Media Literacy: Day Three

no easy answers
The questions aren't always that easy, either. I did welcome the change of pace of "The Price of Misinformation in the Media." Corrupt politicians (just finished watching the Jim West piece on Frontline), terrorists, green deceivers...it's all so depressing. (The fact that it's now tomorrow and sleep still seems like hours away isn't a factor, I'm sure...) It was nice to read that I'm overweight because I exercise too much. Oh, pardon me... I forgot to insert common sense here. So, today we learned a little of the decisions and deadlines that force editors to publish stories based on timeliness, relevance and space constraints. Magazines have deadlines, too, of course, but seriously? Did they proof check only for spelling errors and not content?

Wow. How about that swampland, huh? "Appearing on the show gives a person with no credibility recognition they don't deserve and can persuade people to make a dangerous health decision." (Rebecca Scritchfield, 2009) People will generally believe what they want to believe - and if they don't question the authority - or the logic behind the "science" - do they get what they deserve? Thankfully, this error-fraught story was addressed, and no overweight athletes were harmed in it's telling. Whew, I knew not to blame my routine scone-and-coffee breakfasts.