Some of you may remember that earlier this month, I recorded a chat with fellow ScienceBlogger Abbie Smith, in which we discussed science journalism, blogging, vampires and various other such topics du jour. Well, among those who watched the chat was one George Johnson, a journalist who took umbrage with what was said. George has described the chat as "exasperatingly ignorant" and describes us as "interlopers". This man is not a happy bunny.
Abbie's had a more verbose take on George's criticisms, but I'm going to keep it brief (and I've posted this reply on Abbie's thread and the Bloggingheads forums).To be honest, I'd rather spend time on writing up some science than on defending myself because honestly, taking out the straw-man interpretations and ad hominem attacks, there's remarkably little in the way of substantive arguments that I can actually respond to.
I stand accused of suggesting that science writers ...