Hey journalists - can we talk?
I know you are under a lot of pressure lately. And I know you are sick and tired of being called "fake news" and I don't blame you. I know you're mostly doing good things.
However...
I know you are under a lot of pressure lately. And I know you are sick and tired of being called "fake news" and I don't blame you. I know you're mostly doing good things.
However...
You need to do better when covering activist press releases. As a scientist, let me just say, you really suck sometimes. If you don't want to be accused of publishing fake news, one great thing to do would be to stop publishing actual fake news.
Here's one small tip for identifying fake news: if it's from @ewg then it has a high likelihood of being complete and utter bullshit. Dont be their stenographer. Don't legitimize their pseudoscience by making it a he said/she said story. Just stop already.
EWG is the only activist organization I'm aware of that has prompted actual scientists to publish a peer reviewed paper refuting their nonsense. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
Every time they put out a new report, some of you cover it with the sensationalism and fear that they want. You scare people for no good reason. It happens over and over again.
Then after a couple of days, some journalist finally does some *actual reporting* and shows why the fear isn't warranted. psmag.com/social-justice…
But you know what? It's too late. The damage is done. This has been going on for years, and you apparently never learn. It happened again this week. I saw CNN, New York Times, CBS, Newsweek, and certainly more parrot EWG's complete nonsense with no real reporting or context.
Slate stepped in to provide some actual reporting, and I'm glad. But WHERE WERE THE REST OF YOU? slate.com/technology/201…
Scientists *want* to be on your side against the claims of fake news. BUT YOU NEED TO HELP US HELP YOU. Stop publishing this crap. </rant>
(although the irony here is that NBC might not have covered this at all if it weren't for all the shitty coverage to begin with...)
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