Consider this story about an effigy of Barack Obama found hanging from a tree at George Fox University, with writing referring to minority scholarship students at the university:
Late Tuesday night, a university spokesman confirmed to Newschannel 8 that someone discovered the life-sized effigy of Barack Obama around 7 a.m. Tuesday.
It was hanging from the neck with fishing line at the campus communications building, a campus spokesman confirmed.
I noticed in the radio interviews as well as the print stories that the college's spokesmen are very careful and consistent to refer to it as a "cutout attached to a tree," rather than using the words "effigy," "hanging," or "from the neck."
Rob Felton, a spokesperson for the university, described the item as a “cardboard cut out” of Obama which had the words "act six reject" written on it.
School officials immediately took it down.
Using weasel words to stay relentlessly "on message" has become SOP.
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