BIASES ALIVE! The Media’s Need for a Cognitive Make-Over

Two new reports this past week — each one provide a vivid demonstration that News Media bias is full alive and thriving. Both are examples of news reports which, in the end, turned out to be fake news. In each case, information was taken out of context and whenever that happens— information taken out of context is pretext.

The first was the Buzzfeed report announcing that the President directed his lawyer Michael Cohen to lie. When some unnamed person leaked that, the new media went crazy presenting it over and over using it to call for impeachment (that seemed to be their desired agenda). Of course, no information was given as to when or where or any detail about such. Then in a very rare move, Mueller’s Special Counsel (from whom the alleged allegations were leaked) immediately sent out a special message saying that that report was not accurate.

“BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate.”

The news was fake. While almost every news organization ran with it and treated it as real, none could corroborate it. So when there was no corroborating evidence, most news outlets dropped the story. I don’t recall that anyone apologized for jumping the gun or presenting false information. It was as if they got a tidbit that they thought they could blow up into a devastating story against the President only to later find out it that they did not. Just today I heard National Public Radio report about it again. They said that Mueller’s office of the special counsel said that “disagreed with some elements of the article.” Yet that’s pretty sloppy reporting given that’s not what Mueller said. He said the testimony was not accurate.

The second report was about the video that went viral over the weekend at the Lincoln Monument. Some young teenagers were in Washington DC for the March for Life and were encountered by some other groups. When someone from the news media got a picture of one young man (Nick Sandmann) face to face with an American Indian (Nathan Phillips) who was beating a drum— his conclusion was “This is disrespect.” And it went viral. Then it became a case of racism!

But yet again, the news media jumped the gun. Fortunately there were videos of the entire incident and it so happened that the young man did not confront, intimidate, or even approach the native American. It was the other way around. The man beating the drum was the person who walked toward the young men. And instead of the teenagers from the Covington Catholic High School calling names and insulting, it was the other groups, the Black Hebrew Israelites group

who were cussing and yelling. All the young man Nick Sandman did was stand still and smile. He said in an interview that he figured if he was calm, smiling and not reacting at all, it would calm things. The initial story was unquestionably debunked by the evidence of the full video. There you can see the native American approaching the group of boys.

Biases prevent thinking. When you have pre-judged a person or situation— you jump the gun and react. You don’t patiently gather facts first and face them whether you like them or not. In biases people adjust facts to fit their biases. News people should think— facts first, evidence first, then conclusions. But all too often they put their opinions first and then doctor the facts to make it look like the case.

Second, after the evidence of the facts came in— the Media people for the most part have refused to apologize for their initial attacks. They not only did not apologize, but they refuse to. Apparently they have an agenda, and their agenda thinking (to wit, prejudice) trumps the facts. So they are not thinking— they are propagandizing with their broadcasts and newspaper reports.

Now at least one CNN report kind of apologized. CNN’s S.E. Cupp wrote that she wished she had the fuller picture before weighing in. Yes, really! That would be nice to slow down the reactionary response and think first. Apparently, some critics have quietly deleted their criticism from social media without offering an explanation or apology. Others instead of thinking, have kept on trying to defend their rush to judgment instead of simply admitting they over-reached and over-reacted.

I think it’s time that the News Media outlets get a Cognitive Make-Over— the way they are currently so quick to jump to conclusions, over-exaggerate anything that they can frame as dramatic, presently highly biased reports, and not accept responsibility is a big source of cultural semantic pathology.