Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events

Protestor Math
Larry J — (archived)

A few days ago, there was a thread about the massive turnout at anti-war protests, the biggest since the Vietnam War. I wonder if "protestor math" was taking place with these marches where the number of attendees gets inflated by the press.

Here's a more recent example. There was a tragic murder-suicide in Phoenix a few days ago. Yesterday, the NRA had a get out the vote rally in Phoenix, an event that was scheduled long before the murders. According to this CBS article about the event, "A few dozen people protested outside."

However, the AP covered the same event. According to their report: Three people protested outside.

Hmmm, there's a big difference between "3 people" and "a few dozen". Perhaps the bias multiplier was in effect, or maybe the CBS reporter just can't count.

BTW: I've heard several eyewitnesses to the San Franscisco protest where "40,000 people attended" who said that at most, there were 2000 people there and that's counting several hundred cops. Hmmm, eyewitnesses can't be wrong, can they?

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