Comments on: Be suspicious of research presented at scientific meetings https://ethicalnag.org/2011/12/08/research-scientific-meetings/ Marketing Ethics for the Easily Swayed Fri, 26 Aug 2016 00:40:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Carolyn Thomas https://ethicalnag.org/2011/12/08/research-scientific-meetings/comment-page-1/#comment-22169 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:56:01 +0000 http://ethicalnag.org/?p=7719#comment-22169 Hello Cave – I can’t speak for why journalists attend these conferences (most, I’m guessing, are simply assigned to cover the events by their editors) – my concern is not so much with the reporters themselves, but with ‘scientists’ presenting their papers as if they were gospel.

Like

]]> By: cave76 https://ethicalnag.org/2011/12/08/research-scientific-meetings/comment-page-1/#comment-22144 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:32:32 +0000 http://ethicalnag.org/?p=7719#comment-22144 Media coverage:
If it bleeds, it leads— or a variation on that theme.
If the ‘facts’ presented at a scientific conference seem too hard for the ‘average reader’ then dumb it down a little and leave out some of the longer words, like hypothetical or implausible.
Most journalists write to a 5th to 8th grade level for the general public; I find that insulting but hey…….

From Wiki, which is where I go first for dumbed down information (grin) but it’s a good jumping off place—–
****write as simply as possible and minimize the complexity of argument involved in a given written piece, often at the expense of factual accuracy, completeness, depth, and/or logical validity****

Some of the reasons media reporters go to a scientific conference rather than read a dense science article (if it were even published yet) are:
1. They might get to travel to a city they’ve always wanted to visit, expenses paid.
2. There might be rooms with free flowing liquor available for the press and other conference participants.
3. There might be a chance to ‘hook up’ with a lovely young lady (or hunk) there.

There are more.🙂

Like

]]>