The local news media have long heralded Clemens as an honest

Question

The local news media have long heralded Clemens as an honest politician. They were proven wrong when Clemens was caught up in a corruption scandal. This demonstrates how the local media show too much deference toward public figures. Even the editor of the local newspaper admitted that her reporters neglected to follow leads that might have exposed the scandal far earlier.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the overall conclusion drawn in the argument?

(A) Clemens has long been portrayed as an honest politician by the local news media.
(B) The local news media were wrong to herald Clemens as an honest politician.
(C) The local news media show too much deference toward public figures.
(D) Reporters from the local newspaper neglected to follow leads that might have exposed the scandal much earlier.
(E) The local newspaper’s treatment of Clemens is indicative of its treatment of public figures in general.

dhwanit2412 · Answer

what justifies as the overall conclusion as even in this one paragraph many storylines are being followed so overall. I got the answer C but i believe this to be a flawed question

kingbucky · Answer

It's an official LSAT question. Chances are too slim for it to be flawed.

I also found bit confusing, chose E. But, I hope some expert can explain better.

Posted from my mobile device

kingbucky · Answer

Please help. I am inclined to choose E, Chose E the first time and got it wrong. How does one eliminate E, what does E miss ? How C wins ? Please help !

Madhvendrasinh · Answer

Option E is not the answer because if you look at the argument, the argument as a whole does not seek to establish what is indicated by reporter's defence for Clemens.
It is more of an assumption held by the author that this incident is how reporters must be defending every public figure in general as honest. (It is not what the author wants to conclude, it is an assumption supporing the conclusion.)

While C states that the local news media pays too much deference (respect) to the public figures. The author is driving the passage towards blamig the local news media to be responsible for defending the politician too much and not being neutral at all.

tomloveless · Answer

I'm not an expert but in the case of this passage you are essentially looking for the conclusion as stated in the paragraph which in this case is "This demonstrates how the local media show too much deference toward public figures". From the standpoint of the GMAT, this could be construed as something factual found within the passage which in most cases does not warrant a correct answer. Tricky one.

imfinetyandu · Answer

How an C be answer when its already there in the argument.

GMATNinja · Answer

You're looking for an answer choice that accurately expresses the overall conclusion drawn in the argument. If you have an answer choice that matches -- or nearly matches -- the conclusion written in the passage, that's great!

The conclusion is part of the argument, so we are absolutely looking for an answer choice that matches (or perhaps paraphrases) something in the argument.

jainendradubey · Answer

All of these type of questions ask you to find the statement in the passage that is the conclusion of the passage and not the conclusion you derive from what you have read.

yashhw · Answer

I was able to eliminate others except C & E, but E made much more sense because it holds conclusion as well as very important premise involving Clemens.

guddo · Answer

The local news media have long heralded Clemens as an honest politician. They were proven wrong when Clemens was caught up in a corruption scandal. This demonstrates how the local media show too much deference toward public figures. Even the editor of the local newspaper admitted that her reporters neglected to follow leads that might have exposed the scandal far earlier.
 
 Which one of the following most accurately expresses the overall conclusion drawn in the argument?

The argument uses the Clemens scandal as evidence for a broader claim about the local media.  The overall conclusion  is that the local media are too deferential toward public figures. The other statements mainly support that claim.

(A) Clemens has long been portrayed as an honest politician by the local news media.

Wrong. This is background information, not the main conclusion.

(B) The local news media were wrong to herald Clemens as an honest politician.

Wrong. This is an intermediate point supported by the scandal, but it is used to support the broader claim about the media.

(C) The local news media show too much deference toward public figures.

Correct. The phrase “This demonstrates” introduces the main conclusion. The Clemens example and the editor’s admission are used to show  excessive deference toward public figures .

(D) Reporters from the local newspaper neglected to follow leads that might have exposed the scandal much earlier.

Wrong. This is supporting evidence, not the conclusion.

(E) The local newspaper’s treatment of Clemens is indicative of its treatment of public figures in general.

Wrong. This is close, but it is not the stated overall conclusion. The argument’s final point is not merely that Clemens is typical, but that the media show too much deference.

Answer: (C)

The local news media have long heralded Clemens as an honest

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

The local news media have long heralded Clemens as an honest

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