7 factors important to solid reasoning were mentioned in class. These include: clarity, accuracy, relevance, precision, breath, depth and logic.
I believe that for the most part the media is quite clear when it comes to what they want to express to the public. However, when it comes to accuracy, more and more people are becoming aware today that the media does not get their stories right.
According to major media surveys, 78 percent of Americans believe that there is a news bias in the media.¹
As far as precision is concerned, it is not always the case that the media has enough details or is specific. Usually when a news story develops the media is not always present at once or covers every aspect of a story as it is. As with the other points mentioned above, once again relevance is not necessary respected by the media. Taking the example of the October 4 issue of the Times magazine, Muslims soldiers were shown performing prayers with guns. The caption on the bottom of the picture said, "Guns and prayer go together in the fundamentalist battle". ²The part that the reporters omitted or failed to state was that the Muslim soldiers were praying on a battlefield in Afghanistan. Common sense of the situation meant that the soldiers had to remain armed at all times in case of an ambush at any time. ³
As far as precision is concerned, it is not always the case that the media has enough details or is specific. Usually when a news story develops the media is not always present at once or covers every aspect of a story as it is. As with the other points mentioned above, once again relevance is not necessary respected by the media. Taking the example of the October 4 issue of the Times magazine, Muslims soldiers were shown performing prayers with guns. The caption on the bottom of the picture said, "Guns and prayer go together in the fundamentalist battle". ²The part that the reporters omitted or failed to state was that the Muslim soldiers were praying on a battlefield in Afghanistan. Common sense of the situation meant that the soldiers had to remain armed at all times in case of an ambush at any time. ³
When it comes to breath, freedom of expression is slowly declining in the media. Information is influenced by the belief system and political opinion of journalists and news reporters. To further prove this fact, despite its First Amendment protection, the press has no enforceable code of ethics for professional conduct. ² A journalist does not have to surrender his press card for faulty report. ² As far as depth is concerned the media does a good job of informing the public, but does not necessarily go in depth in every issue.
Once again the example of the October 4 issue of Times magazine mentioned above is a good example of lack of breath. ³ Usually the media pays more attention to stories that are relevant to their belief system or what matters most to their political leaders. Based on that, it is not easy to say whether the solutions that the media takes are superficial or realistic. It all depends on how deep they assess the complexity of an issue. There is indeed logic when it comes to what the media feeds us, but this logic is sometimes twisted, so it is up to us to think critically and be well informed of where our news source comes from. We should not let the media be a manipulator of our opinion.
References:
1. Editors group releases preliminary journalism credibility study:http://www.asne.org/kiosk/news/98jcp.htm
2. Accuracy in media: http://www.aim.org/about/frequently-asked-questions-faq/
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