{"id":11062,"date":"2013-04-26T08:52:35","date_gmt":"2013-04-26T13:52:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.discovermagazine.com\/collideascape\/?p=11062"},"modified":"2013-04-26T08:52:35","modified_gmt":"2013-04-26T13:52:35","slug":"when-media-uncritically-cover-pseudoscience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/?p=11062","title":{"rendered":"When Media Uncritically Cover Pseudoscience"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anti-biotech activists, like their fellow travelers in the anti-vaccine movement, are masters at pseudoscience. As I’ve previously discussed, the really clever GMO opponents put a\u00a0veneer of science<\/a>\u00a0on their propaganda.<\/p>\n

One recent example\u00a0that an anti-GMO website approvingly pointed to<\/a> was so obviously absurd that I was sure it \u00a0would be ignored by media.\u00a0It’s a\u00a0paper<\/a>\u00a0that suggests a chemical in Roundup, a widely used Monsanto herbicide, “can remarkably explain a great number of the diseases and conditions that are prevalent in the modern industrialized world,” such as “inflammatory bowel disease,\u00a0<\/em>obesity, depression, ADHD, autism, Alzheimer\u2019s disease, Parkinson\u2019s disease,\u00a0ALS, multiple sclerosis, cancer, cachexia, infertility, and developmental malformations.”\u00a0[ http://masterfacilitator.com/compactcoaching/ UPDATE:<\/strong>\u00a0As someone puts it<\/a> on Twitter, the paper\u00a0“reads like it was scribbled on Glenn Beck’s chalkboard.”]<\/p>\n

The paper is by two authors with dubious credentials and is\u00a0such a mashup of pseudoscience and gibberish that actual scientists\u00a0have been unable to make sense of it<\/a>. As one of them also\u00a0noted<\/a>, the paper is published in a “low-tier pay-for-play journal.”<\/p>\n

Order Valium Without Prescription The authors of the paper conclude that glyphosate, an ingredient used in Roundup “may be the most important factor in the development of multiple chronic diseases and conditions that have become prevalent in Westernized societies.” This sweeping claim, combined with where it’s made and the backgrounds of the authors (one who works in computer science), should trigger alarm bells in anyone with a functioning brain, particularly journalists on the look-out for a good story. Alas, a Reuters<\/em> reporter\u00a0took the bait<\/a>:<\/p>\n

https://blackhillsballoons.com/gift-cards/ Heavy use of the world’s most popular herbicide, Roundup, could be linked to a range of health problems and diseases, including Parkinson’s, infertility and cancers, according to a new study.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Except it’s “not a study,” as plant geneticist Kevin Folta noted<\/a> on Twitter, and “no data was presented.” \u00a0When he saw the Reuters<\/em> article, Folta was incredulous:<\/p>\n

@r343l<\/a> @reuters<\/a> @keithkloor<\/a> Wow, major fail for Reuters. They just propagated absolute trash and lent credibility to fear mongers.<\/p>\n

https://ramedicare.com/auto-draft/ \u2014 Kevin Folta (@kevinfolta) April 26, 2013<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

https://theroyalstagproperties.com/availability/ Some of his peers tweeted a similar reaction. Andrew Kniss<\/a>, a University of Wyoming agronomist,\u00a0wondered<\/a>: “Why are they [Reuters] calling it a ‘study’? There was absolutely no data.” He added<\/a> that the paper “carries as much scientific credibility as creationism.”<\/p>\n

https://forgive123.com/events/ Hey, it was good enough for Reuters<\/em>, whose uncritical coverage<\/a> of it now gives the paper a veneer of legitimacy to readers (many who will use social media to share the link to the Reuters story) around the world.<\/p>\n

https://rgprincipal.com/peru/ Order Ultram Online UPDATE:<\/strong>\u00a0Wow, via<\/a>\u00a0a commenter, I’ve learned this<\/a> about one of the authors of the paper.<\/p>\n

Tramadol Online Purchase https://plazadelencuentro.com/livros/ UPDATE:\u00a0<\/strong>In 2012 I critiqued<\/a> a similarly flawed story<\/a> by the same Reuters<\/em> reporter.<\/p>\n

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[Baloocartoons<\/a>]<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pregabalin 300Mg Buy Online Anti-biotech activists, like their fellow travelers in the anti-vaccine movement, are masters at pseudoscience. As I’ve previously discussed, the really clever GMO opponents put a\u00a0veneer of science\u00a0on their propaganda. One recent example\u00a0that an anti-GMO website approvingly pointed to was so obviously absurd that I was sure it \u00a0would be ignored by media.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2443,2496,2646,2748,2830,2967],"tags":[657,743,1126,1168,1341,1542,1569],"class_list":["post-11062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agriculture","category-biotechnology","category-environment","category-herbicide","category-monsanto","category-select","tag-agriculture","tag-biotechnology","tag-gmos","tag-herbicide","tag-monsanto","tag-reuters","tag-roundup-ready"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11062\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}