Traps in the news
The amazing Dr. Fox
We all come to the news with preconceived notions. We may have strong liberal or conservative views, be influenced by our religious upbringing or our previous experiences with the news media. These and many other things color how we read or view the news that comes before us.
Our opinions about what is biased are based on what we think is right and wrong. We don't question our motives in how we perceive a story because we have trust in ourselves. We also tend to assume that most other people feel the same way we do. That's reinforced by our immediate friends, because people tend to associate with others who share their points of view. Researchers call this phenomenon the "looking glass effect."
Other research suggests that the stronger our opinions on a particular topic, the more likely we are to believe that news coverage is biased in favor of those who oppose our point of view. What's more, those who have moderate opinions about the issue will tend to consider the same coverage to be balanced. That could be because people react more emotionally to news reporting of information with which they disagree.
Our opinions about whether a story is biased is also influenced by our personal beliefs about whether the media is fair. Any mistrust we already feel is reinforced when we hear others say that the media is unreliable.
Additional research says those who least trust the mainstream media get most of their information from alternative media sources. Alternative news providers, such as talk radio, are vocal critics of mainstream media and that reinforces the beliefs of its audience.
But to be effective news consumers, we must be as skeptical about how we perceive the news as we are about how a story is written and presented. If we ask for objectivity from those who bring us the news, we must also insist upon it for ourselves.
To help us with that task, you need to meet the Amazing Dr. Fox.
The doctor’s story begins with John Ware of the University of California School of Medicine. Ware had seen a comedian perform who spoke in nonsense – sentences that were made of actual words, but when strung together, had no meaning. He thought the performance was hilarious, so he decided to have some fun with his friends.
For an upcoming conference he hired an actor by the name of Michael Fox (not THAT Michael Fox) and they put together a nonsense presentation on “Mathematical Game Theory as Applied to Physician Education.” He expected the audience of learned colleagues to be as amused as he was.
The problem was, they loved the presentation. They said Fox made perfect sense and that he supported his position.
Ware was surprised, so he took Dr. Fox to another highly-educated group and the results were the same. Time and again the audience accepted fiction as truth.
So Ware changed the presentation, but only by having the actor be dull and flat in his presentation. He had none of the enthusiasm as before. Now the audience saw things differently. They didn’t like what they heard.
The more Ware tested his presentation, the more the results were the same and it led to a research paper which included a suggestion that schools might want to hire actors to teach courses.
The lesson demonstrates that no matter how sophisticated we may think we are, we are all vulnerable to deception at the hands of those who want to mislead us.
Savvy news consumers know how to look past the presentation and use our four questions to examine the underlying facts to see if what they’re watching is reliable or if it’s just a prankster’s nonsense.