The consequences of too much free time

Hello from Bend. I'm in Oregon for four days to do "science" while hanging out at the ski resort. Life is rough. I had a question that came to me on the car ride down that I'd like to share with cyberspace: was it the advent of 24-hour news coverage that necessitated the word "analysis" being appended to every news item?

I have a major problem with most news "analysis". For starters, analysis implies that you had data, whether qualitative or quantitative, and that you spent time and effort looking at for trends, patterns, and possible links between different things. But "analysis" implies something more. Once you find a pattern or a possible cause-effect relationship, you then have to find some type of corroborating evidence to back up your interpretation and conclusions. Just saying "A causes B" doesn't mean anything. For example: unprotected dicks cause unwanted pregnancies. Sure, it makes sense and feels intuitive. But there's more to it. You have to have two people, both of them are involved in the act, there have to be no other contraceptives, etc. The point is, analysis implies that you went beyond your initial finding and can provide evidence to back up your claim.

Too much of the shit that shows up on tv as "analysis" is nothing more than unsubstantiated opinion. It may be presented with an analytic veneer and may even be spoken by someone with a fancy title. But that doesn't make it true. To be fair, much of the internet, including this site, is mostly opinion mixed with small amounts of qualitative analysis. But opinion should not be confused with analysis. Too often it is. Everyone has an opinion. They're cheap, plentiful, and often based on misconceptions, stereotypes, willful ignorance, and blatant disregard of competing evidence. Schools aren't teaching people HOW to think or critically analyze information. So even as the amount of information available expands exponentially, people are not equipped to separate the diamonds from the chaff.

Maybe just reporting the facts wasn't enough for news organizations. After all, that would mean people would have information and would be able to form their own opinions and characterizations of a situation. So now every story has to have some "analysis" to make it more "understandable" to the public. And in-depth story is one thing. A two minute news-bite is not enough time for both facts and analysis. One must suffer. Guess which one it is.

All of these 24 hour news channels need to shut the fuck up and knock it off. There aren't 24 hours worth of things to cover during the day. That's why CNN is on a 30 minute loop and Fox News spends more time having people yell at each other about topics nominally related to U.S. politics than telling us what is going on in the world. Stop degrading the word analysis. You're ruining it for people that actually analyze data.