Junk Journalism: Three causes
•Ideology & Bias
–International issues are
often treated
“conservatively,” nationalistically
“conservatively,” nationalistically
–Local issues are often
“liberal,”
anti-corporation, pro-environment
anti-corporation, pro-environment
•Ignorance: Self-Delusion
& Mistakes
–1) Prior “template” of
story
–2) Not trained in
subject
–3)
Insignificant/unreliable reports overemphasized
–4) Statistics taken out
of context
–Robert J. Samuelson: “Psycho-facts”
•Beware of terrorism ...
and sharks!
•Above all, Sensationalism
