Homeland Security Department has given a $2.4 million grant to a consortium of major universities to develop software that would monitor negative opinions of United States or its leaders in newspapers and other publications overseas. Thus allowing the government to conduct sentiment analysis on the foreign press, hopefully to identify potential threats to nation.
I would think that graphic coverage of burning American flags, burning Pope effigies, not to speak of rockets launched at us or roadside bombs destroying our Hummers, might give a clue as to how certain nations view us.
My opinion is very similar to the option of the Media Guy at Advertising Age:
Seriously? A government that couldn't make heads or tails of blunt English like "Bin Laden determined to strike in U.S." and "Any storm rated Category 4 or greater ... will likely lead to severe flooding and/or levee breaching" is now spending millions on an electronic clipping service to find just how much, and in what ways, foreign journalists and their subjects hate us?
Tags: Homeland Security grant, sentiment analyzing software, , wasted tax dollars
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