Counterfeiting in the Washington Times, 1903 & 1923

The language used in Times articles is often straightforward and unbiased. While there were not many quotes or eyewitness reports, their writers generally keep their details to the point. They discuss who the potential offender is, where the counterfeiting happened, what they were forging, and maybe what tools they were using that got confiscated by the Secret Service.

Something to note on the topic of language is what words they choose to title the counterfeiting operation in question. Sometimes, they will call it that—an operation, but the titles of “plot” and “scheme” come up much more often. This points to the publication’s attitude surrounding the alleged offenders.

One more detail is that the reporters would usually refer to the counterfeit cash as “spurious.” This descriptor is brought up 14 times and outweighs the use of other adjectives like bogus, fake, and counterfeit