tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8524070301101240472.post4614317930245303385..comments2023-09-28T08:13:11.489-07:00Comments on Only In It For The Gold: How It's DoneMichael Tobishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229460438349093944noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8524070301101240472.post-61920144644739132472010-02-28T05:14:24.565-08:002010-02-28T05:14:24.565-08:00MT I hope you don't mind me responding to Fran...MT I hope you don't mind me responding to Frank Bi a bit. Frank, those I mentioned all have science degrees, and I do include stats in this case because much of climatology, as do many other hard sciences, depend on stats. Though I have a different opinion than Romm or MT, does not change the fact that they, as the others, address nuanced discussions with facts. They are not fact free as you indicated. Your idea of journalism is somewhat limited. I did not redefine it. It may be unpaid, but it is a form of journalism http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2008/02/distinction-between-bloggers-journalists-blurring-more-than-ever059.html What the blogs are better at, and this is true of those whose position is different from mine is that they are professionals writing in their area(s) of expertise. Though some are more expert than others, the quality and the facts and nuances are better. I don't judge by google news. I find MT's articles worth reading because they are. As for the situation we find ourselves in, that will not change unless our form of government changes. Most of today's major players are either representative democracies or technocratic states. Input from the governed will occur. Best make sure they are educatedJohn F. Pittmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07084322274034650225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8524070301101240472.post-6096986518144237792010-02-27T17:19:51.720-08:002010-02-27T17:19:51.720-08:00Well, there is still The Nation.Well, there is still <b>The Nation</b>.David B. Bensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02917182411282836875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8524070301101240472.post-52946572039202240492010-02-27T13:29:27.320-08:002010-02-27T13:29:27.320-08:00Unpaid blogging, however ill-informed, is not suff...Unpaid blogging, however ill-informed, is not sufficient to replace paid journalism, because some things are inherently complex, and some things are deliberately obfuscated.<br /><br />But it's easier to find scientists who can write than journalists who can understand complex or technically obfuscated questions. <br /><br />Pick the best potential scientist among a hundred trained journalists and pick the best potential journalist among a hundred trained scientists. Of the two, whose report on a technical question would you prefer? Whose efforts <em>would you actually pay for</em>?<br /><br />As long as <em>nobody</em> gets paid, things will get distorted and hidden. That much is true. But it seems that the whole mass-oriented media culture is determined to prevent the small but important fraction of people who actually want to know what is going on to have a way to do so.<br /><br />Journalism seems to be about force-feeding trivialities to ignorant masses while ignoring those genuinely willing and capable in lending their wits to sensible governance. <br /><br />Now that push journalism is dying for anyone under seventy, we are left with no investigative traditions at all. I think blogs have much to tell us about how this will go. But they are not enough.Michael Tobishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08229460438349093944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8524070301101240472.post-81835579717646274462010-02-27T11:00:44.801-08:002010-02-27T11:00:44.801-08:00John F. Pittman:
"MT I think engineers and o...John F. Pittman:<br /><br />"MT I think engineers and other scientists are going into journalism. They are on blogs. You, me, Lucia, JeffID, Steve McI, Joe Romm, etc."<br /><br />Duh. In short, you're saying that "engineers and other scientists" are already going into "journalism", because you just redefined "journalism" to include writing fact-free opinion on blogs, and "engineers and other scientists" to include, well, people with no known scientific training writing fact-free opinion on blogs.<br /><br />"Traditional press sells stories, they are not nuetral"<br /><br /><b>And blogs are better in what sense exactly?</b> Admit it: even without the $$$ factor, there's still an incentive for bloggers to pump out stories and play to their audience -- if you pump out more stories, then in the distorted world of Google News and Google Blogs and what not, it means you have a greater 'say' in things, even if what you 'say' is nonsense.<br /><br />Anyway.<br /><br />"I see no reason in principle why people trained in science should not do journalism."<br /><br />I think the problem with getting science-trained people to do journal, to better describe "the nuances of scientific findings", is that it's not terribly exciting. If you have the necessary scientific background to understand cutting-edge research, will you actually prefer to contribute directly to the research (or engineering) yourself, or to merely describe what <i>other people</i> are doing in their research?<br /><br />So we're essentially stuck in a situation where people who describe things tend to not know squat about the things they describe, and I'm not sure what's the best way out of this.<br /><br />-- <a href="http://inactivism.tk/" rel="nofollow">bi</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8524070301101240472.post-81404117581783656922010-02-27T04:59:29.879-08:002010-02-27T04:59:29.879-08:00MT I think engineers and other scientists are goin...MT I think engineers and other scientists are going into journalism. They are on blogs. You, me, Lucia, JeffID, Steve McI, Joe Romm, etc. In fact even though you and I disagree on many issues, at least you can get to the detail such that we can consider our diferences. How do you do that with such poorly written crap? But to me it is a bit of sour grapes on the AGW side. For years, the lie or misdirection of alarmism without the discussion and caveats that you and I have had, has been the rage for MSM. Becuase as a professional I have to deal with such issues, two lessons that are taught need to be learned by climate scientists. 1.) A politicain can help you as no other can, but will turn on you quicker than a rabid dog, becuase a politician without votes, is like a coach without wins: unemployed. 2.) Traditional press sells stories, they are not nuetral; do not confuse good press with good ethics.<br /><br />If you keep these two rules in mind, you will be better prepared to understand and deal with issues.John F. Pittmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07084322274034650225noreply@blogger.com