copy the first news search result that comes in related to the company. Bam, you have a headline for any financial news site.


Yes some financial news outlets have been doing that since at least 2015.

https://www.theverge.com/2015/1/29/7939067/ap-journalism-aut...




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