#20 - Reporters, by allotting time to some events

[ltoulme]

Hi!

Could someone please help me understand this problem a little better? I incorrectly chose (A), but (E) was my other contender. Since it's a point at issue question, I know that I should use the Agree/Disagree Test. I want to make sure my thought process is correct on why (E) is right.

Since Ramon wants his reporters to decide whether or not a story is newsworthy, but he doesn't want them to interpret the news, he disagrees that "reporting on certain events rather than others qualifies as interpreting the news." Obviously Sarah agrees with the statement in (E) because that's her definition of reporting.

I don't totally understand why (A) is incorrect, however. It seems to me that Ramon couldn't agree with (A) because if that was true, and if he thinks reporters should never interpret the news, how could they ever do their jobs?

Thanks so much as always!
Laura

[David Boyle]

Hi!

Could someone please help me understand this problem a little better? I incorrectly chose (A), but (E) was my other contender. Since it's a point at issue question, I know that I should use the Agree/Disagree Test. I want to make sure my thought process is correct on why (E) is right.

Since Ramon wants his reporters to decide whether or not a story is newsworthy, but he doesn't want them to interpret the news, he disagrees that "reporting on certain events rather than others qualifies as interpreting the news." Obviously Sarah agrees with the statement in (E) because that's her definition of reporting.

I don't totally understand why (A) is incorrect, however. It seems to me that Ramon couldn't agree with (A) because if that was true, and if he thinks reporters should never interpret the news, how could they ever do their jobs?

Thanks so much as always!
Laura

Hello Laura,

Yes, maybe Ramon doesn't agree with answer A; but that doesn't mean Sarah agrees with it either. For her, interpretation happens when reporters choose a story; but how do we know that she thinks interpretation also occurs when reporters report the story? Maybe, like Ramon, she thinks that reporters just relay the facts at that point. So answer A is not necessarily something about which they disagree.
Also, there is "do" vs. "should". Maybe Ramon also believes that reporters DO interpret when they report, even though they SHOULDN'T. And, for all we know, maybe Sarah too believes that reporters DO interpret when they report.

Hope this helps,
David

[ltoulme]

Hi David - thanks so much for the response. Makes sense now!

[nicizle]

I'm not understanding even slightly why or how E is the correct answer. I had trouble dissecting this stimulus in general, as I didn't really see that they were disagreeing over anything. Ramon seems to concede on the definition of what it means to interpret news and says we shouldn't, so how is E right? They seem to agree on what it means to interpret the news.

[Luke Haqq]

Hi nicizle!

It may be helpful to consider what is unstated but implied by Sarah's and Ramon's comments. Sarah states that "Reporters, by allotting time to some events rather than others, are exercising their judgment as to what is newsworthy and what is not. In other words, they always interpret the news." In other words, Sarah believes that reporting on some events rather than others qualifies as interpreting the news.

Ramon responds by saying, "Reporters should never interpret the news. Once they deem a story to be newsworthy, they are obliged to relay the facts to me untainted." That is to say, Ramon thinks that reporters shouldn't interpret the news, and he additionally seems to think that choosing what stories are newsworthy doesn't count as interpreting the news.

We can test answer choice (E) by asking whether each person would agree or disagree with it. Sarah would agree with the statement in (E), while Ramon would disagree with it. Since they'd disagree over the statement, that confirms that it's the correct answer.