News: When is a scientific study, or the reporting on it, just propaganda?

News: When is a scientific study, or the reporting on it, just propaganda?

Today’s news brings the following announcement: By modifying their lifestyle, including diet and exercise, people can lower their blood pressure just as effectively as with medication, according to a study. Researchers studied the effects of adapting the Newstart Lifestyle program, which includes a vegan diet, daily outside walks, substantial quantities of water, adequate daily sleep and optional spiritual activities. Source: Healthier lifestyle as effective as medication to lower blood pressure, study says – UPI.com Most people will read only the…

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Riding a “bike generator” for 30 minutes will power a house for a day? No, not even close. #Facebook #Bicycling #nonsense

Riding a “bike generator” for 30 minutes will power a house for a day? No, not even close. #Facebook #Bicycling #nonsense

This made me laugh – can you see why? A typical bicyclist may generate 100 to 200 watts per hour on a bike. A very fit bicyclist might generate up to 300 watts per hour (and their peak output – like a sprint – can produce 500 or more watts briefly). (Good explanation here. Another way to look at this is that 1 horsepower is 746 watts. Are you as powerful as a horse?) Consequently, for most people, 30 minutes…

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It may be virtue signalling, but at least its not actually true

It may be virtue signalling, but at least its not actually true

This propaganda poster came across my news feed. According to Snopes, He occasionally rides a subway but is more often driving one of his sports cars or classic motorcycles. He generously support several charities; however, his net worth is estimated at $350 million. He lives in a $4 million home (shack, not a mansion, in Hollywood Hills, which is in California, not New York City). Typical of propaganda, this poster extracts “bits” and extrapolates those to make broad or generalized…

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Journalism: Layers and layers of fact checkers

Journalism: Layers and layers of fact checkers

In 2016, USA Today published an embarrassingly incorrect map, as well as misspelling “marjijuana”: The original USA Today article was corrected – 4 days later – and notes a prior version of the story used an incorrect map. This type of error passed through a graphic artist, at least one reporter, copy editors and an editor, which is not inspiring confidence in their journalistic integrity. Meanwhile, two years later, numerous people are sharing the original map on social media (June…

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Wonderful of example of “anchoring” technique in a news column #fakenews

Wonderful of example of “anchoring” technique in a news column #fakenews

Anchoring is the method of implanting a suggested value in the reader or viewer’s mind. Can you spot the “anchor” in this passage? Why immigration? It’s not the central concern of most voters. A Gallup survey in May found that 10 percent of Americans listed it as the most important problem facing the country. Source: E.J. Dionne: Call out the lies and the hatred | OregonLive.com When I read that, and likely when you read that, you internalized that as…

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News: Journalists fall for false meme: why?

News: Journalists fall for false meme: why?

The long-time thesis of this blog is that social media is a frictionless platform for the spread of propaganda. In the “good old days”, propaganda required owning a printing press or broadcast license. Today, anyone can become a propagandist by posting an appropriate meme on social media and watch it shared thousands or millions of times. Journalists frequently use their personal accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (but especially Twitter) to share items of interest to themselves. Due to the…

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Journalists fall for false meme, because they want it to be true?

Journalists fall for false meme, because they want it to be true?

The long time thesis of this blog is that social media is a frictionless platform for the spread of propaganda. In the “good old days”, propaganda required owning a printing press or broadcast license. Today, anyone can become a propagandist by posting an appropriate meme on social media and watch it shared thousands or millions of times. Journalists frequently use their personal accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (but especially Twitter) to share items of interest to themselves. Due to…

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What Fiction News Looks Like: “Volcanic eruptions like the one in Hawaii, are not natural disasters — without them the Earth would explode”

What Fiction News Looks Like: “Volcanic eruptions like the one in Hawaii, are not natural disasters — without them the Earth would explode”

Fox News runs a column about Kilauea in which it gets almost everything wrong starting with the headline. Source: Volcanic eruptions like the one in Hawaii, are not natural disasters — without them the Earth would explode | Fox News What an actual volcanologist has to say about this: I also checked with my personal consulting geologist who agrees with Dr. Pitcher. In case Fox fixes their stupidity on this, here’s a screen capture of the headline:

Public sector workers have greater free speech rights than do private sector workers

Public sector workers have greater free speech rights than do private sector workers

The NY Times writes in “Speaking Freely About Politics Can Cost You Your Job” that private sector workers ‘ “…don’t have the right to speak freely in the workplace.” Or even outside it.’ Unlike public sector workers: “… anyone who works for a government office, whether local, state or federal, is for the most part protected by the First Amendment”. Public sector workers have a greater free speech right than do private sector workers (which is most of the workers…

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Should professors have more free speech rights than others?

Should professors have more free speech rights than others?

If we engaged in widely publicized hateful or hurtful or vile speech, our employers would likely begin job termination procedures within 24 hours regardless of whether we made such comments in a private capacity or not. As the NY Times notes, “Speaking Freely About Politics Can Cost You Your Job“. Private sector workers ‘ “…don’t have the right to speak freely in the workplace.” Or even outside it.’ Unlike public sector workers: “… anyone who works for a government office,…

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