It would be amusing if it were not so sad, but watching the news is like watching a rolling list of fallacies, especially in this election cycle. It is hard to believe our country has sunk this low in such a short period of time.
As we prepare to elect a president, I ask you what policies does your candidate support? Do you know them? In my lifetime, I don't think I have ever experienced an election where my reasons for voting were more about the other candidate. Both candidates call each other names and the media (local and national news) do the same. There is no reporting from a neutral position anymore and the reporting itself has dropped to a new low, but the more disturbing aspect is the number of fallacies we see from the news. Let's run through a few.
First, there is the ad hominem fallacy which is attacking the messenger to distract you away from the message. We see this from both camps as they name-call each other and their supporters. We see this from reporters, famous news media, other politicians, sitting governors and mayors and directors of state and local agencies. It is like we live in one big middle school.
Second, we see circular reasoning in almost every report these days. Next time you watch a report notice that the conclusion is that which started the report, which is supported by premises that presuppose the conclusion. An example of this would be candidate A is immoral and you shouldn't vote for candidate A because of his/her immorality.
Third, the straw man fallacy is used often on both sides of the isle. This fallacy involves labeling your opponent in a certain way or with an untrue easily defeated position and then continue to attack that position.
Fourth, we see the Post Hoc Ergo, Propter Hoc (After this, therefore because of this) used by the media often in fact-checking segments where they make logical leaps that cannot be made. If an event A occurs and then is followed by an event B, with no direct causal relationship, but an appeared or assumed one, the media will let the public assume and these days the media will actually add speculation to make the better case.
Fifth, there is the fallacy of accent. This occurs when the reporter adds emphasis or accent to words in a report to suggest something that is not really there. This one occurs a lot by accident but its increase suggests that the care for remaining a neutral observer and reporter of facts is no longer a concern.
Sixth, contextomy, or quoting out of context, happens all the time. When a reporter interviews someone and only quotes a portion of the quote to imply something very different than what was said is actually slander, is it not?. Another version of this is headlines that imply something different than what is in the story.
I could go on all day, but my point is that the media, the news, reporters ... all of them have lost our trust and with good reason. They can no longer be trusted because their reporting is slanted and bent one way. They have moved beyond reporting and into the arena of influencing. They are no longer reporting facts. They are now trying to convince you of something or convert you to some candidate.
This election is a great example. What do you actually know about each candidate's policies and positions? I bet not a whole lot. Why? One answer ... the media. They have stopped being the watch dog for the people and have become one-sided. It is really sad but not all that surprising. If you are still getting your news from a local or national channel understand one thing ... It is not news as much as it is propaganda. This is where we are and I don't see it getting any better anytime soon.
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