Venezuela earthquakes toll rises to 920. 

Detected Manipulations & Suggested Changes

Appeal to emotion

Using emotionally charged descriptions to elicit sympathy or distress, which can subtly influence perception even when facts are accurate.

The passage: "Families searched desperately for loved ones trapped under debris, with some of them using their hands to claw at the rubble of buildings. At one flattened building in La Guaira, AFP saw workers using sledgehammers to break debris and calling for ‘absolute silence’ to detect cries from trapped survivors." This is a vivid, emotionally affecting description. It is not exaggerated or misleading, but it does emphasize human suffering in a way that can heighten emotional response. In disaster reporting this is common and often justified, but strictly from an objectivity/manipulation standpoint it is an instance of appeal to emotion.

3 suggestions

Neutralize some of the more vivid verbs while keeping the factual content, for example: "Families searched for loved ones who may have been trapped under debris, in some cases using their hands to move rubble."

Clarify that this is an on-the-ground observation and keep it concise: "At one collapsed building in La Guaira, AFP observed workers using sledgehammers and periodically calling for silence to listen for possible survivors."

Avoid metaphorical or highly evocative phrasing like "claw at the rubble" and "cries from trapped survivors" unless directly quoted from a source, and if quoted, attribute clearly (e.g., "rescuers said they periodically called for silence to listen for any sounds from survivors").