Tópico: How ‘Balanced’ Coverage Lets the Scientific Fringe Hijack Reality

[Buckaroo Banzai]

Blinded By Science
How ‘Balanced’ Coverage Lets the Scientific Fringe Hijack Reality


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Journalists face a number of pressures that can prevent them from accurately depicting competing scientific claims in terms of their credibility within the scientific community as a whole. First, reporters must often deal with editors who reflexively cry out for “balance.” Meanwhile, determining how much weight to give different sides in a scientific debate requires considerable expertise on the issue at hand. Few journalists have real scientific knowledge, and even beat reporters who know a great deal about certain scientific issues may know little about other ones they’re suddenly asked to cover.

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http://www.cjr.org/issues/2004/6/mooney-science.asp