4 ms·

Something like 15 years ago I was at a conference and happened to sit at lunch table with a top editor of Scientific American. (Maybe the top one at the time, I

Something like 15 years ago I was at a conference and happened to sit at lunch table with a top editor of Scientific American. (Maybe the top one at the time, I don't remember.) I had been an enthusiastic subscriber for many years and still subscribed at that point, although I was concerned that it seemed to be dumbing itself down. I mentioned that to the editor. I forget the exact words I used, but they were an attempt to be diplomatic, and she replied with something to the effect that the magazine had to have an audience. That was not encouraging. It had had an audience for more than 100 years just as it was. The dumbing down continued until I couldn't enjoy it at all anymore, and I finally cancelled my subscription. That was a sad day. Now get my science news from r/science.

vwcx 5y ago
Let me ask you: would you expect the quality/tone/curation of r/science to hold up 50 years from now? Would you be surprised if, in 50 years, r/science didn't have the special sauce it has now? All things are ephemeral, especially in media. We're just marketed at to believe otherwise.
- chmod775 5y ago
  I had a look at this r/science and honestly can't fathom what that special sauce is supposed to be. A sizable portion of top level comments contain between 5 and 8 words with optional punctuation. About 1/3rd of submissions and half of the comments appear to be more politically motivated than scientific and mostly US-centric. Just in the current top 10: > Republican activists perceive Republican senators with very conservative voting records to be moderate if they do not support Donald Trump. > Study: Emotionally manipulative political ads fail at swaying new voters, but excel at ensuring party loyalty. > Conspiracy mentality (a willingness to endorse conspiracy theories) is more prevalent on the political right (a linear relation) and amongst both the left- and right-extremes (a curvilinear relation) I wouldn't be surprised if most people posting there are from the US and from a certain fraction of the population at that. A rather small and uninteresting bubble compared to science as a whole. Going back to your comment: Neither would I be surprised if r/science 50 years from now was run by a corporation RSCIENCE LTD, drip-feeding "curated" clickbait garbage in-between ads.
smitty1e 5y ago
> the magazine had to have an audience They could have opted to bring the audience up to the magazine. But that is The Road Not Taken.
- sofixa 5y ago
  As if a magazine can force or entice people to have an interest in complex(-ish) scientific news. Science isn't "cool", and there's so much things available to do out there, which is easy to consume ( even on the same subject). It makes sense they tried to adapt
  - smitty1e 5y ago
    I can differentiate between editorial choices made to keep the style of the content current and relevant without debasing the substance.
- mjklin 5y ago
  “The foolish crowd is accustomed to place an equal value on the good and the bad: I give it the worst, for that is what it praises.” In this manner a writer of indecent farces was wont to excuse his errors and a sly poet who heard him answered in the following way: A master gave straw to his humble ass and said to him: “Take this, since with this you are content.” He said this so many times that one day the ass became angry, and answered, “I take what you are willing to give me but, unjust man, do you think that I like nothing but straw? Give me grain and you will see whether I eat it.” Let those who work for the public know that perhaps they blame the public in vain, for if it eats straw when they give it straw, when they give it grain, it eats grain. Tomás de Iriate, Spanish (1750-1791)
frebdo 5y ago
This isn't even about the audience, it's about the writers' careers in media. Have to toe the line or you'll be unhireable.

vwcx 5y ago

Let me ask you: would you expect the quality/tone/curation of r/science to hold up 50 years from now? Would you be surprised if, in 50 years, r/science didn't have the special sauce it has now? All things are ephemeral, especially in media. We're just marketed at to believe otherwise.

chmod775 5y ago
I had a look at this r/science and honestly can't fathom what that special sauce is supposed to be. A sizable portion of top level comments contain between 5 and 8 words with optional punctuation. About 1/3rd of submissions and half of the comments appear to be more politically motivated than scientific and mostly US-centric. Just in the current top 10: > Republican activists perceive Republican senators with very conservative voting records to be moderate if they do not support Donald Trump. > Study: Emotionally manipulative political ads fail at swaying new voters, but excel at ensuring party loyalty. > Conspiracy mentality (a willingness to endorse conspiracy theories) is more prevalent on the political right (a linear relation) and amongst both the left- and right-extremes (a curvilinear relation) I wouldn't be surprised if most people posting there are from the US and from a certain fraction of the population at that. A rather small and uninteresting bubble compared to science as a whole. Going back to your comment: Neither would I be surprised if r/science 50 years from now was run by a corporation RSCIENCE LTD, drip-feeding "curated" clickbait garbage in-between ads.

smitty1e 5y ago

> the magazine had to have an audience They could have opted to bring the audience up to the magazine. But that is The Road Not Taken.

sofixa 5y ago
As if a magazine can force or entice people to have an interest in complex(-ish) scientific news. Science isn't "cool", and there's so much things available to do out there, which is easy to consume ( even on the same subject). It makes sense they tried to adapt
- smitty1e 5y ago
  I can differentiate between editorial choices made to keep the style of the content current and relevant without debasing the substance.
mjklin 5y ago
“The foolish crowd is accustomed to place an equal value on the good and the bad: I give it the worst, for that is what it praises.” In this manner a writer of indecent farces was wont to excuse his errors and a sly poet who heard him answered in the following way: A master gave straw to his humble ass and said to him: “Take this, since with this you are content.” He said this so many times that one day the ass became angry, and answered, “I take what you are willing to give me but, unjust man, do you think that I like nothing but straw? Give me grain and you will see whether I eat it.” Let those who work for the public know that perhaps they blame the public in vain, for if it eats straw when they give it straw, when they give it grain, it eats grain. Tomás de Iriate, Spanish (1750-1791)

frebdo 5y ago

This isn't even about the audience, it's about the writers' careers in media. Have to toe the line or you'll be unhireable.