Shane Parrish, interviewing Adam Robinson:
…When it comes to overloading our cognitive brains, the seven factors are: being outside of your circle of competence, stress, rushing or urgency, fixation on an outcome, information overload, being in a group where social cohesion comes into play, and being in the presence of an “authority.” Acting alone any of these are powerful enough, but together they dramatically increase the odds you are unaware that you’ve been cognitively compromised.
Here’s a good list of factors that cause mistakes. Note that a lot of them are often outside our immediate control!
And one that’s particularly relevant to news analysis is “in the presence of an authority, or being an authority.” A veeeeery common problem I see among “experts” is when they step outside their area of expertise but still think they know the answers. We all trick ourselves into thinking that because we are really good at one thing (and therefore very “smart”), our opinions must be just as valid on other topics (even though we know we’re not nearly as informed on them). One way to catch to yourself is noticing when you start using absolute statements, instead of describing the complexity or nuance of a situation.