Judging by the message that is coming out of Stephen Collinson’s article, one can easily tell the conspicuous limited critical thinking skills. He has been a reporter with the CNN for years but it seems his experience in the industry is not enhancing his personal growth in skills that are critical to his career. Journalists are supposed to be critical thinkers since they are expected to take stands that shape public opinions on national matters. With this in mind, I find Collinson’s article to be very unprofessional and limited to general criticism.
For instance, he seems to insist that the Republicans are not in a position to form a united party. This is taking into account the internal wrangles that have been happening within the party. However, this is not a point to base one’s argument on a subject that could easily discredit the integrity of a national party. Given the high moral authority that the Reporter and the company he works for has, it defeats any logical explanation to make such an uninformed claim. In the article he refers to a comment made by Charlie Kirk the leader of Tuning Point USA (Collinson, 2015).
Kirk had indicated in his statement that “we can learn from the left in regard” referring to the Democrats (Collinson, 2015). But Collinson’s way of analyzing this statement is a clear indication that he does not have the skills of a critical thinker. The fact that this statement talks of one political wing emulating strategies that are working for another political wing is not an indication of defeat. According to the tone of his article, he has clearly taken sides and this is very unprofessional in journalism. I find his way of getting his audience’s attention to be very subjective rather than objective.
In the entire article he has led his readers to think that the Republican Party is falling apart based on very minor wrangles within the party. This is clearly seen when he reports that there are “talks of emulating President Barak Obama” in the Republican Party leadership (Collinson, 2015). A critical thinker would argue that Democrats are setting the pace in the political scene and for one to defeat them he or she must catch up with their speed and surpass them. But Collinson does not see it that way. He wants to insist that this is a sign of failure and the republicans are fighting to keep their party alive.
However, anyone who has been following the recent political activities can tell that the Republicans are not grappling for their last breath in the political scene. Collinson’s style of reporting clearly shows that he does not have the skill to critically analyze events as they happen. He is taking issues and comments literary and this is undermining his ability to see issues from different dimensions. Critical thinking allows one to be able to see and analyze a situation from all approaches, both positive and negative.
It allows an individual to be objective and it also enhances good judgment. Collinson’s judgment is aligned to his political loyalty if this article could be used to examine his critical thinking skills. His article has outlined all the negative comments made by the republicans. With regards to Walkers statement when he was asked on how he intended to deal with ISIS, Collinson terms that as foreign policy inexperience (Hatcher, 2011). Clearly, critical evaluation of that statement can bring up other divergent meanings other than a negative and conclusive personal thought.
Reference
Collinson, S. (2015). Can conservatives come together?. Web.
Hatcher, R. (2011). The Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition government’s “free schools” in England. Educational Review, 63(4): 485-503.