One way the media deceives is by taking things out of context

Stats and quotes can help individuals develop opinions. Unfortunately, these things can be manipulated to prove just about anything. In many cases, we need more context than the media is willing to provide.

During Donald Trump's presidential campaign, we saw numerous examples of quotes and stats being taken out of context. Unfortunately, I didn't bother to record them. I have forgotten most of the examples I saw. Perhaps I should do something a little different here and leave politics.

When I was still following the NHL (I have explained my reason for moving away from the sport in a previous series of posts), there was a really good example related to Roberto Luongo. The Canucks scored on an unusual play intended to capitalize on a weakness of the opposing goalie, Tim Thomas. For some unknown reason, the media asked Luongo, the Canucks' goalie, about the play. Luongo explained that the style Thomas played made him vulnerable to the type of play.

I forget the words he used, but he mentioned that it would have been an easy save for him much like things that are difficult for him are easy for Thomas. The media trimmed the quote to "That's an easy save for me." They weren't even willing to share the full sentence. It spread throughout the hockey universe about how arrogant Luongo was for insisting he was better than Thomas. Luongo never even implied such a thing.

The reason this example stands out so well for me is because of what came next. The media used their deceit as an excuse to hound Luongo. I would have loved it if Luongo had the mental strength to push the mistreatment aside, but that's asking a lot. I have never seen the media treat an athlete so horribly. The media did far more to get under Luongo's skin than the Bruins did. I would even say there was legitimate reason to believe that the media made a conscious attempt to influence the outcome of the series.

I am getting a little off topic here. The point that I am trying to make is that the quote the media provided used Luongo's own words. They did not technically lie about what he said. By removing the context, the meaning of his words was drastically altered. This is why you should always be cautious with these kinds of facts.