We’re having a meeting in a pub tonight, it’s free to get in and open to all, we’ll talk about the problems with science journalism. Apparently science journalists won’t tolerate this.
Steve Connor is an angry man
I’m doing a talk at Glastonbury, Saturday 5pm Green Fields Speakers Tent
Walk up the hill towards the Stone Circle, turn right at the homeopathy tent (if it’s in the same place this year), down Healing Broadway, nice big green tent on the right Read the rest of this entry »
World Conference of Science Journalists – Troublemakers Fringe, Penderel’s Oak Pub, Holborn, 1st July 8pm – Midnight
Come and see me, Vaughan from Mindhacks.com and Petra from drpetra.co.uk talk in a pub on Wednesday.
Next week the World Conference of Science Journalists will be coming to London. A few of us felt they were might not adequately address some of the key problems in their profession, which has deteriorated to the point where they present a serious danger to public health, fail to keep geeks well nourished, and actively undermine the publics’ understanding of what it means for there to be evidence for a claim.
More importantly we fancied some troublemaking and a night in the pub.
As a result, you have the opportunity to come and see three angry nerds explain how and why mainstream media’s science coverage is broken, misleading, dangerous, lazy, venal, and silly. Join our angry rabble, and Read the rest of this entry »
Steorn perpetual motion machine, amazingly, may not work: independent jury resigns
For those who care about follow-ups:
Behind the curtains
Ben Goldacre
The Guardian
Saturday 20 June 2009
When is a conversation public, an act of performance, and when is it private? This problem rears its head with greater frequency in the age of the internet, as more discussions are publicly accessible without necessarily, in the minds of the participants, being for the public.
Home taping didn’t kill music
Ben Goldacre
The Guardian
Saturday 6th June 2009
You are killing our creative industries. “Downloading costs billions” said the Sun. “MORE than seven million Brits use illegal downloading sites that cost the economy billions of pounds, Government advisors said today. Researchers found more than a million people using a download site in ONE day and estimated that in a year they would use £120bn worth of material.”
Dodgy academic PR
Ben Goldacre
The Guardian
Saturday 30 May 2009
Obviously we distrust the media on science: they rewrite commercial press releases from dodgy organisations as if they were health news, they lionise mavericks with poor evidence, and worse. But journalists will often say: what about those scientists with their press releases? Surely we should do something about them, running about, confusing us with their wild ideas? Read the rest of this entry »
To the battlefield, my fellow dweebs!
Ben Goldacre
The Guardian
Saturday 23 May, 2009
So last week the papers were filled with more quirky, prejudice-affirming, untrue science news. Here is just one. “Man flu: it really does exist, girls” said the Daily Star. “Man flu is not a myth: Female hormones give women stronger immune systems” said the Daily Mail. The Daily Telegraph palmed this fantastical assertion off onto “scientists”, saying: “Men succumb to manflu because women have stronger immune systems, claim scientists”. “Women ‘fight off disease better’” said the BBC.
Now, before we get to the details, here is a question: Read the rest of this entry »
What would you say to people from the developing world who use science to make decisions, but don’t necessarily always have a lot of time, or know a lot about it?
I’ve been asked to facilitate a couple of sessions with some civil servant types from various countries in the developing world who advise their governments on science, and particularly on the science informing policy and purchasing decisions. The idea is to focus on how people might try and mislead you with science, and the range of scientific background and understanding in this group will be pretty wide, as it always is with civil servants. Since I’ve noticed a recurring theme for readers of this blog to be a bit cleverer than me (albeit less dogged and obsessive) I was hoping you might have some ideas about the kinds of areas to cover, the themes that are relevant, and the kind of structure to use. Read the rest of this entry »
