Well here we go....dutifully linking Bora, Brian, Isis, Laden...but excuse me, hasn't this debate happened before? And has it resulted in anything other than sound and fury?
Sheril and I have a long discussion of the science journalism/science communication problem in Unscientific America. I don't want to steal our thunder here, but suffice it to say that most of what I'm reading on ScienceBlogs about this subject seems to miss the most important part of the discussion. Which is this: Science journalists are vanishing from the traditional media, along with specialized journalists of many other types. See my reporting on the phenomenon here and here. I'm really surprised this fact is getting such short shrift, because it changes the whole dynamic. Those scientists (and science bloggers) who are inclined to beat up on science journalists, even as these journalists are basically the only people in the traditional media who actually do care about science--a crime for which they are generally being fired--are worse than off base. They're firing inward. It's massively counterproductive. And if anyone honestly thinks science blogs are going to somehow supplant the mass media and bring science to all the people...well...that's...hilarious.
