For this I think we can thank Lee Atwater and his protégés who have waged a long and relentless war against the "liberal" media - so called because frequently the facts of the matter didn't fit conservative ideology. This has led to a state of affairs in which any media outlet - even the Gray Lady - will work to avoid appearing biased, *even if the facts themselves are "biased"*, and wind up reporting "he said, she said" rather than what's really what.
I despair. I still read the Times, but this is not by any stretch the first time I've seen that sort of sloppy journalistic CYA crap coming from the Times, apparently in an effort to be "fair." As I say, I despair.... m -- Marc Carter, PhD Associate Professor of Psychology Chair, Department of Behavioral and Health Sciences College of Arts & Sciences Baker University -- From: Christopher Green [mailto:chri...@yorku.ca] Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 10:38 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] GOP Rep Daniel Webster Bashes Census Survey As "Random" Rather Than "Scientific" It is sad to see the NYT fall into the old "tell both sides" scheme that has been exploited by political operatives so skillfully for the past couple of decades on issues like evolution and climate change. Here, the Times writes: "In fact, the randomness of the survey is precisely what makes the survey scientific, statistical experts say." The last three words are critical, making it seem like there's a serious debate about that, and encouraging readers to think that there is a "side" they can take (usually depending on what conclusion they favor at the outset). A decade ago, we foolishly thought that these were just ill-informed politicians who would back down after things had been explained to them by those who spend their lives and careers figuring this stuff out -- scientists. By now, however, it is clear that it is calculated political strategy that like-minded ground-troops will rally around, encouraged by the usual media sources, creating a fake public debate that successfully distracts from the actual issue. Until mainstream news organizations stop hobbling themselves with the "theater of objectivity" (not to be confused with the real thing) and are willing to straightforwardly call a diamond a diamond, this political tactic will be used again and again until no one knows what is what anymore. Chris --- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada chri...@yorku.ca<mailto:chri...@yorku.ca> http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ ========================== On 2012-05-21, at 9:33 AM, Helweg-Larsen, Marie wrote: And on the same issue from the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/sunday-review/the-debate-over-the-american-community-survey.html Marie Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Associate Professor l Department of Psychology Kaufman 168 l Dickinson College Phone 717.245.1562 l Fax 717.245.1971 http://users.dickinson.edu/~helwegm/index.html -----Original Message----- From: Christopher Green [mailto:chri...@yorku.ca] Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2012 10:37 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] GOP Rep Daniel Webster Bashes Census Survey As "Random" Rather Than "Scientific" Apparently certain members of Congress are about to start misusing the word "random" to sow confusion about public opinion surveys in much the way they successfully misused "theory" to sow confusion about evolution. Stats teachers beware. You may well be the next target of political funny business. http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/05/20/gop_rep_daniel_webster_bashes_census_survey_as_quot_random_quot_rather_than_quot_scientific_quot_.html Chris ....... Christopher D Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M6C 1G4 chri...@yorku.ca<mailto:chri...@yorku.ca> http://www.yorku.ca/christo --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: helw...@dickinson.edu<mailto:helw...@dickinson.edu>. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13234.b0e864a6eccfc779c8119f5a4468797f&n=T&l=tips&o=17933 or send a blank email to leave-17933-13234.b0e864a6eccfc779c8119f5a44687...@fsulist.frostburg.edu<mailto:leave-17933-13234.b0e864a6eccfc779c8119f5a44687...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: chri...@yorku.ca<mailto:chri...@yorku.ca>. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62bd92&n=T&l=tips&o=17943 or send a blank email to leave-17943-430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62b...@fsulist.frostburg.edu<mailto:leave-17943-430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62b...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: marc.car...@bakeru.edu<mailto:marc.car...@bakeru.edu>. 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