Monday, January 21, 2019

Out of Context Reporting

"In good faith, Rich, I am sorrier for your perjury than for my peril."
--Sir Thomas More (A Man for All Seasons)

A favorite tool of slanted journalism is out of context reporting. Select a small unrepresentative sample from a large pool of words or video and report it as if it did represent the larger pool.

Such dishonest reporting, which amounts to a form of perjury in the court of public opinion, has been going on since markets for media originated (i.e., a long time).

However, as politically-motivated factions grow in size and intensity in a democratic state, then we should expect media sympathetic to particular factions to become more motivated to employ out of context reporting.

Empirical observation confirms the trend.

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