The Fact of My Ignorance

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I found this comic (on PHDComics.com) the other day and just had to post it because it really hits the nail on the head.  While this process is easiest to identify in science news, where original sources are relatively easily available, I think this fear amplification and exaggeration process applies to most things you see reported in the news.  Drill down to original sources and actual data, and everything is always far more nuanced, moderate, and sensible than the story that’s delivered to media consumers.  Of course these days many people don’t even read the news, they get their information through the filter of opinion commentators, radio pundits, or cult-like internet personalities.  So perhaps the cartoonist could have made the cycle more complete by adding an additional step before the paranoid granny where radio/tv/internet pundits tell you that the government/big business/unions are secretly trying to slip “A” into legislation/biased media/your water supply.

Well its long been my position that the largest bias of the media is their bias towards the exciting, tantalizing, scandalous, lurid, and enraging.  Nowhere is this more evident than in the way that the media treats the actions of murderers who commit mass shootings.  I was reading an interesting article in MindHacks (an excellent psychology/neuroscience blog) the other day about this subject and with the immigration center shooting that happened in New York today, I thought this was an appropriate time to post something about it.

A very interesting video clip on this subject and a brief commentary can be found after the jump (which means after you click “continue reading” for my readers who are new to the blog culture) Continue reading