This is the first in an ongoing series on how you can spot bias in MSM stories based on interesting word usages. Today's lesson is about "some, many and most," three of the most inaccurate, often bias-filled words used.
The seemingly innocuous terms reporters use to describe aggrigations of people can turn out to be very tricky. "Some" should be used to describe an aggrigate of people larger than two and smaller than a plurality, based on the best available data: i.e. some people own HDTV sets. A reasonable person should not be surprised to learn that he or she is not included in a "some" comment.
"Many" should be used to describe an aggrigate of people that is approaching or just over a pluarality, but not an overwhelming majority, based on hard observable data, i.e. "Many people own computers." The reasonable person, finding themselves left out of a "many" statement, should nonetheless be willing to acknowledge that the group described is a notable and discerable subset of the population.
"Most" should be reserved for overwhelming, indesputable majorities, i.e. "Most people own television sets." The reasonable person, finding himself left out of a "most" comment should, again, be willing to acknowledge that he is in the vast minority.
The key here is that each of these three phrases should depend on observable, reputable information. It should never be based on a sense one gets within the newsroom, or at a cocktail party, or after circulating at a self-selecting public event. All too often, that is exactly what occurs.
In practice in an MSM article, "some" refers to the subset of the population that disagrees with or opposes things the MSM reporter favors ("some Americans think Bush is telling the truth"), "many" refers the subset of the population that agrees with and supports whatever position the MSM reporter favors ("many Americans think Bush is a liar") and "most" refers to the set of people who strongly disapprove of whatever position or cause the LNO reporter disapproves ("most Americans disapprove of Bush's foreign policy").
Some reporters are unbiased enough to use these terms correctly. Many reporters deliberately misuse them in order to insert their personal bias into news stories. Most think that when they do, they are doing nothing wrong.