Blogger: Traditionally, newspapers

Answer choices

1. A

   Unsupported Comparison: just as partisan4% picked this

   Journalists at traditional newspapers are just as partisan as journalists who work for

   It's always an extreme comparison when you say "equal / same / just as much", because you're saying two things are identical. Does the author's argument really need traditional journalists to be identically partisan as modern journalists? If they were only 85% as partisan, would that hurt the argument? Of course not. This also seems to go against the current of the conversation, since the traditional newspapers wanted objectivity (and so may have tried to hire more objective, nonpartisan writers) whereas the modern papers want partisan provocateurs (so they may try to hire more partisan writers). This answer might have been appealing to people who thought it was ruling out an alternate explanation for why journalistic standards have shifted (i.e. "maybe it's not because of different business strategies but rather because journalists have just become more partisan"), but a correct version of that answer would not assume an extreme comparison; it would rule out an alternate cause. (A) The shift in journalistic standards is not primarily due to the increasing partisanship of journalists.

   4%
2. B

   Out of Scope: people prefer5% picked this

   People prefer objective reporting to partisan reporting that merely reinforces their

   Nothing in this argument deals with people's preferences, so the author isn't making any assumptions on that subject. If the author believed this answer choice, then she'd think that modern journalistic strategies are ill-conceived (since they are going after reinforcing partisan leanings, rather than objectivity).

   5%
3. C

   Out of Scope9% picked this

   The newer media outlets are increasing in popularity at the expense

   Out of Scope: popularity Unsupported Causal Relationship The author is only telling us that the reason newer media have a different style, in re: objectivity, from newspapers is because the new media cares less about offending potential readers and more about sticking out in a crowded marketplace. We have no information whatsoever about whether newspapers or newer media are doing good / bad / medium, in terms of popularity, nor whether either one of them are stealing market share from the other.

   9%
4. D

   Correct78% picked this

   Newspapers have regarded objective reporting as less likely to offend people than

   Why this is right

   This is one of our two anticipated missing links: 1. Objectivity is supposed to help with "avoid offending potential readers" 2. Creating a stir with openly partisan reporting is supposed to help with "differentiating themselves in a crowded marketplace"

   Skill tested: Necessary Assumption · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   78%
5. E

   Too Strong: no basis4% picked this

   There can be no basis for taking objectivity to be an

   This is a very severe opinion. Where was the author saying, "It's impossible to cogently argue that objectivity is an essential journalistic standard"?

   4%