the secret behind "science stories" you see in the media

[podfish]

I bet you recognize this format - it's used all the time. It should highlight why a lot of the back&forth posting of links that purportedly make a case for some scientific premise are pretty darn near totally bogus. If you really care, you need to follow up to the real sources : (Click anywhere below to jump to the article)

This is a news website article about a scientific paper

In the standfirst I will make a fairly obvious pun about the subject matter before posing an inane question I have no intention of really answering: is this an important scientific finding?

In this paragraph I will state the main claim that the research makes, making appropriate use of "scare quotes" to ensure that it's clear that I have no opinion about this research whatsoever.


In this paragraph I will briefly (because no paragraph should be more than one line) state which existing scientific ideas this new research "challenges".



If the research is about a potential cure, or a solution to a problem, this paragraph will describe how it will raise hopes for a group of sufferers or victims.


This paragraph elaborates on the claim, adding weasel-words like "the scientists say" to shift responsibility for establishing the likely truth or accuracy of the research findings on to absolutely anybody else but me, the journalist.

["Mad" Miles]

I love the British sense of humor. The "comments" after the article are good for some laughs, but don't get sucked in! They're voluminous.