[2005/01/30] A NEW BLOG: CSC Launches Blog Focused on Media Coverage of Evolution Issues
A NEW BLOG: CSC Launches Blog Focused on Media Coverage of Evolution Issues 01/30/2005
The misreporting of the evolution
issue is the focus for the new blog Evolution News & Views,
www.evolutionnews.org, maintained by Discovery Institute's Center
for Science & Culture (CSC).
"The legacy media seem to
have rediscovered the evolution controversy with the recent lawsuits
in Pennsylvania and Georgia," says Rob Crowther, CSC director of
communications. "The problem is that many reporters are sadly
uninformed about the issue which has resulted in much of the
news coverage being sloppy, inaccurate, and often overtly biased.
"There's nobody else in the blogosphere right now holding the
media accountable for how the debate over evolution is
reported," added Crowther. "We think that Evolution News & Views
will do just that."
According to the CSC, stereotypes
and caricatures that would never be tolerated in stories about
minorities are routinely offered up as "Facts" in stories about
scientists who are skeptical of Darwin's theory.
"For too many
reporters, the controversy over evolution is simply a rehash of the
old movie, 'Inherit the Wind,'" said John West, associate director of
the CSC. "They continue to simplify this as a battle between
stick-figure fundamentalists on one side and the enlightened
champions of science on the other, when in reality there are serious
debates amongst scientists. This isn't the old trope of religion vs.
science; this is science vs. science."
The CSC reports
that many in the media seem determined to offer up their own rather
than report objectively about this issue. Other reporters are simply
careless and report half-truths and distortions without ever
bothering to check them out.
"We've going to use this blog
inform, analyze, and expose how the news media cover --and fail to
cover-- the scientific controversy over Darwinian evolution,"
said
Crowther. "We not only plan to offer critiques and corrections to
major news stories, we will also offer behind-the-scenes glimpses at
journalists and how they operate when they report on this issue."
Additionally, Evolution News & Views will link to
other articles, sites, and blogs of interest related to the ongoing
debate over how to teach evolution, and the wider discussion of the
emerging scientific theory of intelligent design.
[2005/01/30] A NEW BLOG: CSC Launches Blog Focused on Media Coverage of Evolution Issues
