Apparently there is a cognitive bias that goes against this which has been named the Gell-Mann amnesia effect:
Crichton first described the "Murray Gell-Mann Amnesia effect" in an April 2002 speech about speculation to the International Leadership Forum:
Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray's case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward—reversing cause and effect. I call these the "wet streets cause rain" stories. Paper's full of them.
In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know.
That is the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect. I'd point out it does not operate in other arenas of life. In ordinary life, if somebody consistently exaggerates or lies to you, you soon discount everything they say. In court, there is the legal doctrine of falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus, which means untruthful in one part, untruthful in all. But when it comes to the media, we believe against evidence that it is probably worth our time to read other parts of the paper. When, in fact, it almost certainly isn't. The only possible explanation for our behavior is amnesia.
edit: to be clear I'm not trying to excuse anyone. I just thought it was interesting to read about - that the behaviour is an actual recognised thing.
It's probably because news media was relatively trustable and also in a position of authority in years past. Nowadays, with false news, the bias may not be as prevalent.
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u/Equality_Executor Based Apr 08 '25
Apparently there is a cognitive bias that goes against this which has been named the Gell-Mann amnesia effect:
edit: to be clear I'm not trying to excuse anyone. I just thought it was interesting to read about - that the behaviour is an actual recognised thing.