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Again, without a baseline educational background, doing so in a way that's productive -- ie anything more than running around like a chicken with its head cut o

by ke88y 3y ago

Again, without a baseline educational background, doing so in a way that's productive -- ie anything more than running around like a chicken with its head cut off -- is impossible. There were journalists on the COVID vaccine beat for ove a year who had never taken a Bio 101 course, let alone self-studied undergraduate level genetics. They lacked the fundamental background required to assess evidence, to know which questions to ask, to know which people to ask, is all highly suspect.

SoftTalker 3y ago
"Dr. Scientist, you said X. Describe the evidence for that claim?" "Dr. Scientist, are you aware of claim Y, which seems at odds with what you are saying? Explain why claim Y is wrong?" Write it up. You don't have to understand it to write a story about what they said. That's what "reporting" is.
- aydyn 3y ago
  > You don't have to understand it to write a story about what they said. Pretty much the silliest thing I've heard today! "Dr. Scientist, you said that vaccines promote herd immunity describe your evidence for that claim" "Dr. Scientist, you said that mRNA vaccines aren't going to mutate humans, describe your evidence for that claim" "Dr. Scientist, you predicted this year is hotter than ever, but back in February it was -20. Why did you lie?" There are an infinite numbers of terrible questions you could ask as a reporter, if you don't have expertise. You need some degree of knowledge to talk about a subject, the only debate is how much.
Fomite 3y ago
I have often asserted that one of the reasons the lab leak hypothesis has so much backing in the wider press vs. most epidemiologists and virologists I know is that it moves the pandemic back into a realm in which they are experts. Nate Silver is much more comfortable asserting his opinion about this than I am, because, as an infectious disease epidemiologist who primarily focuses on the stochastics of disease emergence and disease extinction, my expertise is a good two weeks after when either a zoonotic jump or a lab leak would take place. Take that for what you will.

by ke88y 3y ago

SoftTalker 3y ago

"Dr. Scientist, you said X. Describe the evidence for that claim?" "Dr. Scientist, are you aware of claim Y, which seems at odds with what you are saying? Explain why claim Y is wrong?" Write it up. You don't have to understand it to write a story about what they said. That's what "reporting" is.

aydyn 3y ago
> You don't have to understand it to write a story about what they said. Pretty much the silliest thing I've heard today! "Dr. Scientist, you said that vaccines promote herd immunity describe your evidence for that claim" "Dr. Scientist, you said that mRNA vaccines aren't going to mutate humans, describe your evidence for that claim" "Dr. Scientist, you predicted this year is hotter than ever, but back in February it was -20. Why did you lie?" There are an infinite numbers of terrible questions you could ask as a reporter, if you don't have expertise. You need some degree of knowledge to talk about a subject, the only debate is how much.

Fomite 3y ago

I have often asserted that one of the reasons the lab leak hypothesis has so much backing in the wider press vs. most epidemiologists and virologists I know is that it moves the pandemic back into a realm in which they are experts. Nate Silver is much more comfortable asserting his opinion about this than I am, because, as an infectious disease epidemiologist who primarily focuses on the stochastics of disease emergence and disease extinction, my expertise is a good two weeks after when either a zoonotic jump or a lab leak would take place. Take that for what you will.