Blue Monday is churnalism. Again.

January 20th, 2014 by Ben Goldacre in blue monday, cash-for-"stories" | 1 Comment »

I have two problems with Blue Monday. One is that there isn’t really any good evidence for seasonal variation in mood:

“Blue Monday” is churnalism, beware any journalist who puffs it

The other is that serious mental health charities have been getting involved in using it, when they should be holding a line, advocating for patients based on good scientific evidence. Read the rest of this entry »

Tell me now how do I feel

January 22nd, 2011 by Ben Goldacre in bad science, blue monday, churnalism, survey data | 24 Comments »

Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, Saturday 22 January 2011

I’m not going to tell the same story once a year, like some kind of journalistic dirty protest, even if it crops up in parliament, every newspaper, and all over Radio 4: there are more interesting things to say than “Blue Monday is bullshit”, but before we get there, let me briefly clarify how Blue Monday is definitely bullshit.

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“Blue Monday” is churnalism, beware any journalist who puffs it

January 24th, 2009 by Ben Goldacre in blue monday, cash-for-"stories" | 77 Comments »

The Guardian,
Saturday January 24 2009
Ben Goldacre

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(MediaSlut – Ideas) + Money = CorporateWhore

December 16th, 2006 by Ben Goldacre in bad science, blue monday, cash-for-"stories" | 31 Comments »

Ben Goldacre
Saturday December 16, 2006
The Guardian

Ok, look, it’s Christmas, so we really ought to learn to let things go and move on with the important business of being happy and civil, and divert all our bitterness into contriving divisive racist stories about local authorities banishing the baby Jesus from shopping centres. But in amongst all the usual hatemail I’m still getting from the electromagnetic hypersensitivity anti-phone-mast lobby, I received something this week that triggered, I freely admit, something deep inside me that I could only describe as a feeling. This is most unusual.

Cliff Arnall

You might remember Dr Cliff Arnall. He is Read the rest of this entry »