Junk Journalism: Three causes
•Ideology & Bias
–International issues are often treated
“conservatively,” nationalistically
–Local issues are often “liberal,”
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