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Media coverage of complex news events often oversimplifies, The causes

MahmoudFawzy

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20 May 2019, 07:59

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55% (hard)

Question Stats:

65% (02:25) correct

35% (02:32) wrong

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Media coverage of complex news events often oversimplifies. The causes of this strong tendency include the inherent challenge of explaining the larger context in which events occur, the need to provide coverage across a wide range of issues, the emotional power of images, and the short time allotted to news relative to entertainment by ratings-conscious broadcasters. This has helped give rise to "soft news," in which events are covered by talk shows. The format of such shows, however, lends itself most strongly not to a complex factual explanation of events but instead to the creation of a venation that engages our sympathy and emotions—a story about the event in which there are "good guys" and "bad guys," heroes, villains, and victims. The power of such narratives may well have helped increase support among the American public for 1990s- era U.S. intervention in Somalia, Bosnia, and Kosovo.

The relationship between the two bolded sentences is best described as:

(A) The first is an assessment of a phenomenon and the second is a description of specific examples of this phenomenon.

(B) The first is an evaluation of a general trend and the second is a reason for this trend.

(C) The first is a judgment of a relationship and the second is an instance in which this judgment is shown to be correct.

(D) The first is a statement evaluating a phenomenon and the second is an observation of a possible result of that phenomenon.

(E) The first is a claim about a particular issue and the second is an assessment of the accuracy of that claim.

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OhsostudiousMJ

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20 May 2019, 22:18

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Mahmoudfawzy83

Hi, I was stuck between A and D. Can you explain how the first BF is "evaluating a phenomenon"?

kukretipiyush

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23 May 2019, 04:16

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Yes please can anyone explain this.

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hnguyen28

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23 May 2019, 05:09

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(A) The first is an assessment of a phenomenon and the second is a description of specific examples of this phenomenon.
Wrong. Because the second statement is not about example. The example about the oversimplification of the media coverage is the rise of "soft news", not the support increase. The support increase itself is the result of whatever happened before that.

(B) The first is an evaluation of a general trend and the second is a reason for this trend.
The reason is stated in the second sentence of the stem.

(C) The first is a judgment of a relationship and the second is an instance in which this judgment is shown to be correct.
There is no assessment whether the judgment is correct or not in the stem.

(D) The first is a statement evaluating a phenomenon and the second is an observation of a possible result of that phenomenon.
It is correct answer. It is about the result ("may well have helped")

(E) The first is a claim about a particular issue and the second is an assessment of the accuracy of that claim.
Somewhat the same as the answer C.

MahmoudFawzy

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23 May 2019, 09:19

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Hi kukretipiyush and OhsostudiousMJ. I hope I can help.

The passage went through the following:
The author discussed the "Media coverage of complex news events" .His evaluation/assessment/claim is that the news coverage is "oversimplified".
Then, he explained the causes of oversimplification and cited a prominent model/example (which is the "soft news" or "talk shows" or "from news to stories shift")
Then he mentioned how "talk shows/narratives", which is example of oversimplification, increased the public support for US. intervention.

The last sentence explains the effect of an example of oversimplification on certain event ( it discusses a result/ consequence).
So it explains an example of a result not an example of the phenomena itself. That is what D says.

anothermillenial

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30 May 2019, 19:12

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Quote:

(Conclusion) Media coverage of complex news events often oversimplifies.

(Premise) The causes of this strong tendency include the inherent challenge of explaining the larger context in which events occur, the need to provide coverage across a wide range of issues, the emotional power of images, and the short time allotted to news relative to entertainment by ratings-conscious broadcasters.

(Premise) This has helped give rise to "soft news," in which events are covered by talk shows.

(Premise) The format of such shows, however, lends itself most strongly not to a complex factual explanation of events but instead to the creation of a venation that engages our sympathy and emotions—a story about the event in which there are "good guys" and "bad guys," heroes, villains, and victims.

(?) The power of such narratives may well have helped increase support among the American public for 1990s- era U.S. intervention in Somalia, Bosnia, and Kosovo.

We’re looking for an answer choice that says: The first statement is a conclusion, the second is an example of the previous premise in the argument….but is not directly related to the first sentence. We also know that the two bold face statements are definitely on the “same” side.

The relationship between the two bolded sentences is best described as:

(A) The first is an assessment of a phenomenon and the second is a description of specific examples of this phenomenon.
]Hm, is the first an “assessment” of a phenomenon? I suppose. But I think the phenomenon is actually about “soft news” not media coverage in general. But let’s move on for now. Now looking back, this first IS assessing “soft news” but the second is not a description of specific examples but a claim about a time period where the phenomena occurred and was helpful.

(B) The first is an evaluation of a general trend and the second is a reason for this trend.
]Well, the first is definitely not an “evaluation of a general trend.” Not even sure if that can be considered a trend at all. The second statement also doesn’t explain the first! So no.

(C) The first is a judgment of a relationship and the second is an instance in which this judgment is shown to be correct.
]The first seems MEH. It could be judgement...but "of a relationship"? Not 100% on this part. The second is definitely NOT an instance in which this judgement “media cover oversimplified” is shown to be correct… in fact, the second discusses the benefits of the soft news. (C) is a no for me.

(D) The first is a statement evaluating a phenomenon and the second is an observation of a possible result of that phenomenon.
OK, well this answer choice is really about phenomena! Yes, I can see the author evaluating the phenomena of “soft news”. The second could very well be an observation of a result (“increased support among public for 1990s”). OK. I’m pretty solid on (D) right now.

(E) The first is a claim about a particular issue and the second is an assessment of the accuracy of that claim.
The first is a claim…maybe. The second is NOT an assessment of the claim. In fact, the second doesn’t talk about the simplification of media but about the effect of preying on “sympathy and emotions” which is more tied to the prior sentence about “the format of such shows lends itself to….” stories that simply engage our emotions and not hard facts. You could use it to assess the claim....but it doesn't directly assess the claim. It only gives examples about a prior statement.

AKY13

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17 Aug 2019, 18:11

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anothermillenial

Quote:

Hi friend

The first BF can be called a general statement or a claim. There is no evaluation being done. The evaluation is done in latter statements which aren't BF.

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13 Sep 2025, 06:07

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