Guardian Unlimited Life: Don't dumb me down

Ben Goldacre, of the Guardian’s Bad Science column, on the dangers of bad science journalism. “How do the media work around their inability to deliver scientific evidence? They use authority figures, the very antithesis of what science is about, as if they were priests, or politicians, or parent figures. ‘Scientists today said … scientists revealed … scientists warned.’ And if they want balance, you'll get two scientists disagreeing, although with no explanation of why. One scientist will ‘reveal’ something, and then another will ‘challenge’ it. A bit like Jedi knights.” (via plasticbag.org)