In the following context sentence translation I would normally read “cut out” as discard, which would be weird and sarcastic. Is that right or does it mean select in this context?
マスコミはきっとニュースになりそうなところだけを切り取るだろ。
I am sure the media will only cut out the parts that are newsworthy.
Is there any general implication either way in the Japanese word 切り取る or is it agnostic, like separate or cut apart, and the rest is context?
Any thoughts on its relationship with 取り出す, which I’m learning at the same time, the primary meaning being to pick out?
切り取る can be used when the thing you’re cutting out is the part you want, as well as when it isn’t. The JJ dictionaries don’t all seem to clearly define that as a sense, but 明鏡 at least does, defining it as
一部を切って取り除く。また、切って取る。
Kenkyusha’s JE dictionary includes these examples which are all taking the part wanted:
新聞から記事を切り取る - cut [clip] an article from a newspaper
カメラが切り取った都会の風景 - camera snippets of city scenes
このドラマは現代に生きる若者の生活の断面を鮮やかに切り取ってみせる - this drama brilliantly exposes to view a cross section of the lives of young people living in our times
Edit: in the original sentence, perhaps “cherry-pick” would be a better translation than “cut out”.
The first is “to take something out of something else”, like taking your notes out of your bag, or a 10,000 yen bill out of your wallet. The second is to select and pick out the relevant items from a big collection, like a database. Progressive has this example and notes that in this sense it’s a synonym of 選び出す:
コンピュータで名簿から東京在住者を取り出した
I picked out those who live in Tokyo from a list on the computer.
Note that there’s not really any idea of cutting out here, you’re not taking something out from where it was previously a part of a whole.
Thank you. Nicely explained, as is the answer to the other part of question. In retrospect I should have got the distinction from the base words 切り and 出す, but sometimes usage doesn’t follow the obvious.