Critical Reasoning

The director of programming at NNN, the National News Network, proclaimed that, despite charges to the contrary, the Network does not have a conservative bias. The director acknowledged that, when a liberal news personality was recently added to the Network, an additional conservative news program was also established. However, the director argued that far from demonstrating any bias, these actions reflect a commitment to presenting a balanced perspective in interpreting current events.

Which of the following pieces of information would be most useful in evaluating the validity of the programming director's argument?

The Network has established an additional liberal news program whenever an additional conservative news personality has been added.
The Network airs a program focused largely on the opinions of its viewers on contemporary issues.
The newly added liberal news personality came from a rival network with an acknowledged liberal bias.
The newly added liberal news personality has indicated that he has not felt any editorial pressure in his new environment.
The viewer ratings of the Network have been lower this past year than in previous years.