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[–] 37 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 child)

I don't think that's "passive voice", it's intentionally choosing a softer word, (though even that may be more of a liability one. Same concept as the media using every word but "children" to describe people killed in Palestine.

Passive voice would be.

"A baby in a car was shot while police were responding to a shoplifting report".

Or if they wanted to dial it up to 100.

A male black baby was involved in a shooting with police responding to a shoplifting report.

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  • [–] 7 points 4 months ago

    You are correct. They said he killed the baby. Active voice. Accurate. Not softening the blow very much, arguably a little, but it's also very easy to argue that their word choice is justified in the pursuit of covering facts.

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