An “editorial” is an article that appears usually on the Editorial Page (may be also in the Opinion section) of a newspaper; it is written by a newspaper employee or the editorial staff and presents the employee’s or staff’s view of a topic. Editorials frequently are biased and full of some of the errors you have been reading about in the Ruggiero textbook. These editors often hold themselves out to be “experts” in politics, the economy, religion, societal issues, etc. However, they regularly not only present controversial opinions, but also commit errors in reasoning in them too. • Editorial: Tragedy at Georgia Tech. [Editorial]. (2017, September 19). The Savannah Morning News. Retrieved from http://www.savannahnow.com The backdrop for this editorial (Links to an external site.)
Links to an external site.(http://savannahnow.com/opinion/editorial/2017-09-19/editorial-tragedy-georgia-tech) is a shooting death and riots on campus. • The day the real patriots took a knee. [Editorial]. (2017, September 24). The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com The backdrop for this editorial (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.(https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/24/opinion/nfl-football-patriots-take-a-knee.html) is President Trump’s comments concerning NFL players who kneel during the national anthem and NFL player hits and injuries. Read the two editorials thoroughly and choose one of them. You may want to copy and paste both editorials into a Word document because some papers limit the number of times you can view their articles without a subscription.
Use what you have learned in the Ruggiero text about “The Pitfalls” (Chapters 8-13) to post an answer that does the following:
1. You will need to find two different types of errors in the editorial, and you cannot identify the same type of error more than once (e.g., once you use any assumption for an error, you can’t use an assumption for the remaining error).
2. Copy and paste the sentence(s) or paragraph(s) that contains the error in reasoning.
3. Identify the specific type of error (e.g., egocentric thinking, the assumption that appearances are trustworthy, bias against change, post hoc fallacy).
4. Explain why it is an error.
5. Offer your perspective of a way to correct the error. It is important and necessary that you use the vocabulary of the Ruggiero textbook when pointing out the errors in reasoning you see in the editorial.
