The Press on Science

[James Hannam]

The Large Hadron Collider has started a few stories in the press about whether it will destroy the world and some more stories pointing out that the original stories are silly.

Here's a question in the Daily Mail to which the answer is no:
www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1052309/MICHAEL-HANLON-Are-going-die-Wednesday.html

And the Times gets tetchy about the silliness:
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article4677821.ece

The press really are awful at reporting science. This is the reason GM crops are as good as banned in Europe and children are dying of measles because they do not have MMR.

Best wishes

James

[eckadimmock]

From the few times I've had inside knowledge of what was actually going on I've come to the conclusion that the press are awful at reporting anything.

At the university where I work there are a large number of foreign students. One senior professor talking to a journalist observed that because of different customs, interests and study habits there was a "potential" for tension between groups. The story that came out shortly thereafter made the uni sound like a powderkeg on the brink or race riots.