PrepTest 142, Section 2, Question 19
As often now as in the past, newspaper(32 more words not shown)
Each of the following, if(11 more words not shown)
- ANewspaper publishers have(22 more words not shown)
- BThe areas of(20 more words not shown)
- CPersons supporting controversial(17 more words not shown)
- DA basic principle(14 more words not shown)
- EJournalists who challenge(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Reporting a claim isn't the same as challenging it. Journalists still quote unsupported or false statements as often as before, but they are becoming less likely to question those statements openly in their articles.
Why might that happen? Perhaps challenging a source brings unpleasant consequences. Perhaps reporters are too overworked to investigate what they are told. Those are possible explanations to look for, not facts we've been given.
What we’re looking for
This is an EXCEPT question. Four answers should help explain the reduced willingness to challenge claims. We want the one that doesn't give reporters a reason to become less critical.
Working the answers
- A
Losing subscribers gives a newspaper a financial reason to avoid disputing its readers' assumptions. Even if a challenge would be accurate, the publisher might worry that offended readers will cancel. That pressure helps explain the trend, so A is not the exception.
- B
A reporter covering an increasingly specialized subject might not know enough to spot a problem. Imagine being told a complicated claim about astrophysics without understanding the field well enough to question it. If assignments become more specialized while reporters' knowledge doesn't keep up, less open challenge is understandable. B helps explain the trend.
- C
Reporters may need access to people they cover. If those people increasingly choose sympathetic interviewers, a reporter who challenges them risks losing that access. Also, the reporters selected may already be less inclined to question the views. Either effect helps explain why claims receive less scrutiny within articles.
- DCorrect
Attracting public attention through debate would give journalists a reason to encourage controversy and challenge disputed claims. It doesn't explain a move away from such challenges. The principle also supplies no change that would account for the trend. D is the exception because it doesn't help explain the behavior described.
- E
Being criticized as unprofessional can discourage a reporter from challenging claims. Whether that criticism is fair is a different question. Its existence supplies a possible cost of scrutiny, which can help explain why journalists do less of it.
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