I can't tell you how excited I am that DK4 is finally here, because I think this structure is going to provide the ability to do a thousand things that would have been more difficult (if not impossible) using the old platform. Chief among the goals that I have for the new platform is the group "Science Matters."
The purpose of Science Matters is to address the constant stream of non-science and anti-science that flows through public media by providing corrections, accurate information, and insight into the ways in which information is frequently distorted.
Initially, I'd like to break the work of the group into four broad areas:
Alerts -- "rapid response" notifications of inaccurate science in the public eye. This can be an instance of climate change denial on the Sunday Talk shows, an example of a pundit twisting facts to fit political ends, or a rebuttal of a news story in which scientific ideas are misreported. The purpose of alerts is to get accurate information into the public eye quickly and frequently, and to block mistaken or deliberately distorted information from becoming widely disseminated and accepted. As time goes by, we'll also look for ways in which this information can be spread more thoroughly by using some of the same techniques that anti-science forces have used to spread their attacks.
Reviews -- much of the scientific misinformation that pervades the public space comes not from the news or pundits, but from other media outlets including film and television. Whether in the fiction of a Hollywood blockbuster, or the head-slapping idiocy of the latest “ancient astronauts” special on cable, we need to develop instruments – “grade cards” – to review the scientific accuracy of ideas presented. It may seem superfluous, but it’s all too easy for “science-like” material in fiction to shape the public debate.
Commendations -- dealing with complex science issues in a public forum is not always easy. So, when a network, newscast, or series handles a scientific idea with particular aplomb, it would be nice to reward them with a attaboy, er, attagirl, um... atta-media-entity! for their good work.
Backgrounders -- many people on Daily Kos have done yeomen work in defining the basic ideas behind scientific controversies and laying out issues so that readers know how to sort fact from fiction. I’d like to revive these articles and expand on them. For the most part, Daily Kos plays host to a very scientifically literate crowd, but we can always use more good information.
If you want to keep abreast of alerts, reviews, etc. please follow the Science Matters group.
If you have ideas about how the group can work better, be more effective, have more impact, and generally kick the ass of people spreading FUD, then drop a comment below and help us get off to a good start.
If you think you would like to be more deeply involved – and have the stomach for watching Bill O’Reilly butcher climate change or History Channel’s latest “documentary” on how Nostradamus predicted the end of the world in 2012 – please send a message and ask to join Science Matters as an editor.
Thanks. I really believe we can make this work -- and make a difference.