History Main / SpotlightFallacy

Compare TheNewRockAndRoll.

* Parents are terrified of their children being abducted by strangers, due to overwhelming coverage of such events (think Elizabeth Smart). However, the ''vast'' majority of kidnappings are committed by immediate family members or close friends.

* Similarly, the number of reports of school teachers caught molesting their students has skyrocketed with the advent of the internet. The number of ''reports'' has--not necessarily the amount of molestation going on or the number or proportion of child-molesting teachers to teachers in general. There's a bit of FalseCause in play here as well, as the reason for the rising number of reports may be for any number of reasons: better monitoring and oversight means child-molesting teachers get caught sooner and more often, victims' complaints are more likely to be believed and acted upon a lot sooner, and various new media are even more eager than the old media outlets to report and keep a LongList of incidents involving child-molesting teachers. In the case of both the priests and the teachers, it's also worth noting that child molesters naturally tend to gravitate to positions that grant them access to potential victims; as such, religious and secular educators are likely to have more child molesters among them than, say, cleaners or desk jockeys or workers in any other primarily grownup-oriented occupational fields.

* Similarly, the number of reports of school teachers caught molesting their students has skyrocketed with the advent of the internet. The number of ''reports'' has--not necessarily the amount of molestation going on or the number or proportion of child-molesting teachers to teachers in general. There's a bit of FalseCause in play here as well, as the reason for the rising number of reports may be for any number of reasons: better monitoring and oversight means child-molesting teachers get caught sooner and more often, victims' complaints are more likely to be believed and acted upon a lot sooner, and various new media are even more eager than the old media outlets to report and keep a LongList of incidents involving child-molesting teachers. In the case of both the priests and the teachers, it's also worth noting that child molesters naturally tend to gravitate to positions that grant them access to potential victims; as such, religious and secular educators' pools are likely to have more child molesters in them than, say, janitor's positions or office jobs or other primarily adult-oriented occupations.

* School shootings are given extensive media coverage and are a common fear for parents; in fact, ''even in the USA'' they are so rare that a US child is more likely to be struck by lightning than to be killed by a mass-murderer (let alone one who targets a school). Needless to say, for the 95% of us who don't live in the USA that chance is several dozen times less likely still - to the point that you'd be wiser to fear sharks and vending machines.

:: A close cousin to the UsefulNotes/AnecdotalFallacy. The SpotlightFallacy is making a generalization based on how much news coverage a subject gets. This is fallacious because the news media tends to focus heavily on events that are less common in real life. However, because the news covers them so extensively, it's an easy mistake to make.

:: A close cousin to the AnecdotalFallacy. The SpotlightFallacy is making a generalization based on how much news coverage a subject gets. This is fallacious because the news media tends to focus heavily on events that are less common in real life. However, because the news covers them so extensively, it's an easy mistake to make.

* Many people assume by default (or joke) that all Catholic priests are [[PedophilePriest Pedophile Priests]], even though only a few dozen priests have been convicted for the crime of sexually assaulting children - the vast majority of Catholic priests who sexually assaulted people targeted vulnerable teenagers and adults (exclusively). Leaving aside the questions of why they did it (pleasure in controlling people, lust) and why the Church would do its damnedest to cover it up and avoid bringing the criminals to justice or compensating the victims (reputation to uphold, budget to balance, genuine faith criminals could be reformed) , this makes perfect sense: only a tiny minority of the population (1-2%) are sexually attracted to children. That this statistic should be reflected in the number of kids raped by Catholic priests is fair enough, when you think about it.

* Many people assume by default (or joke) that all Catholic priests are [[PedophilePriest Pedophile Priests]], even though only a few dozen priests actually sexually assaulted children - the vast majority of Catholic priests who sexually assaulted people targeted vulnerable teenagers and adults (exclusively). Leaving aside the questions of why they did it (pleasure in controlling people, lust) and why the Church would do its damnedest to cover it up and avoid bringing the criminals to justice or compensating the victims (reputation to uphold, budget to balance, genuine faith criminals could be reformed) , this makes perfect sense: only a tiny minority of the population (1-2%) are sexually attracted to children. That this statistic should be reflected in the number of kids raped by Catholic priests is fair enough, when you think about it.

* Many people assume by default (or joke) that all Catholic priests are [[PedophilePriest Pedophile Priests]], thanks to a small number of scandals.

* School shootings are given extensive media coverage and are a common fear for parents; in fact, they are so rare that a child is more likely to be struck by lightning than to be shot.

* Whenever a band or musician becomes controversial, it's very common for parents/teachers to become scared and assume that one band/musician represents ''all'' popular music. Even though only a select few popular bands ever become controversial, and in many instances, the ones who do become controversial aren't nearly as popular as their constant media coverage would have you think.

* Summer of the Shark. Due to the national coverage of a shark attack on a young boy in 2001, coverage was given to every attack that happened for the next few months; and it only stopped because of 9/11. Shark attacks were actually down from 85 to 76, and there were on 5 shark-related deaths in 2001 compared to 12 the previous year. It has also been said that that was the lowest number of shark attacks in a decade.

* This fallacy can be exploited for advertising purposes. For example, for quite a while, virtually every computer in a movie or television show was a Mac, despite the fact that more people still use Windows.

* Whenever a band or musician becomes controversial, it's very common for parents/teachers to become scared and assume that one group represents ''all'' popular music. Even though only a select few popular bands ever become controversial, and in many instances, the ones who do become controversial aren't nearly as popular as their constant media coverage would have you think.

* Whenever a band or musician becomes controversial, it's very common for culturally out-of-touch parents/teachers to become scared and assume ''all'' modern-day popular music is this "offensive." Even though only a select few popular bands ever become controversial, and in many instances, the ones who do become controversial aren't nearly as popular as the media would have you think (witness, for example, the controversy that surrounded the song "Cop Killer" in 1992 - a song that was ''never even released as a single until after all its controversy died down'').

:: A close cousin to the AnecdotalFallacy. The SpotlightFallacy is making a generalization based on how much news coverage a subject gets. This is fallacious because the news media tends to cover events that are less common than in real life, but it's an easy mistake to make.

Many people believe that events that occur often on TV are common in real life. Compare TheNewRockAndRoll.

* Whenever a band or musician becomes controversial, it's very common for culturally out-of-touch parents/teachers to become scared and assume ''all'' modern-day popular music is this "offensive." Even though only a select few popular bands ever become controversial, and in many instances, the ones who do become controversial aren't nearly as popular as the media would have you think (witness, for example, the controversy that surrounded the song "Cop Killer" in 1992 - a song that was ''never even released as a single until after it was pulled from its respective album'').

* Whenever a band or musician becomes controversial, it's very common for culturally out-of-touch parents to become scared and assume ''all'' modern-day popular music is this "offensive." Even though only a select few popular bands ever become controversial, and they may not even be as popular as the media would have you think (witness, for example, the controversy that surrounded the song "Cop Killer" in 1992 - even though the song was never even released as a single until after it was pulled from its respective album).

:: A close cousin to the AnecdotalFallacy. The SpotlightFallacy is making a generalization based on how much news coverage a subject gets. This is fallacious because the news media tends to cover events that are less common than in real life, but it's an easy mistake to make. Many people believe that events that occur often on TV are common in real life. Compare TheNewRockAndRoll.

* Many people are scared of flying since plane crashes are covered almost every time one happens; car crashes are much rarer in the news. Multi-car pileups and fatalities are occasionally covered but still uncommon. But it is about 200 times more likely for a person to die in a car crash than in a plane crash.

:: A close cousin to the AnecdotalFallacy. The SpotlightFallacy is making a generalization based on how much news coverage a subject gets. This is fallacious because the news media tends to cover events that are less common than in real life, but it's an easy mistake to make. Many people believe that events that occur often on TV are common in real life.

:: A close cousin to the AnecdotalFallacy. The SpotlightFallacy is making a generalization based on how much news coverage a subject gets. This is fallacious because the news media tends to cover events that are less common than in real life, but it's an easy mistake to make because its easy for people to confuse what happens most on t.v happens the most in real.

:: A close cousin to the AnecdotalFallacy. The SpotlightFallacy is making a generalization based on how much news coverage a subject gets. This is fallacious because the news media tend to cover events that are less common, but for it's easy to make the mistake of thinking that what is seen the most in the news reflects what happens the most in real life.

* Many people are scared of flying since plane crashes are covered almost every time one happens; car crashes are much rarer in the news. Multi-car pileups and fatalities are occasionally covered but still uncommon. But it is more likely for a person to die in a car crash than in a plane crash.