#23 - Reporting on a civil war, a journalist encountered

[maximbasu]

Hello,
I chose E as the correct answer while the correct answer was D.

I felt that E was more focused and it included the phrase "reported facts do not by themselves give a misleading impression" which D didn't have.
How would you diagram both D and E? Both of the answer choices seem confusing to diagram. Do you even have to?

Thank you, Maxim.

[LilyRose]

Seconding this question. I chose E rather than D, because I thought the more specific language was a benefit. Of course, I also found this entire question confusing. Can you provide an explanation please?

[maximbasu]

Hi Powerscore,
Please answer this question.
Thanks, M

[Emily Haney-Caron]

Hi Maxim and Lily,

This is a Strengthen Principle Question. In this case, though, you're looking for more than just the answer that most strengthens; you're looking for the one that does so "while placing the least constraint on the flow of reported information." That is the trick to distinguishing D from E; E is unnecessarily restrictive, meaning that it isn't the best answer because of the specific question being asked here. No need to diagram D or E; the trick is spotting that they are identical except for one phrase, and then realizing the phrase actually hurts rather than helps here.

[LilyRose]

I see. I haven't had a lot of practice with the "least constraint" type of question. Thank you for the explanation!

[LSAT2018]

I was also caught between answer (D) and (E). Is answer (E) incorrect because it outlines that the reported facts not give a misleading impression?
And to clarify, answer (D) says it is ethical to report known facts and ethical as well to delete relevant facts given that the recipient has been warned of censorship?

The differences seem very subtle so may I ask for a fuller explanation of the answers?

[Adam Tyson]

You are correct that E is out because of the additional limitation about being misleading. In this case, publishing the report as is, censored, might be misleading, so if E was the rule it would lead to a determination that publishing would NOT be ethical. We need an answer that supports the journalist's claim that publishing IS ethically permissible, but which doesn't go too far and place additional constraints.

Answer D isn't saying that it is ethical to delete facts, but that it is unethical to publish a report with deleted facts UNLESS you warn the audience that there has been censorship. In other words, IF it is ethically okay to publish, THEN the warning has been given; if no warning is given, then publishing is unethical. Don't make a mistake of conditional reasoning and conclude that if a warning is given, publishing is ethical. Be careful about those mistaken negations and mistaken reversals!

[Snomen]

Can anyone break down answer choice D and show the correct diagram...I have a hard time understanding why it is correct...
My diagram is :
/(w)--->(relevant facts deleted --> ~ethical)
But it doesn't make any sense...
So if Warned then it is ethical to make a report?and when not warned then it is unethical ?
Maybe I misunderstood something at the end of the Stimulus?
P.s I also don't understand what "least constraint on the flow" in the question Stem means...Any explanation?

[atierney]

Hello,

Yes, so for D we have the general rule that if no situation of censorship exists, then it is ethical to report the known facts.

Not C -----> Good to report

We then have the fact that if relevant facts by the censor AND the recipient of the report has not been warned that censorship existed, then it is unethical to make the report.

C AND Not warned --------> Bad to report.

Here, we have warning and C, therefore, not bad report, via the contrapositive. Basically we don't know that it's per se ethical, but we do know that it's not unethical. And therefore D is the correct answer.

Part of the confusion in this question lies in the fact that it's not really clear what "cleared by government censors" means, but presumably the function
is to presumably provide awareness that the censorship exists.

Least constraint is related to the notion that we want to provide the most information to the public possible. And this is essentially asking, therefore, what rule, if followed, would allow for this. A rule of least restriction is what we're looking for, therefore, and this is found in answer choice D.

Let me know if you have further questions on this.