Framed for Lying: Statistics as In/Artistic Proof

Daniel Libertz

doi:10.29107/rr2018.4.1

Res Rhetorica Dec 2018 OA PDF

Framed for Lying: Statistics as In/Artistic Proof

Daniel Libertz University of Pittsburgh

Abstract

A statistic can be a powerful rhetorical tool in political discourse, but it can also be quickly dismissed by a resistant audience. This article argues that the statistic’s association with Aristotelian inartistic proof (in Greek: pisteis atechnoi, Lat. probationes inartificiales) can, counterintuitively, encourage resistant audiences to be dismissive, to think that statistics “lie.” By drawing from the concept of framing in media studies, I explore how the language used around a calculation can better serve readers when it is more explicit about the statistic’s creation from a social process—that it is invented rather than used in argument. If statistics rely on interpretation, rhetors should invite their audience to interpret rather than insist on an interpretation. I use examples from news articles covering immigration in the United States to explore a frame that does such insisting and a frame that invites.

Journal: Res Rhetorica
Published: 2018-12-31
DOI: 10.29107/rr2018.4.1
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Open Access: OA PDF Diamond
Topics: rhetorical criticism discourse analysis public rhetoric
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Framed for Lying: Statistics as In/Artistic Proof

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