Blame Academia for Junk Science and Media Hype?

Though we've been debunking junk science for more than 40 years, we never cease to be amazed by the amount of hype and exaggeration that continues to permeate the mainstream press.

The following constitute just a tiny sample of the nonsense we read on a daily basis: Multiple international news outlets, such as The Guardian and The Times of London, reported that asparagus (yes, that disgusting but quite healthy vegetable) causes breast cancer; Reader's Digest reported that vegetable oil will turn girls into lazy, TV-watching diabetics; and media outlets all over the world breathlessly reported that the popular Nutella spread is linked to cancer.

How on Earth does the media print such inanity over and over again? Two reasons immediately come to mind. First, the media cares more about internet traffic (and money) than anything else, which is why they write "clickbait" headlines and push sensationalist scaremongering. They want these stories to go viral; accuracy is of secondary importance. Second, science journalists often have no formal education in the field, so they have no idea if what they're reporting is sensible or hogwash.

But there's another place we should be assigning blame: University press offices.

A paper published in 2014 in The British Medical Journal analyzed 462 press releases issued by universities in the UK. They found that "40%... of the press releases contained exaggerated advice, 33%... contained exaggerated causal claims, and 36%... contained exaggerated inference to humans from animal research."

The authors also discovered that if a press release contained exaggerated information, news reports were also likelier to contain exaggerations. Specifically, the odds of exaggerated advice were increased 6.5 times, the odds of exaggerated causal claims were increased 20 times, and the odds of exaggerated inference to humans from animal research was increased 56 times. In other words, university press offices greatly influence the tone of subsequent media coverage.

In an ideal world, universities perform serious research and don't worry about marketing themselves to journalists. But, that's not the world we live in. The ever-constant pressures of fame and fortune compel academics to behave in ways that are counterproductive to the scientific enterprise and public health.

There are no easy solutions to this. Like hyperpartisanship, some problems require a fundamental shift in our culture and societal thinking. Let's hope we wise up sooner rather than later.

Have you heard the latest?

Chocolate and yogurt. Oh, my.

Probiotics.

Companies are launching products such as probiotic juice and chocolate bars.

Yogurt and related products, as well as fermented products and traditional foods such as kimchi, kefir, kombucha & sauerkraut, are some of the most common products that naturally contain probiotics and are consumed across the globe.

https://www.openpr.com/news/1606443/Probiotics-Market-Drivers-Restraints-Opportunities-and-Threats-2018-2028.html

“Academia = The mother of all swamps...”

It wasn't always like this, but it has become this. In my view, part of the reason for much of what has happened to politics, academics, the media, and the entertainment industry is that society in general has become inundated with people who see themselves as the center of the universe - or at least want to be.

There was a time when few people were truly ‘famous’. There weren't that many venues to achieve this, and most people lived their lives wanting to do their best, contribute, take care of their families, and pass on something to the next generation. In order to be truly ‘famous’, you had to be a great athlete, definitively risk your life to save others, or be one of the few well-known entertainers. That has changed.

Now, you have many venues in which people can become ‘famous’. Politics, academics, and the media are among the easiest venues to become famous, and they have attracted a ton of narcissists. It used to be that academics was populated with people who wanted to satisfy their intellectual curiosity and make a living doing it. Now academics is populated with people so narcissistic that they feel it is their role to dictate what is acceptable in society and how we all live. Essentially every day one can find an academic on television giving an opinion, or writing one in a major newspaper etc.

Journalism used to be populated by those who prided themselves on finding the truth, and reporting it accurately. Now, it is populated by way too many whose egos have led them to believe their role is to guide society. They are ‘ultra-important’, to themselves. When Megan Kelley made the statement to the effect that the Presidential debate she was part of moderating would define who stayed in the race and who was out, it was indicative of the arrogance and ‘wannabe importance’ of today's media. Clearly Acosta defines this phenotype. It is highly destructive to the media, and highly destructive to society.

Politics has always drawn narcissists. It is, however, now much worse. Why? In large measure because society, and the media, have made politicians into ‘stars’. They're always on television with a mike in their face. They participate in television and movie scenes (as do some media people). And they are now using social media to augment their fame. Most of them haven't accomplished a whole lot in life outside politics, but they are nonetheless afforded a stature that puts them on even footing with the most famous in society. It's really pathetic.

Further, all three of these groups (academics, politicians, and the media) are now part of a nefarious, colluding, self-perpetuating, symbiotic trio.

What ever happened to people doing their best and trying to contribute their most, just because it's the right thing to do? What ever happened to being happy just knowing you're doing your best, and are trying your best to contribute and be an honest and good human being? What ever happened to feeling fulfilled because you give love and receive love, from friends and family and others?

I guess it has become more important to think you are a ‘hotshot’.

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