"Fair and Balanced" (Issue Revisited)

Oh boy. I have been struggling with this journalistic idea of fairness vs. balance.  As I suggested in my last blog post, I value fair reporting over balanced reporting.  There are just some issues that don't need a balanced report (ie, global warming or HIV-AIDs association) because of the overwhelming and majority evidence.  The motto Fox News anchors claims to live and report by is "fair and balanced".  However, a study which aimed to "isolate the effects of each type of news source" reports that those who view Fox News regularly are actually less informed on current events than those who do not watch news at all.  A Fox News subscriber would be expected to answer 1.04/5 domestic questions correctly compared to 1.22/5 for those who did not watch news.  Subscribers of media outlets such as NPR (1.51/5 questions answered correctly) and the Daily Show (1.42/5 questioned answered correctly) much out-performed this "fair & balanced" news source.  This makes me wonder what the problem is (beyond the worrisome fact that it is expected most people can only answer less than 2 out of 5 questions current event questions correctly).  Is the problem fair & balanced news or the fact that Fox News does not present fair & balanced news?  Or is it something else?

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I have a hard time believing actual fair and balanced reporting would lead to the results of the study.  And since I myself am not an advocate for Fox News, the problem probably lies in the fact that Fox News does not present fair and balanced news.  However, I think it may be slightly unfair to say that's the case for only Fox News - no media outlets are completely fair and balanced.  Some do a better job than others, but media outlets are biased and severely affected by political and economic concerns.  They generally report information in a way that appeals the majority of people in that demographic.  Media outlets don't want to report things that the viewers will vehemently disagree with and at the same time, viewers don't want to listen to media sources that are not in line with their ideals.  We must accept the fact that these media outlets' survival is based on their viewership and how much influence they can create.  Essentially, certain media outlets appeal to certain people and that's what you end up supporting.  I don't watch Fox News because I don't agree with a lot of the views Fox News presents whereas I do find myself more inclined to and learning from NPR.  Fox News may be bad at presenting "fair & balanced" news but as far as Fox News viewers' current event literacy goes, it's not completely Fox News' fault - it's partly the viewer's own fault and that's just something we must accept. 

Balance vs. Fairness

I was always of the opinion that a good news article was one that had a point of view but at the same time, showed balance and presented both sides of the story so the reader could truly reflect on the issue at hand.  Chris Mooney, who wrote an article about the decline of science of in the news (which can be found here) said, "“Then there's the problem of "balance"--the idea that reporters must give roughly equal space to two different "sides" of a controversy. When applied to science, especially in politicized areas, this media norm becomes extremely problematic. Should journalists really grant equal time to the small band of scientists who deny the causal relationship between HIV and AIDS when the vast majority of researchers accept the connection between the two? Should they split column space between the few remaining global warming "skeptics" and scientific experts who affirm the phenomenon's human causation? Again, experienced science journalists will know best how to cover such stories and will be aware of the scientific community's very justifiable abhorrence or of unthinking "balance".  His piece and the discussions we've been having in class have made me reevaluate my view of balance as something necessary for scientific writing. 
I'm the type of person who, when presented with two differing views, will go do more research on that subject and try to get to the bottom of what I believe. Now that we know how little people truly spend on scientific literacy, I guess it's a little naive of me to think other people do the same.  Furthermore, if people do do the same, they may only research the side they instinctively connect with or believe which will reinforce misinformation.  It's a very dangerous fine line to tread.  
Dr. Edwards brought up a distinction that has shaped my new view - there is a difference between being balanced and being fair. I no longer believe it is necessary for science writers to present a balanced story when the majority of scientists and overwhelming scientific evidence supports one side; rather, I believe it necessary for science writers to be fair. 
Science writers have a lot to juggle already.  To be effective, their writing has to be novel, interesting, understandable, relevant and have impact in a very little space.  It would make their task even more difficult to present a balance story when one side of the story is largely irrelevant and only supported by a "small band of scientists" or skeptics. That being said, I don't think information that conflicts with the majority science should be completely dismissed.  Retractions in science occur often and there have been times where the majority belief has been replaced for a minority belief (the earth IS a sphere, not flat).  To be fair, it's still important to mention the conflict, no matter how the conflicting thought is.  It doesn't have to take much space or be presented with facts/evidence/data.  It could just be said "Despite overwhelming evidence of the causal relationship between HIV and AIDS, there are still a minority that deny it."  There's a point of view, there's support for the particular point of view, and conflict is presented so there's also something that gets people thinking. People may get curious, wonder why, and learn more about HIV and AIDs leading to an increase in scientific literacy. Boom. That's it. 

Those Scientist People

I google searched "what does a scientist look like" and the first image that came up was this mad scientist type looking guy:

And this is what my friend, Julia Glauberman, a hisotry major drew as what she imagines when she thinks of a scientist:

I would admit that up until recently, I would also picture a similar, less crazy version of the first picture when I thought of a scientist - like the second picture, more Bill Nye the Science Guy. But I'm slowly realizing that I myself am a scientist because science is not bound to a degree. While I do think having a degree or multiple degrees in a scientific field makes a person more qualified, you don't need them to be a scientist.  I started thinking and referring to myself as a scientist after I became a fellow for the Center for Science and the Common Good and other people/my professors started grouping me into the term.  At first it was really odd for me to hear because it's not the first thing I would describe myself as.  The more I thought about it, however, if I'm not a scientist, what am I?

I am a scientist, albeit not the most qualified one, and I'm surrounded by my peers and professors at school who are also scientists with varying qualifications. I no longer imagine the stereotypical traditional and incorrect imagine of a scientist shown above because scientists aren't mysterious, pensive and old white men that are slogging away in a lab.  Scientists can young, old, male, female, ethnically diverse,  and are not bound to a lab full of chemicals.  Scientists are human just like everyone else.  All the scientists I know have families, enjoy watching movies and eating good food, and certainly do not talk about science all the time - it is important for people to know this.  It is time to change the stereotype of what a scientist looks like because this misinformed image of a scientist contributes to the intimidation and mistrust people have.  mistrust is certainly partly due to the fact that science has multiple sides of the story Scientific literacy is more important than ever and it's sad that people would prefer to listen to sweet mom Jenny McCarthy on autism over a much more qualified scientist.  

It is important for people to overcome the misconceptions they have by educating themselves but it is also the responsibility of scientists to make a more positive impact - there needs to be a change in scientific personality.  Scientists need to be accessible, regular people who can communicate effectively in an interesting way. I've never walked about of a complicated science lecture saying, "Wow, that was so impressive because it was so complicated and sounded so important that I had no idea what he/she was saying!"  It impresses me far more when anyone is able to explain their work to someone who does not have any background knowledge on it. 

Science writers play a huge role in this and can help bridge the disconnect between the public and science/scientists. I find it to be important to reflect the personality of what is being written about. The most interesting and effective science articles are the ones that not only identify why the science is important for the public but throw in personal stories or something humorous for scientists to connect with the readers on an easier/more personal level because, after all, scientists actually look like this: http://lookslikescience.tumblr.com/ 

Designer Purses and Truthiness

In 2005, "truthiness" was selected as The American Dialect's society's Word of the year and in 2006, it was Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year.  The word was coined by Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report's segment The Word.  Apparently I haven't been keeping up with the words of the year because I had never heard of the term before I saw that video.  Truthiness is characterizing a "truth" based on intuition because it feels "right" without regarding facts and evidence.  Essentially, it is following one's "gut feeling".  I've certainly read many accounts of people experiencing "gut feelings" that have lead them to do certain things or make certain decisions.  Spouses accuse their significant other of cheating without any evidence - their gut tells them so and a lot of the time, they are correct!  I've experienced those gut feelings myself but I believe there is an extent to which I can rely on truthiness to make decisions.  For example, my gut give me great vibes when I am looking at (okay, drooling over) designer handbags.  My gut tells me "oh you deserve it, Zeba! What if you never get a chance to buy that gorgeous (and very expensive) purse again?"  And then I have to force myself to remember the facts. I have to remind myself that no, I should not purchase a $500 purse. My brain tells me it is excessive, I still have more essential things to shop for, and I should check the outlet store.  As Colbert says, my brain is "all fact and no heart".
Truthiness can sometimes lead in the right direction and other times, it can lead to destruction.  Is it responsible to think and act in a manner that is truthy? Should truthiness be accepted in science?  In my opinion, there needs to be a balance.  After all, scientific experiments are conducted based on an intuitive hunch and hypothesis.  There is room for good intuition in the scientific world.  However, everyone's perspective are unique - there is bias, emotional reactions, past experiences, and several other factors that influence an individual's decision making and cause us all to see things in different ways.  Truthiness is inevitable.  Due to this, there needs to be a standard to level the playing field.  This is where facts, evidence, and scientifically sound data comes in.  Everyone's truthiness will be different and it should be evaluated against the facts and evidence found by science to determine which course of action to take.
Now, when it comes to science writers, is there a place for truthiness?  If done in a controlled and tasteful manner, I think it is possible to write from both the brain and the heart/gut.  It is, essentially, a writing style and science journalism needs style (as evident by the drastic decline in science writing).  Science writers must report the facts and should also be able to incorporate their perspective.  Reading something full of facts is not as compelling as reading something with a sense of style. However, it is extremely important that the facts and science writer's perspective are distinguished with utmost clarity.  There should be merit, not misinformation - it's a deceivingly fine line.  The reader should be able to grasp the scientific concept of the writing and be stimulated to think about it further.  Science writers are still ultimately writers and opinionated people.  Just like everyone else, they are entitled to their truthiness.  If the science writer wants to write purely from his or her gut without factual evidence, it is no longer science journalism and that type of writing should be presented in opinion blogs/other outlets. Truthiness is certainly spreading.  People become narrow-minded and grounded in their perspective, unfortunately. But, if only truthiness was presented in our media outlets, anybody could make any decision and do anything because they felt it was right.  There would be no standards and society needs standards. There is a place for truthiness in our world, but it will never be a substitute for truth.

The Time Has Come To Think

The weight of words blows me away. There is both a sense of power and a sense of weakness behind them - something truly challenging for me as an aspiring physician and science writer. This power and weakness can readily be exemplified by the vaccine and autism controversy.  No scientific study, done ethically, shows a correlation between vaccines and autism.  Furthermore, the risks associated with being unvaccinated is far grearter than the potential risks of vaccination.  Just take a look at this to put things in perspective:

However, the 1998 Wakefield et al study incorrectly claimed there was a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism.  It was later retracted/discredited for unethical research.  But, the misinformation was already out, the damage already done.  The rate of vaccinations in children fell fairly significantly after the Wakefield paper.  This leads me to so many questions!
Do people who chose not to vaccinate their children after hearing the findings of the "study" know that it was a fraudulent claim? Unlikely. I read several scientific papers and not once did I think to check if the study was still credited or not. I just assume it's data and findings were and are still valid. Furthermore, even if parents have become aware that the claims in the Wakefield study are incorrect, I think it's unlikely to change their mindset on vaccines. Once someone believes in something very strongly, it's hard to change that. 
Are new parents who attempt to increase their scientific literacy by researching vaccine information on the internet and later becoming vaccine-autism advocates necessarily scientifically ignorant? It is profoundly hard to say. People go online and read a study or a news article or a blog about how vaccines are linked to autism but they had the right intention of learning. As a scientist, I'm so pleased that people aren't just blindly doing whatever the scientists or doctors tell them to without at least trying understand it. It is important for people to find out what vaccines are, why children need them, if there are risks, what the associated risks are, etc, in order to make an informed decision regarding their child's health. On the flip side, still as a scientist, it's troubling to me that people don't know what scientifically sound evidence is and how to go about finding it to make the right decisions.  People usually fail to question what they are reading and rarely find all sides of the story. Once people believe in something, they tend to ignore evidence against their belief. This closed-mindedness, in my opinion, is a form of ignorance in itself and can lead to misinformation. 
As a science writer in support of vaccines, I want to help the average Joe get correct information in an understandable way - but with opposing and influential views (like star Jenny McCarthy's), how can this be done?   How do science writers overcome misinformation? How did a former playboy playmate with no background in science become more reliable than a scientist?! It disheartens me to say that the source through which people get information has a huge impact. Who am I? Just good ol' Ursinus pre-med student, Zeba Hussaini. That name doesn't ring a bell [- yet :)] Who are all those scientists "et al"? Dunno. Who is Jenny McCarthy? ding ding ding! That Playmate of the Year turned mother of an autistic child turned activist and author on parenting! 
Parents have autistic children and it breaks their hearts. They need to know why and they need to know the cure and they need to know it now.  Unfortunately, the science world doesn't know yet but a quick search on Google leads the parents to Jenny McCarthy claiming her son's autism had been "cured". The emotional parents cling on to the heart-wrenching words by Jenny McCarthy and other vaccine-autism advocates.  Suddenly, they have found others who are in the same position. There is power in numbers. The parents find support, something to blame, and reinforcement. There's no longer a need for sound scientific back-up because there's emotional bias, source-confirmation bias, herd-mentality bias and that, however unfortunate, is enough for people to put their children and others at risk by refusing vaccinations. This concept is so deeply ingrained in some vaccine-autism advocates that there mind is never going to change (the "gone cases"). But there are those who are a little bit more open minded and who scientists and science writers, can lead in the right direction, if done correctly. Informative and pleasant dialogue can be just what a person needs to be persuaded. Nobody wants to hear "You're wrong, this is the complicated scientific evidence why: blah blah blah blah blah." If scientists and science writers can find the source of misinformation, find evidence to back up the right information, and present it in an appealing, respectful, and most importantly, understandable dialogue, I think it would do wonders. At the very least, cause people to rethink, re-research, and reevaluate their position. And isn't thinking one of the things scientists and science writers want the general public to do?

Knowledge Hungry and Articulate

In The New Organon by Francis Bacon, he describes 3 types of ambition.  First is personal ambition, which is common and greedy. Then there is the ambition to extend the power of one's country and has dignity.  Lastly, there is ambition of man to extend the power of the human race over the universe, the most majestic. He goes on to say, "For the benefits of discoveries may extend to the whole human race...the benefits of discovery [benefits] for virtually all time...discoveries make men happy, and bring benefit without hurt or sorrow to anyone." (99)

Bacon asserts the work of a scientist is divinely honorable because if one has a goal to extend ambition to encompass the universe to help humanity, that is the best thing one can do.  We live in a knowledge hungry world. The Merriam-Webster dictionary literally defines science as "the state of knowing; knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding."  We always want to know more.  We are constantly making improvements and advancements in our lives.  It is up to the scientist to figure out how to discover, improve, or advance something. However, what good is new knowledge with no way to share it? What good does a new discovery do if only a select pool of individuals understand what has been accomplished?  Writers form letters and words to form ideas and thoughts and express knowledge to the public. The more people a writer can connect to, educate, inspire, and even stir conflict with, the better it is.  The work of a science writer, then, is to express scientific knowledge to as many people as possible. Science writers have the capability to make science honorable by bridging that connection between the knowledge and the public sphere and reaching out to as many people as possible. If being a scientist and attaining the science is honorable, then the challenge of giving science away, to me, is profoundly honorable.  And it's also a daunting task - science writers have to be able to understand the science and scientists and also be able to understand the audience and their critics when they give science away.  Science writers are knowledge hungry and articulate enough to teach others who are not specialized in that field.  Let's take Dr. Jonas Salk as an example. Dr. Salk devoted his time to developed the polio vaccine.  He took his knowledge, advanced it, and made a discovery, resulting in more advancement of knowledge and good for humanity.  As a scientist, that is absolutely incredible to me.  As a layperson, I don't understand what polio is and I don't understand what a vaccine does so it's not a big deal at all. The fact is, science writers can create this written art to move people and cause a concept that is confusing, not well understood, scary, and perhaps boring become clear, well understood, valient, and just amazing.  Newspapers gave away the science by publishing the findings of Dr. Salk's discovery and now Polio, a viral disease that can lead to paralysis, has been eradicated in all but 3 countries.  Now that's what I call giving away science and benefiting the common good. Take your talents, run with them, and use them honorably!

School IS Cool

Can I give you a shot? Can I take your temperature? Can I listen to your heartbeat? The toy medical kit my parents got me when I was just a few years old was my favorite. Forget the barbies and the stuffed animals, I wanted nothing more than to wrap a blood pressure monitor around someone's arm and pump it up.  I was fascinated with the thought that by using some of the tools in my Fisher Price Doctor's Kit, I could make someone sick or hurt feel better.  My friends had their own interests - some loved the solar system and wanted to be astronauts or rocket scientists and others were curious about what the world was like when dinosaurs roamed the earth. As children, we had this natural curiosity of everything in the world and since science is in everything, we indirectly love science.  ]For some reason, that is lost as we "grow up".  We stop seeing science everywhere because we're no longer talking about scorching hot lava coming out of volcanoes but talking about the boring minerals that make them and the shifting of Earth plates.  In middle school, I moved on to the small honors science classes while many of my peers grimaced and laughed when I told them why I wasn't in their class. The loss of interest in science in children can be attributed to many things - the most common reason of which is how science is presented to young students.  Animals and spaceships are so cool. Atoms and chemicals elements? Not so much. When we get into middle school sciences, it's difficult to see the real world applications of what we are learning.  Furthermore, science is no longer going outside and playing with the world.  It is no longer about experiencing and discovering...somewhere over the years it became difficult and boring (gasp).  Science becomes reading a textbook with the pressure of getting good grades.  However, I don't think the way that science is taught is entirely to blame.  While educators have huge hand in a student's perception of a subject, there is an overarching issue of just being a student that age that is not held accountable.  Growing older means things get more complex, whether it's school or relationships. Prior to and during middle school, we start gaining the awareness of our own interests, perceptions, and the complexities in the world.  Our focus becomes so split among awkward hormones, raging peer pressure, our parents expectations, our interests, and our options.  It's only natural that something considered to be difficult, like science, will be the least of our focus.  We are left to start making our own decisions at the most horrible transition time because most kids that age will put things that are difficult, time consuming, not cool, etc at the bottom of the list.  And unfortunately, a lot times, the bottom of the list stays at the bottom.  I think guiding students on how to focus, how to learn, be engaged, have an open mind and take responsibility is extremely important.  Students need to have a sense of accountability and it needs to start as early as middle school.  I also think it's important to show students that it won't always be fun, interesting, and entertaining.  At least the real world isn't - isn't that what education is supposed to prepare us for? The future "real" world?  I loved science my whole life. AP bio was my favorite class in high school and was looking forward to majoring in biology and taking biology courses in college.  I did not love my first college biology class. It was challenging and ecology was not my favorite concept in the realm of biology.  But I knew it was still important and that I had to persevere in order to take those more advanced courses which I loved and learned so much from.  The combination of making science classes interesting/emphasizing its real life impact even during the less-interesting parts in addition to nurturing a sense of accountability and responsibility in students will certainly make an impact.