Why Corrections Fail

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble.

It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

                                                                                                          -Mark Twain

    Stereotypes diehard, therefore, the foremost principle in journalism reporting is finding the truth and telling the story right to their audience for the first time. According to the article Misinformation and Fact-Checking, Once an error is communicated and stored in people’s memories, it is difficult to undo. Even when people are exposed to a correction and knowledge that the initial claim was false, the errant information may continue influence their attitudes. In addition, people may misremember the false claim as true over time.

      Based on the Nyhan and Reifler’s experiment, some individuals when people confronted with evidence that conflicts with their original beliefs. They choose to reject the evidence and instead become more  supportive of the initial belief,which called Backfire Effect.

     “We conducted four experiments in which subjects read mock news articles that included either a misleading claim from a politician, or a misleading claim and a correction. Results indicate that corrections frequently fail to reduce misperceptions among the targeted ideological group. We also document several instances of a ‘backfire effect’ in which corrections actually increase misperceptions among the group in question.”

                                                -Brendan Nyhan’s 

     Some people believes that, the backfire effect is due to a cognitive deficit, however, even the researchers can not explain what additional factors lead some people to respond to contrary evidence by treating it as if it were additional support for their original belief.  One certain thing is that it is difficult to change people’s first impression especially, which fulfills their personal expectation. In that case, all the journalists or researchers need to pay attention is to fact-checking the information, which will appear on any public resources, such as newspapers, magazines or websites, to eradicate the happen of Backfire Effects. 

Truth is Dare

“As the tools of communication change, it is important to remember the principles of the news piece do not,” said Louis Boccardi, president and chief executive officer of The Associated Press.According to Boccardi,the most significant principles of journalism is always telling the authentic and reliable information.However, Tom Goldstein, the journalist-lawyer who has served as dean of the graduate schools of journalism at both Berkeley and Columbia said,”” Being late, journalism moved toward standards of objectivity and fairness as practitioners of other disciplines began to say that objective truth is not possible.And Goldstein is not the only one who throws up his hands and says that truth in journalism is impossible to attain.John Swinton (1880), former New York Times managing editor wrote in his book,”i am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the street looking for another job….The business of the journalist is to destroy the truth; to lie outright; to pervert; to vilify; to fawn at the feet of mammon. ” There words seems contradictory.However, Journalism, itself is a paradox.

On the one hand, journalists reveal the truth, on the other hand,they evade to exposure the truth for different reasons. Tell the truth sometimes would take the risk of losing job as Swinton mentioned, even put yourself in danger. In the 1976 movie,All the President’s Man,Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein,reporters from The Washington Post ,who intended to uncover the dirty tricks in the president’s campaign and the truth of  Watergate affair were threatened when they were getting close to the truth. Truth or danger,sometimes could be a dilemma for journalists.

In order to cope with this problem, some reporters choose to tell some pieces of correct information. For example, if there were a murder, the would provide readers the exact time, place and people involved in, but omit the criminal motive,which might cause negative consequence. They indeed tell the authentic information, but not the whole truth.

Build your Future Make a Difference- Rangos School of Health Sciences

This is one of Duquesne’s original buildings; a wonderful example of collegiate gothic architecture; an epitome of the university’s rich history.

” It is absolute a unique building, you see, the roof is shaped like a traditional church.” said Kate , a girl i met infront of the lobby . She is taking laboratory couses this semester in Rangos. ” The first time i walked into Rangos, i was totally lost.” According to her description, i walked around each floor myself, and surprised by the intricate design in such a small building. The faint glow in the aisle, the dark stonewall,and the arched windows constitue it as an old castle instead of a teaching building.

I made an appointment to meet Dean’s assistant to ask more about this building. And Judy, a nice lady provides me some valuable information.

Dukes defeated its opponent, Heinz House, and purchased this building on December 28,1923, which used to be Duquesne’s gym. In 1990, the president of Duquesne university announced the creation of a school of health and science ,named after its supporter John G. Rangos.During the past 22 years, increasing number of professional, well-educated students major in health since and physical therapy started their career life here.

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