Science And Nons(ci)ense
By Hayley Birch
The Sense About Science campaign is calling for celebrities to think before they speak and check their science facts. But in these days of media hype can we really blame the celebrities? Hayley Birch gives them a break.
However you defend your position as an independent thinker, it’s hard not to be influenced by those who inhabit our screens and zines. Popstars, pin-ups and politicians, not to mention Jamie Oliver, are queuing up to give their opinions on all things science from dieting to nuclear waste.
You may think you know your own mind, but the Sense About Science campaign says otherwise, and perhaps it’s right. Fair enough, we all say things that wouldn’t necessarily stand up to scientific scrutiny, “don’t eat that green crisp, it’s toxic”, but as a star under the media spotlight, one can’t be too careful.
According to the campaign, Madonna recently said she was involved with a group of scientists who are “finding a way to neutralise radiation”. Now by anyone’s standards, particularly Madonna’s, that’s a remarkable claim to make; as environmental radiochemist, Dr Nick Evans, points out “radioactivity cannot be ‘neutralised’”. It decays at its own rate over thousands or millions of years.
Poking fun at the rich and famous is what the media does best. But the trouble is that the media don’t necessarily know if there’s something to poke fun at, and some media present celebrity wisdom as gospel. Particularly, it seems, when referring to health matters. Who remembers Geri Halliwell’s power yoga? Chris and Gwyneth’s macrobiotics and Jennifer Anniston’s Atkins endorsement? What about saucy Sting’s tantric tangles? Individual reactions to the hype could be good or bad. If you hadn’t moved from your sofa for a decade, taking up power yoga might be a step in the right direction, although in might just as easily be a step in the direction of the local A & E department.
But media hype can be a real problem when it comes to matters that reporters don’t necessarily understand or look closely enough at. Following the media frenzy over the MMR vaccine and autism, MMR uptake dropped from 91% to 88% in a single month, prompting concerns about measles outbreaks. In June this year measles cases reached their highest level in twenty years. Despite sensationalist reporting across a broad spectrum, the truth of the matter was that the original study had focused on just twelve children with possible autistic disorders. All had had the MMR vaccination; hardly unlikely considering that over 90% of children their age would have.
I personally would approve of “Jamie” as we have “affectionately” come to know him and his evangelical intentions with regards to the nation’s health, if it wasn’t for the whirlwind the media have whipped up surrounding his school dinners campaign. At these levels of hype, any throwaway comment can be snatched up by a reporter and stamped on a tabloid front page faster than a five-year-old bolting down a (smuggled) burger. So while I approve of Sense About Science’s sentiment, let’s not blame befuddled celebrities any more than we blame the media, and ourselves for believing them.
Find out about Hayley and read more of her articles here. Visit the Sense About Science website.
However you defend your position as an independent thinker, it’s hard not to be influenced by those who inhabit our screens and zines. Popstars, pin-ups and politicians, not to mention Jamie Oliver, are queuing up to give their opinions on all things science from dieting to nuclear waste.
You may think you know your own mind, but the Sense About Science campaign says otherwise, and perhaps it’s right. Fair enough, we all say things that wouldn’t necessarily stand up to scientific scrutiny, “don’t eat that green crisp, it’s toxic”, but as a star under the media spotlight, one can’t be too careful.
According to the campaign, Madonna recently said she was involved with a group of scientists who are “finding a way to neutralise radiation”. Now by anyone’s standards, particularly Madonna’s, that’s a remarkable claim to make; as environmental radiochemist, Dr Nick Evans, points out “radioactivity cannot be ‘neutralised’”. It decays at its own rate over thousands or millions of years.
Poking fun at the rich and famous is what the media does best. But the trouble is that the media don’t necessarily know if there’s something to poke fun at, and some media present celebrity wisdom as gospel. Particularly, it seems, when referring to health matters. Who remembers Geri Halliwell’s power yoga? Chris and Gwyneth’s macrobiotics and Jennifer Anniston’s Atkins endorsement? What about saucy Sting’s tantric tangles? Individual reactions to the hype could be good or bad. If you hadn’t moved from your sofa for a decade, taking up power yoga might be a step in the right direction, although in might just as easily be a step in the direction of the local A & E department.
But media hype can be a real problem when it comes to matters that reporters don’t necessarily understand or look closely enough at. Following the media frenzy over the MMR vaccine and autism, MMR uptake dropped from 91% to 88% in a single month, prompting concerns about measles outbreaks. In June this year measles cases reached their highest level in twenty years. Despite sensationalist reporting across a broad spectrum, the truth of the matter was that the original study had focused on just twelve children with possible autistic disorders. All had had the MMR vaccination; hardly unlikely considering that over 90% of children their age would have.
I personally would approve of “Jamie” as we have “affectionately” come to know him and his evangelical intentions with regards to the nation’s health, if it wasn’t for the whirlwind the media have whipped up surrounding his school dinners campaign. At these levels of hype, any throwaway comment can be snatched up by a reporter and stamped on a tabloid front page faster than a five-year-old bolting down a (smuggled) burger. So while I approve of Sense About Science’s sentiment, let’s not blame befuddled celebrities any more than we blame the media, and ourselves for believing them.
Find out about Hayley and read more of her articles here. Visit the Sense About Science website.
Image: W
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