A pet peeve of mine is what appears to be the increasing inability of journalists and the population at large to make any distinction between opinion and fact, or to put as much news value behind opinion as fact. I wrote about this last summer, and today's NYT dining section got me revved up again.
Here's the heartwarming story of a mom battling evil corporations who are poisoning her kids and by default all of us. You have to read 10 paragraphs in to get anything that has real fact to it; bold below is mine:
Working largely from a laptop on her dining room table, she has looked deep into the perplexing world of childhood food allergies and seen a conspiracy that threatens the health of America’s children. And, she profoundly believes, it is up to her and parents everywhere to stop it.
Her theory — that the food supply is being manipulated with additives, genetic modification, hormones and herbicides, causing increases in allergies, autism and other disorders in children — is not supported by leading researchers or the largest allergy advocacy groups.
Robyn O'Brien, the hero of the story, has no medical training, no food or nutrition background, no background in statistics or analysis, no new data, no independent research. But she has a set of strongly held opinions, and thanks to our growing inability or unwillingness to require even a modicum of expertise in an area to be dubbed and expert, has a front food section story in the NYT to support her opinion. I kept waiting for an appearance by the flying spaghetti monster.
Egads.
Later in the story we get what look to be dissenting opinion, but this time presented by people who are experts -- but by being juxtaposed with opinion, their expertise is devalued (bold mine again)
Dr. Elizabeth Gleghorn is the director of pediatric gastroenterology at the Children’s Hospital and Research Center in Oakland, Calif. She has been in practice for 20 years, and has noticed a recent increase in eczema, which can indicate food allergies. But she doesn’t think food allergies are increasing dramatically.
The topic of food safety and food allergies is an important one; the concerns are valid, especially since last time I checked we pretty much all eat. Given the choice to study this issue through the lens of what someone believes (opinion) and what they study, I'll come down hard on the side of real information, presented by experts. But I sure won't get it from the food section of the NYT.