Science Reporting in the Media is Mostly Garbage

Post Reply New Topic

No, I think you have it right; that was always a weakness of 'science journalism,' even back when there were actual science journalists. What they had that, say, a police-blotter-journallist or a business-journalist might not have had, was an understanding of the process of science (that is, they would understand what a p-value was, for example, or an R, and whether or not the study was asking a question or trying to prove a pre-set point) and a familiarity with how scientists speak. WRT the latter, for example, climate scientists (and many others) have been doing the scientific equivalent of screaming at the tops of their lungs for the last decade, and to the public it seems very equivocal and undramatic. A science journalist would at least understand that scientific 'tone of voice,' even if they had to have the scientist in question (or some other expert in the field) translate for them rather than reading the study directly.

The imbalance has to do with the nature of double majors in undergraduate journalism. Students who pursue careers in journalism tend to be largely in the humanities. I think the ratio of science graduates who embark on a journalism career or obtain cadetship with a newsmedia org is relatively small. Some exceptions are female journalists with a background in psychology or health science. If the main media outlets want a journalist to report on a breaking story on artificial intelligence or genetic engineering they will be limited to whoever is closest to meet the brief. I've seen plenty of tech writers with an IT background writing for financial publications or people with health science degrees or medical degrees writing for medical or health related publications.

Where we get unstuck is where you have a broadsheet tabloid that has huge readership where there will be some generic writer who writes science related articles and who may have experience in writing science journalism without having a science background themselves. Even here I doubt a writer with a background in computing is going to be able to tackle a story on cosmology or a psychologist tackle a story on stem cells. No editor is going to have an army of discipline specific specialists. Here in Victoria the Age or Australian newspapers often consult guest editors or writers on science related topics who are experts in their fields. I guess there is a number of ways to skin a cat.


oops

One of my children did a degree in journalism after a science degree, wanting to use both. She worked for news and they had her cover crime. They didn't want anyone to cover science.. she moved to broadcasting and was used for current affairs. Disillusioned, she did a third degree unrelated to science and now works as a lawyer

Part of the problem is the lack of popularity science garners in the general public. It's largely demand-supply, stories people want to read about include the size of Kim Kardashian's derrier or George Clooney's secret wedding. The news people know crime related stories pull the heart strings or triggers curiosity of readers. Science is neither sexy nor attracts interest unless it's a youtube video of a shark headed crocodile or a man who can lift a truck with his teeth.

I'm very, very tired of "scientists" who want to spout some science fiction just to get their name in print. Multiverses, time travel, beaming physical objects, earth-like planets newly discovered, and so forth. Most "reporters" are just writers. They have someone tell them something that makes for a good headline, so they type it up. Investigation of the claim? Research into the person's background? Checking facts? BLIMEY ! ! That all takes time away from coffee and doughnuts. So much easier to type up the story, and if it backfires, just type up another saying the person was a "hoaxer".

I despise the vast majority of Urinalists and Presstitutes.

They are attention whores, banging out tripe after tripe about that which they cannot understand.

The world is much worse off for having these insufferable losers telling their incomplete, never sourced rubbish to any rag that will publish their s**t for a couple hundred $$.

BUT my friends!! !! !
they are being REPLACED BY SOFTWARE PROGRAMS THAT WRITE THE STORIES FOR THEM!! !! !

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! !! !! !

http://singularityhub.com/2014/03/25/mo ... you-think/