Seven To Try: New Sydney Cafes To Fill Your Cup in February. 

Detected Manipulations & Suggested Changes

Appeal to emotion

Using emotionally charged or evocative language to persuade rather than inform.

Examples include: - "I bloody love cafes. I love the ritual of ordering a takeaway..." - "eggs on toast from the cafe? C’mon, it just hits different." - "If you’re with me, here are seven scalding-hot new cafes in which to do just that. See you around town." These phrases are designed to create a warm, enthusiastic feeling about cafes and going out, nudging the reader emotionally toward the author’s preference.

3 suggestions

Rephrase highly emotive personal statements into more neutral descriptions, e.g. change "I bloody love cafes" to "This article highlights several notable new cafes in Sydney."

Replace "C’mon, it just hits different" with a more descriptive, less emotive explanation such as "Many people find that cafe-prepared eggs on toast offer a different experience than home cooking due to professional techniques and atmosphere."

Change "seven scalding-hot new cafes" to "seven recently opened cafes" to reduce emotional hype.

Biased language

Using value-laden or promotional wording that implicitly endorses one side or option.

Several phrases frame going out to cafes as the clearly preferable choice: - "Me? I’m dragging my people to the cafe and we’re splashing out." - "this romantic little corner is it, and as of Wednesday January 28, Stanmore can swoon." - "a fried chicken waffle to rule them all." - "It would’ve gone nuts with the corporate crowd in the CBD." These expressions promote the cafes and the act of spending on breakfast as inherently positive, without acknowledging any downsides or alternative perspectives beyond a brief, lightly mocked mention of the friend who thinks breakfast spending is silly.

3 suggestions

Replace promotional superlatives with descriptive specifics, e.g. change "a fried chicken waffle to rule them all" to "a fried chicken waffle that is a signature item on the menu."

Change "Stanmore can swoon" to a neutral description such as "This adds a new vegan-friendly option to the Stanmore cafe scene."

Instead of "I’m dragging my people to the cafe and we’re splashing out," use a more neutral framing like "For readers who enjoy dining out for breakfast, these cafes offer a range of options."

Unbalanced reporting

Presenting one side or preference much more favorably than alternatives, without real consideration of other views.

The article strongly centers and normalizes the author’s pro-cafe, pro-spending stance: - "Spending money on breakfast is silly! Yeah, yeah, we all have that one friend. If you’re in that camp, fine, you do you. Me? I’m dragging my people to the cafe and we’re splashing out." The opposing view (that spending money on breakfast is unnecessary) is briefly mentioned and lightly dismissed, while the rest of the article exclusively promotes going out to cafes, with no discussion of cost, accessibility, or reasons someone might reasonably choose otherwise.

3 suggestions

Acknowledge the alternative perspective more substantively, e.g. add a sentence such as "Of course, for those watching their budget or preferring to cook at home, these cafes may be occasional treats rather than regular haunts."

Remove the slightly mocking tone ("Yeah, yeah, we all have that one friend") and instead neutrally state: "Some people prefer not to spend money on breakfast out, which is a reasonable choice."

Clarify that the piece is a subjective guide rather than a claim that going out for breakfast is inherently better, e.g. "This guide is for readers who enjoy exploring new cafes and are looking for places to try."

Sensationalism / Mild clickbait-style hype

Using exaggerated or dramatic language to make content seem more exciting than it is.

While not extreme, some wording leans into hype: - "seven scalding-hot new cafes" - "a fried chicken waffle to rule them all" - "It would’ve gone nuts with the corporate crowd in the CBD." These phrases exaggerate the significance or superiority of the cafes without evidence, primarily to generate excitement.

3 suggestions

Tone down exaggerated descriptors, e.g. change "seven scalding-hot new cafes" to "seven new cafes to try this month."

Replace "to rule them all" with a factual description such as "a popular fried chicken waffle on the menu."

Change "would’ve gone nuts with the corporate crowd" to a more measured phrase like "likely would have attracted significant interest from the corporate crowd."