Critical Reasoning

Whenever a major airplane accident occurs, there is a dramatic increase in the no. of airplane mishaps reported in the media, a phenomenon that may last for as long as a few months after the accident. Airline officials assert that the pulicity given tje gruesomeness of major airplane accidents focuses media attention on the airplane industry, and the increase in the no. of reported accidents is caused by an increase in the no. of news sources covering the airline accidents, not by an increase in the number of accidents.

Which of the following if true, would seriously weaken the assertions of airline offcials?

A. The publicity surrounding airline accidents is largely limited to the country in which the crash occured.
B. Airline accidents tend to occur far more often during certain peak travel months.
C. News organizations do not have any guidelines to help then decide how severe an accident must be for it to receive coverage.
D. Airplane accidents recieve coverage by news sources only when the news sources find it advantageous to do so.
E. Studies by govt. regulators show that the no. of airplane flight miles remains relatively constant from month to month.