Why video evidence is unable to create a shared reality
Why partisans disagree over the tragic shooting by an ICE agent
In the aftermath of the tragic shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, the public quickly turned to video footage in search of clarity. But as people watched the same painful video, they came to vastly different conclusions. (This clip from the New York Times website shows the event from multiple angles).
In an interview with the press, President Trump asked his aide to pull up the video. Surely, if we could just see what happened, disagreement would fade. It did not.
Despite watching the exact same video, people reached radically different conclusions.
How can that be?
The myth of the objective camera
Many of us place enormous trust in video evidence. When anything newsworthy happens, people immediately pull out their cameras to document the event. Indeed, this single event was videotaped by numerous bystanders, along with the ICE agent who shot Goode. And in his video, you can se…
