Truth 'Revealed' by the Media

When you read a media report (or see a video) you need to think carefully about who wrote it, why the wrote, how they wrote it, and what it could possibly mean. Here's an example of why all this hard work is necessary.

From an Alaskan blogger The Mudflats:

I was interested in this quote from USA Today:

A new poll of voters in Alaska, where Sarah Palin served as governor, shows them deeply divided about whether they think their ex-chief executive should run for the White House.

Deeply divided? 83% v. 17%?

If the election were held today, and Palin ran against someone else for the presidency and the other candidate won in an 83/17 split, I don’t think anyone would be describing it as a “deeply divided” nation. That’s as close to unanimous as a national contest would ever get. “Landslide” doesn’t even do it justice.

The sad truth is that "seeing is believing" isn't true. The classic courtroom eyewitness evidence has been fully discredited by scientific research. Sadly we see what we are prepared to see. That's what makes it so hard to "reach" a fanatic and to get them to change their mind. They see evidence where others see randomness. They see collusion and tyranny where others see innocent occurence. And, of course, I see media "spin" almost everywhere. I wonder what that makes me...