Activity 2.1
Identifying Distortions in News Reports and Commentaries

Many citizens believe that the news media are biased and present a distorted view of the political world. Journalists and pundits, like the rest of us, may fall victim to (or in some cases purposely engage in) personal human inquiry when formulating statements about current events and issues. In this activity you will examine some news reports and editorials to identify instances of misperception, overgeneralization, and selective observation. You can access Web sites for newspapers, magazines, and television stations at NewsLink.

Identify stories or commentaries that illustrate each of the three errors that can result from personal human inquiry. Among the six illustrations you select there should be at least one each from a magazine, newspaper, and television station. There should also be at least one example from a news story and one from a commentary or editorial. Provide the source of each illustration and describe why you think that is a good example of one of the three human errors committed by naive scientists.