Andrew Seifter reviews a Shawn Otto book, The War on Science, quoting Otto on how journalism distorts governance: "'Journalists look for conflict to find an angle,' he writes, 'so there are always two sides to every story.' A scientist, by contrast, would say that 'one of these claims can be shown to be objectively false and it’s poor reporting to paint this as a controversy.' As a result, the journalistic approach 'tends to skew public policy in counterfactual directions.'"
June 21, 2016
