Sure, this bias exists in journalism (including blogging). A report that confirms existing social biases will sell well and be widely reprinted or linked. It gets people talking about the topic. People double-count evidence when they see multiple discussions of the same topic without realizing that those discussions are not at all independent. Further reports will re-analyze borderline cases as belonging to the “troubling new trend”. And to most audiences, fear sells better than debunking.
The bit about one writer digging for examples of “black mob violence” seems to be something different, though. It’s portrayed more as a deliberate one-sided evidence search than as double-counting. Perhaps worse, there’s the self-defending theory angle: “I know this trend exists, so when someone disagrees with me that a particular incident is evidence for this trend, that demonstrates that they are trying to cover up the trend.”
What really bugs me, though, is that debunkings can play into the availability heuristic. I’d never heard of the “knockout game” story before reading this post. And people are better at remembering stories than at remembering which stories are fact and which are fiction.
Sure, this bias exists in journalism (including blogging). A report that confirms existing social biases will sell well and be widely reprinted or linked. It gets people talking about the topic. People double-count evidence when they see multiple discussions of the same topic without realizing that those discussions are not at all independent. Further reports will re-analyze borderline cases as belonging to the “troubling new trend”. And to most audiences, fear sells better than debunking.
The bit about one writer digging for examples of “black mob violence” seems to be something different, though. It’s portrayed more as a deliberate one-sided evidence search than as double-counting. Perhaps worse, there’s the self-defending theory angle: “I know this trend exists, so when someone disagrees with me that a particular incident is evidence for this trend, that demonstrates that they are trying to cover up the trend.”
What really bugs me, though, is that debunkings can play into the availability heuristic. I’d never heard of the “knockout game” story before reading this post. And people are better at remembering stories than at remembering which stories are fact and which are fiction.