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Yes that's a really unfortunate tension and one I'm familiar with writing computer science pieces for popular media. That pressure to "dumb down" nuanced, compl
by nonrandomstring 3y ago
Yes that's a really unfortunate tension and one I'm familiar with
writing computer science pieces for popular media. That pressure to
"dumb down" nuanced, complex issues is infuriating. Part of the
problem is the editor/publisher having a low view of readers. We
always seem to be pandering to the lowest common denominator, rather
than the average mind.
But I believe that if one is a fairly good writer a lot of nuance can
be cut without sacrificing substantial truth.
What I noticed during Covid19 was the public bypassing those
"think-walls" and going straight to the source papers/data. When
necessary, ordinary folks can digest raw stuff without having it
mashed and the crusts cut off.
Of course citizen science-journalism created it's own problems when
everyone became an armchair epidemiologist.