Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel–Why Everything You Know Is Wrong
Published: May 29, 2007
Good News Blog is built upon the idea that bad news not only is exceptional; it is often preferred and sometimes is generated, intentionally or not. That’s a real problem because, as Norman Cousins said, “if news is not really news unless it is bad news, it may be difficult to claim we are an informed nation.”
If the stories about scientific progress we hear are true, if the fact that today more people are fed with better and safer food than ever before is indeed a fact — then how come every evening brings us a barrage of alarming stories?
ABC News correspondent John Stossel not only has a unique inside perspective of “the” media — in Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel–Why Everything You Know Is Wrong he also does a great job debunking the very myths it purports.
About the media he writes;
Reporters are good at telling us what happened today: what buildings burned down, what army invaded, the size of the hurricane that’s coming. Many reporters take astonishing risks to bring us this news. We owe them thanks.
But when it comes to science and economics, and putting life’s risks in perspective, the media do a dismal job.
MYTH: The media will check it out and give you the objective truth.
TRUTH: Many in the media are scientifically clueless, and will scare you to death. We don’t do it on purpose. We just want to give you facts. But the people who bring us story ideas are alarmed. Then we get alarmed, and eager to rush that news to you.
We know that the scarier and more bizarre the story, the more likely it is that our bosses will give us more air time or a front-page slot. The scary story, justified or not, will get higher ratings and sell more papers. Fear sells. That’s the reason for the insiders’ joke about local newscasts: “If it bleeds, it leads.”
Also, raising alarms makes us feel important.
– excerpt from Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel–Why Everything You Know Is Wrong
Open to be enlightened he took the time to dig up the very experts the media usually avoids and spoke with them. The result is a book with amazing, sometimes almost counter-intuitive factual information. Some myths touched upon are the dangers of cancer causing chemicals in our food and the dangerous world of schools.
Yes, there are cancer causing chemicals in our everyday foods. Yes, some are man made, some are natural. But both are present in such tiny amounts they are harmless. Eating vegetables does much more good for you than it ever can do bad.
[…] and now I have to ask, if the scares were valid, where are the bodies? If one-tenth of what the reporters suggested was happening did happen, there would be mass death. The opposite is true: Despite exposure to radiation and all those nasty new chemicals, Americans today live longer than ever.
The media hysteria may be nonsense, but our fear is real-and contagious. That can be deadly.
– excerpt from Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel–Why Everything You Know Is Wrong
On the subject of school safety he writes;
MYTH: Schools are violent.
TRUTH: Schools are pretty safe.
Media bad news bears love crime and violence. Turn on the television or pick up a tabloid, and you will be convinced that you have more to fear than ever before. Terrible things are happening, and everyone knows they’re happening much more often. These stories are more candidates for the shovel. The gory pictures and the excited copy conceal the actual TRUTH: America is safer than almost any country in human history. […]
To listen to the media, Dr. Farley told me, you’d have to believe that Chicken Little was right: “The sky is truly falling. America is in terrible straits and our schools are a mess and they’re violent. But they are not violent. I don’t know why there is all this press coverage, other than the need for a story.”
That’s it. The media beast must be fed. Scares drive up circulation and ratings.
– excerpt from Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel–Why Everything You Know Is Wrong
You’ll find it hard to disagree with all the factual information John Stossel presents in Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity. It’s where John moves from fact to opinion that you might find yourself disagreeing with him. And that’s okay. That too will get us thinking.
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