Red herring
Introduces an irrelevant point to distract from the issue.
Specimen
The minister's expenses may look high, but let's not forget unemployment is at a 20-year low .
Fabricated passage — teaching example designed for clarity.
red herring — an unrelated statistic introduced to distract from the expense question
Dissection
The minister's expenses may look high, but let's not forget unemployment is at a 20-year low.
- topic shift
- irrelevant fact inserted
- expense question abandoned
Field notes
- Family
- Logical fallacy
- Habitat
- political coverage, press briefings, debate reporting
- Frequency
- found in 10% of analyzed articles
- Confused with
- Whataboutism , Selective framing
In the wild
"Yes, waiting lists are long — but this government has built more hospitals than any before it."
Political interview, broadcast transcript, January 2026
"The deficit is a concern, but real wages are up. Let's keep perspective."
Economic commentary, national broadsheet, April 2026
Why it works
A well-chosen distraction is hard to resist. If the redirected topic is interesting, the original question is quietly dropped.
Counter-move
Identify what question was asked. Did the response actually answer it?
See it flagged in real articles while you read.
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