Reporting Of Early Scientific Research

"Science journalists need to get a grip on reality. They need to develop a better appreciation of how science works. All too often they are content to just copy from a press release without any critical analysis. They commonly confuse correlation with causation and make recommendations not justified by the data. They may report preliminary studies as if they were proven facts. Enthusiastic predictions based on preliminary research may raise hopes for new treatments, but all too often those hopes turn out to be false. Not exactly 'fake news' but surely misleading. It’s fun to speculate, but it’s not reasonable to ask people to take medicines or change their diet or lifestyle based on untested speculations."

One does not have to look far to see "clickbait" using such teasers as "Breaking News" or "Scientists find Amazing (Something)." While such sensationalism does not seem harmful if it is not talking about a drug or a medical procedure, such media reporting tends to prime the public to make more out of preliminary findings in medicine than they should. Click on the link below for five examples of premature press releases/media reports of scientific studies:

Poor Science Reporting and Premature Enthusiasm

Instagram And Mental Health

 Recently, Facebook and Instagram have been taking a lot of heat over the supposed dangers of Instagram on the young. What the science says may surprise you. (link)

What To Do About The Evil That Is Right-Wing Media?

 Click on the link below for a detailed podcast focusing on the history of Faux News but also delves into the general problem of the evils of right-wing media. In the middle of the podcast, there was a brief discussion over how hard it has been to attenuate it. One suggestion mentioned with which I agree is to focus on confronting the employees of the offenders. Do you have any friends or relatives that qualify?

The Foxification of American Media

Media Bias In Favor Of Liberals?

There is much heat and not enough light on the subject of media bias. From my perspective, which is that the truth has a liberal bias, the conservatives are projecting and deceiving the public. Click on the links below for the truth on the subject:

Social media: Is it really biased against US Republicans?

Why the right-wing has a massive advantage on Facebook

The Myth Of Anti-Conservative Bias

Are You Using Wikipedia?

The internet can be a treacherous place if one is looking for unbiased information. Unfortunately, the political right and other magical thinking entities muddy the waters in an attempt to discredit legitimate resources. One such target is Wikipedia. The truth about Wikipedia is that it deserves to be at least an initial "go-to" resource. One of the top fact-checking websites is Media Bias/Fact Check and it has included it in its "Least Biased" sources (link).

Click on the link below for a podcast discussing in detail the history, policies, and procedures of Wikipedia:

The Endurance of Wikipedia

PragerU Exposed

Most science-based thinkers are aware of the magical thinking of media like Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. However, much influential conservative media can be found on the internet. PragerU, "short for Prager University, is an American non-profit organization that creates videos on various political, economic, and philosophical topics from an American conservative or right-wing perspective", is a prominent example of it. Click on the link below for an example of this deluded media.

PragerU and Tradition: The Conservative Utopia

Alternatives To Medicine CAN Be Attacked

All anyone needs to do to see how pervasive alternatives to medicine is in our society is to walk into a pharmacy, watch TV/YouTube advertisements, or have a Facebook account. The video below shows how skepticism activism can begin to change this magical thinking:

Little-Known Acts of Skepticism and How to Join the Home Front for Science

Comedians Have Figured Out The Trick To Covering Trump

"While major news networks have struggled to figure out the right way to cover the Trump administration, political satirists like Samantha Bee, John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, and Seth Meyers have demonstrated why comedy can be such a powerful antidote to bullshit."

Click on the link below:

Every Media reporter needs to internalize this.

Remember, 

It's Not Just Facebook

"It occurred to me recently that the problem with Facebook’s omnipotent algorithm is very similar to a problem we see with scientific publishing. In scientific publishing, we also have a widely used technique for filtering information that is causing trouble. In this case, we filter which publications or authors we judge as promising.

"For this filtering, it has become common to look at the number of citations that a paper receives. And this does cause problems, because the number of citations may be entirely disconnected from the real-world impact of a research direction. The only thing the number of citations really demonstrates is popularity. Citations are a measure that’s as disconnected from scientific relevance as the number of likes is from the truth value of an article on Facebook.
"Of course, the two situations are different in some ways. For example on social media, there is little tradition of quoting sources. This has the effect that a lot of outlets copy news from each other and that it is extra hard to check the accuracy of a statement. Another difference is that social media has a much faster turnover-rate than scientific publications. This means on social media people don’t have a lot of time to think before they pass on information. But in both cases, we have a problem caused by the near-monopoly of a single algorithm."

The trouble with Facebook and what it has in common with scientific publishing

Ben Shapiro Exposed

"Ben Shapiro is often portrayed as a debating genius- yet so many of his arguments are terrible. In this video, I debunk ten of his ridiculous arguments."

Ten Horrible Ben Shapiro Arguments Debunked

Besides Racism, The Main Reason We Have Trump

"By presenting itself as authoritative, trustworthy journalism, Christian news reassures viewers that they do not need to consult mainstream media in order to be informed. More dangerously, it authorizes a particular, often conspiratorial way of viewing the world. It denounces neutrality or accountability to multiple constituencies as burdensome or even hostile to Christian faith."

Tracing the Rise of Christian Media in American Political Discourse

 

 (Vox)

Fox News Viewers Are Not Absorbing Real News

"Stereotypes aside, it's not that Fox News viewers live in a bubble and get all their news from that one source. The average Fox viewer listed 4.5 other source of news they regularly followed. Many also got news from the major broadcast networks, Facebook, and the liberal news channel MSNBC. Nevertheless, those who listed Fox News as one of their news sources had overall lower levels of knowledge on the factual questions. Fox viewers were less likely to know the capital of Canada, the religion of the Dalai Lama, or the size of the Federal budget. They couldn't find South Carolina on map or name the second digit of pi."

Fox News is like an all-you-can-eat buffet, serving up red meat. A more balanced diet might be healthier in the long run.

 

We Are Talking To Ourselves As The World Collapses

I have been a very active and vocal promoter of science-based thinking.  Why?  This is why. What has it led to?  In truth, not much.  Want evidence?  The recent decades of increasing anti-science ideology and dogma culminating in the 2016 US Presidential election results will do.   (NOTE:  this is in addition to Trump's lying and character issues)

Please let me digress a bit before launching into the main reason for this post.  Science literally means "knowledge."  The opposite of knowledge is ignorance, which ruled the planet until the beginning of the "Enlightenment" and the scientific revolution.  Would anyone really want to live in the ignorance prior to this change?  Then why let it creep back into society?   Steven Pinker talks about the positive effects of enlightened and scientific thinking.  Sam Harris challenges the claim that science is morally neutral.  Following are points from Sam's ideas that everyone who thinks science only deals with "is" and not "should" needs to be aware of (Credit: Harriet Hall, the author of the article):

Good Health And Nutrition Advise Available

"What caught our attention was the results of a survey run by the Independent Women's Forum that found:

-    '83 percent of women said they have trouble telling the difference between a legitimate scientific study and one designed to scare them; and

-    87 percent of women say they have a tough time finding sources for health and wellness information that they can trust.'

While we have no further information about the reliability of this survey or its generalization, these figures surprised us, and motivated us to reprint some advice about who to trust, and who not to trust."

It's Easy to Find Good Health/Wellness Information — Read ACSH

It Is Not As Bad As You Think

But the USA does have a real problem.

Proof The World Isn’t Falling Apart

The Subtle Assumption Of Unsupported Dogma By The Media

"What newswriter (anchors don’t write their own copy) would say such a thing—and get away with it? The sooner that newspapers and television stop tacitly assuming that we live on after death, the better."

NBC News tacitly accepts Heaven

A Look At The Question Of Media Bias

Yes, yes and yes:  the US media IS biased toward liberalism.  Now, what does that mean and why?  First of all, lets look at the two major US political parties:  one (the Republican Party) is clearly more anti-science than the other.   Reality is clearly best evaluated by science.  Reality DOES have a liberal bias.  Case made.  Any challengers?

Time To Enlighten Celebrities And Consumers

"According to Dr. Bragg, music celebrities could endorse healthier options, such as lower calorie beverages, 'because that would harness the celebrity’s’ popularity to promote healthy messages to young people. We know from research that adolescents care a lot about brand and really idolize celebrities, so this sort of popularity could be used to encourage healthy dietary habits.'"

Famous Singers Make Your Kids Fat

Uncertainty In Medicine

"Medicine is full of uncertainties, but doctors and patients can work in partnership to understand where a diagnosis or treatment falls on the uncertainty spectrum and that information can help them make rational decisions for individual health care."

Medicine is an uncertain business. It is an applied science - - -.

Medical Science Spin Is A Widespread Problem

"Would you read a story if this was the headline: 'New study raises questions about an experimental treatment that might not work and won't be ready for a long time.'  That description would apply to most medical studies that make the news but would be unlikely to generate the clicks, taps, likes and shares that propel a story through cyberspace and social media.  What gets clicks? Words like 'breakthrough,' 'groundbreaking,' 'game changer' and 'lifesaver.' And that's how much of medical news is described."

So, who's hyping the science? Everybody, it turns out.