Comments on: Should Science Journalists Take Sides? http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/blog/2010/09/24/should-science-journalists-take-sides/ Advancing ecology and making it count Mon, 20 May 2013 14:42:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Thurman Chapdelaine http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/blog/2010/09/24/should-science-journalists-take-sides/#comment-2377 Thurman Chapdelaine Fri, 14 Jan 2011 08:35:38 +0000 http://britishecologicalsociety.org/blog/?p=1386#comment-2377 Hi there, I found your blog via Search engines while trying to find a related topic for my study. Finally i found site talking this specific topic, It’s actually a cool and very helpful little bit of info. I’m delighted that you choose to shared this specific helpful information with us. Be sure to keep us up to date like this. Many thanks for sharing.

]]> By: simon evans http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/blog/2010/09/24/should-science-journalists-take-sides/#comment-2376 simon evans Sat, 02 Oct 2010 21:18:16 +0000 http://britishecologicalsociety.org/blog/?p=1386#comment-2376 It has just occurred to me what is wrong with this argument. You report Henderson saying journalists should have opinions and Ceri Thomas saying journalists musn’t take sides. Both are right in a way but miss the point: it is not about opinion, it is about judgement.

Since journalists (we hope) aspire to report accurately on ‘the truth’ they must constantly use their judgement to make decisions about the credibility and reliability of sources and statements. One would not expect a reporter to ‘take sides’ when reporting on David Cameron’s latest speech, but if he says something incredible which the reporter knows to be a clanger, it is not taking sides to say so.

The same applies to science in spades, because nebulous as it may be at times it is still easier to pin down than political ideologies.

The failure of many ‘top’ journalists to call out figures like Lord Monckton for the cranks they are demonstrates that good judgement is too often trumped by a fear of appearing to take sides (giving benefit of doubt and assuming the good judgement was there to be trumped…)

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