Quote:
Originally Posted by Eratosthenes
A follow up media story on the prediction of a mini ice age based on this article has also been published which back tracks
Cheer up, we’re not heading into 'mini ice age' just yet
Published time: 18 Jul, 2015 16:45
http://www.rt.com/news/310184-mini-ice-age-solar/ |
The linked article starts off by saying:
Scientists created a buzz last week saying our planet is just 15 years from a new ‘mini ice age’ that could cause awfully cold winters with rivers like Thames freezing over.
The trouble is - it wasn't scientists who made these claims, it was all started by ignorant, ill-informed journalists,
They didn't know how to read a scientific paper, and they didn't bother to get it fact-checked (e.g. by asking the authors, or an experienced Science Journalist, to confirm the accuracy of their version). Once the first scare-piece was published, it was then picked up and re-published numerous times by lazy so-called "journalists" who just scour the web for "stuff", and re-badge it as their own work.
And once the story gets picked up by the electronic media, there is no chance of objectivity returning to the coverage - any talking head (preferably, a photogenic one!) can be presented as an "expert".
As ABC Media Watch pointed out this week
http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/tra...s/s4277443.htm , Channel Seven’s Daily Edition got their "environment commentator" Joel Hurrey to provide some expert opinion.
Joel Hurrey is an actor, model and "experienced TV presenter". His CV includes appearing on Domestic Blitz, co-hosting Entertainment, Travel and Morning shows on GO! and Seven, and a Surfing show on FOX sport. Strangely, he seems to have forgotten to list his environmental science and astrophysics credentials in his publicity material:
http://www.starnow.com.au/joelhurrey/
(I guess as a bona fide "surfing expert", he does at least have some interest in the weather.)
And this is what passes for "journalism" today.