2011/11/13 Jed Rothwell <[email protected]>: > Mary Yugo <[email protected]> wrote: >> So let's see. If I send a report to Allan about my pink, invisible, >> flying unicorns that eat nickel and fart hydrogen he should report that >> too? I disagree. I think a journalist must use judgement in choosing what >> to report. > > I agree. It was silly for Allan to report on the trip to Mars, and it does > call into question his technical judgement. I find it unnerving. > On the other hand, otherwise sane people have crazy beliefs, in religion, > faith healing, 9/11 conspiracies and so on. Sometimes it is best to ignore > part of what a person says, while you take something else seriously. People > are complicated. >
Indeed, there are hundreds of journalists who do believe in silly fairy tails such as tooth fairies, unicorns and Jesus. If someone believes that Barak is from Mars, I would say that is far more scientifically convincing if some crackpots believes in Jesus as a savior. It is also important to remember that Sterling's work is to find funding for free energy inventors. To be credible in his work he should report what inventor is claiming, and not to practice investigative journalism. After all, Sterling gets his fair share for raised funding, that is he is doing real work that helps it to support his family. –Jouni
