Science has become a highly partisan and politicized issue and many journalists have yet to learn how to deal those who manipulate science for political ends, says writer Chris Mooney in a column for the Center for American Progress (www.americanprogress.org).
Journalists, he said, are still hooked on “an outmoded concept of objectivity that science abusers regularly exploit.”
In practice, journalistic objectivity comes down to quoting both sides on an issue in a balanced way. But “science isn’t a democracy, and in practice, one side in a scientific debate is often much more reputable than another,” Mooney says.
If you find someone who says global warming is bupkiss, chances are you aren’t talking to someone whose work has been reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences. More likely they get their performance reviews and funding from ExxonMobil.
“At a time when the use of rival experts has become a primary political strategy on scientific issues, reporters rarely seem to bother investigating who these experts actually are,” he says.