The media (i.e. news) plays a major role in why the availability heuristic leads us to believe that death by homicide or crashes is more common than death by stroke or stomach cancer. Consider how well the news media’s focus on unusual stories (“man bites dog” vs “dog bites man”) serves its audience. Discuss how the popular media might lead to other errors in judgment for people.
In what ways do we make assumptions about certain groups based on how individuals are portrayed in the media?
Give examples from current media (news, blogs, podcasts, etc) that support your perspective.