3. In this argument the author concludes that the city should allocate some of its arts
& c8 u. ~: `% H; f" vfunding to public television. The conclusion is based on two facts: (1) attendance at the % {! U( a. T) z6 g9 @1 g" O$ V
city's art museum has increased proportionally with the increases in visual-arts program
8 b7 c+ L7 p' \' U9 C+ Oviewing on public television, and (2) public television is being threatened by severe cuts 1 Q9 T7 a. L0 g" @
in corporate funding. White this argument is somewhat convincing, a few concerns need
9 M6 ]( A# B" B' K& J8 F+ r4 Uto be addressed./ Z i% U" y" J4 F+ t
To begin with, the argument depends on the assumption that increased exposure to / b# a) d' w8 E5 p5 [) [
the visual arts on television, mainly public television, has caused a similar increase in $ ]: ^, R4 [$ ?! q1 ^
local art-museum attendance. However, just because increased art-museum attendance 9 t+ c& u; G& G8 A6 {
can be statistically correlated with similar increases in television viewing of visual-arts
" `4 n8 W* A4 C9 E5 cprograms, this does not necessarily mean that the increased television viewing of arts is
5 ]5 X# o+ q) V# `& @& d3 bthe cause of the rise in museum attendance." T8 u1 J& @* H. W3 i1 _
Moreover, perhaps there are other factors relevant to increased interest in the local
8 a- @2 i" J& G4 r! k `; x' M$ l6 \art museum; for instance, maybe a new director had procured more interesting, exciting ) C C/ R) ]4 j
acquisitions and exhibits during the period when museum attendance increased, in $ C. c4 t+ r. |
addition, the author could be overlooking a common cause of both increases. It is - N, q5 v3 ~7 x* V
possible that some larger social or cultural phenomenon is responsible for greater public
9 H# Q' }$ ~% w ^% i* G; e1 hinterest in both television arts programming and municipal art museums., I8 _2 b7 s* S3 x3 n: ^
To be fair, however, we must recognize that the author's assumption is a special
5 y2 i$ n# h% Jcase of a more general one that television viewing affects people's attitudes and 9 \* F( W" ~9 y! O% c/ Q
behavior. Common sense and observation tells me that this is indeed the case. After all,
" u8 b7 `7 B3 A( |( v h) badvertisers spend billions of dollars on television ad time because they trust this
# w: C# W6 h) p5 P4 V& ]assumption as well.
! p* a& {6 k3 P In conclusion, I am somewhat persuaded by this author's line of reasoning. The 3 s p5 m$ a9 Z
argument would be strengthened if the author were to consider and rule out other - J/ A) b4 \, l) K2 k) v' z
significant factors that might have caused the increase in visits to the local art museum. |