Question

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VanDisease

Media bias?

Is it a fallacy when people always say that a particular TV station (news group, etc) is biased when it reports good things beneficial to a person?
To make this clear, here an example:
A news organization in our country reports that the economic growth is the fastest in recent years.
Then, some people would say that the news org is biased and was paid by the government so the outgoing president will look good.

How would that reasoning be countered when they consider everything (info, source of info) that is against their opinion as wrong or bias?
asked on Thursday, May 19, 2016 05:24:22 PM by VanDisease

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Answers

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Bo Bennett, PhD
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Cognitive biases have deep psychological roots and, while similar to fallacious thinking, is not the same. When one usually refers to a "media bias," they are referring to the bias of the media. What you are referring to is the bias (or set of biases) that makes people believe in a media bias when the reports conflict with their views. Just off the top of my head I can name a few involved, but I am sure there are more. For example, the bias blind spot, confirmation bias, selective perception, halo effect, conspiratorial thinking , etc. The best way to counter this kind of reactionary judgement, is to ask them what they are basing their judgement on exactly. For example, "the news org was paid by the government." You might ask them if that is a suspicion, or a conclusion they reached based on evidence. The more you question, the more you can show their position to be unreasonable, if in fact it is unreasonable (i.e., not evidence based but pure conjecture based mostly on biases).
answered on Thursday, May 19, 2016 06:49:58 PM by Bo Bennett, PhD

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modelerr
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Bias is not per se a fallacy. It exists and is abundant in today’s Media. However, bias can easily lead to fallacies, as logic is easy to abandon when blinded by bias (and not constricted by morals). The example you cited: “economic growth is the fastest in recent years” while not a logical fallacy is very likely a fantasy; at the least it demands factual substantiation to be considered even remotely credible (e.g., 1st Q 2016 GDP growth was 0.5% and has never exceeded 2.5 % thru last seven years, etc. etc. ).
Bottom line: question factual assertions from questionable venues, obtain (& vet) info sources, and be vigilant for logical fallacies all the while. While all is not clear cut (many shades of grey in assessing political issues) doing your own objective research and thinking is the most reliable path to obtaining truth.
answered on Thursday, May 19, 2016 10:37:46 PM by modelerr

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David Franks
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The accusation of "media bias" in response to a story in lieu of rebuttal is often a symptom of resort to the genetic fallacy, or used as a way to walk back a specific resort to the genetic fallacy by generalizing. This happens so much that "media bias(!)" almost seems to be a fallacy itself.
answered on Saturday, May 21, 2016 12:37:29 AM by David Franks

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Jeff
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The person's argument is that the News is not accurate. I'm not sure what country the questioner is in, but if it's the USA, let's dig in. The media is horrifically biased. I've had a lot of time to investigate stories that were "produced" by MSM. I've seen the editing, re-editing that goes in to change a story. The portrayal of a "victim" by showing pictures when he was 12 while ignoring the latest photos of the "victim" sporting guns and singing about "killing cops." Portraying a bad guy by purposely lightening his skin to make him appear white when he is actually brown. Rearranging the words in a 911 taped recording to have a completely different meaning. Showing a kid being killed by cops while leaving out the previous 5-minutes of absolute terror that the community experienced of outright panic from what looked like a gun toting nut. All of these stories are consistent. They fuel "progressive" narratives and attempt to outgroup conservative ideas.

EVERY SINGLE STORY is suspect. I still get caught up --believing a story -- and I am as cynical as can be imaginable.

In the world of Reason and Evidence -- evidence is paramount. If evidence subverts your theory (reason) then out with it! And media bias is so pervasive that 100s of examples can be provided weekly. And that's just from ABC, NBC, and CBS.

For the last four years I have had the "luxury" of tracing news stories and their sources. The bias and purposeful inaccuracy has been so pervasive that it has challenged my view of humanity. Because I have had time to dig in and get knowledgeable about the facts, I am much less easily moved by the Propaganda Machine known as MSM. And BTW, this hard-won knowledge is not the least bit enjoyable. If you get to that place, you see people speaking in a different light. Instead of thoughtful people with unique insights, you will see that they are parroting speakers X and Y. Pretending t be smart.

It's disgusting. And lonely. Better to work your ass off -- ignore the news -- and stay away from people with rented opinions.

(I like my answer better than the "Logical" answer. I hope I did it justice.)
Here's a link to a book I haven't read: www.amazon.com/Press-Bias. . .

And also,liberal bias in media is something I defend against everyday. I search the world for non-biased sources. I still struggle. But liberal bias is pervasive in MSM, academia, government, and culture.

And on another note: since logic attracts people with advanced degrees, ask yourself,"Can a person enter a Christian environment at the age of 5, spend 8 hours per day there, then emerge in their late 20's -- and not be influenced by Christianity." Whoops! I tricked you. Lol. Replace "Christianity" with "liberalism" and then you'll get the bias that I allude. (Please liberals, don't be too predictable.)

The "news" is NOT accurate. It's not even news. Use evidence to prove or disprove this persons view. Reason isn't needed when evidence is so overwhelming.
answered on Sunday, May 22, 2016 09:37:08 PM by Jeff

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