"Part of Our World: Journalism as Civic Leadership" 1. The news as cultural artifact Some years ago, while watching the CBS Evening News, I was startled to hear Dan Rather say, "And that's part of our world tonight." Mr. The point may seem simple, or even simple-minded; and yet it is a good starting point for any discussion of journalism and our public culture. Freed from some of its grander pretensions, ("Expect the world," says the New York Times in its current ad campaign, "And that's the way it is," spoke Walter Cronkite from the chair Rather now holds) the news is made simultaneously more human, more artful, more reliable-- in fact, more real. On the other hand, to say the news is made is not to say the news media make it up. By picturing the people who shine the beacon here and there-- using their judgment, including their judgments about us--we adopt a more humble but more compelling image of the journalist than "that's the way it is..." ever was. But what about those whose investment is in democracy itself? 2. 3. 4.
Alleged Image Data Falsification in a CELL Paper « autismresearchers Alleged Image Data Falsification in a CELL Paper M Ali Bangash, Joo Min Park, Tatiana Melnikova, Dehua Wang, Soo Kyeong Jeon, Deidre Lee, Sbaa Syeda, Juno Kim, Mehreen Kouser, Joshua Schwartz, Yiyuan Cui, Xia Zhao, Haley E. Speed, Sara E. Kee, Jian Cheng Tu, Jia-Hua Hu, Ronald S. Petralia, David J. Enhanced Polyubiquitination of Shank3 and NMDA Receptor in a Mouse Model of Autism, Cell, Volume 145, Issue 5, 27 May 2011, Pages 758-772, ISSN 0092-8674, 10.1016/j.cell.2011.03.052. The first author and the correspondence author are from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. There are 8 abnormities with this paper, as posted below: Like this: Like Loading...
When Interviewees Record! An experiment/interview on journalism | Not Exactly Rocket Science How can journalists make the most of the interviews that they do? And how can interviewees protect themselves from being misquoted? I’ve been thinking about both of these questions for some time and was delighted when an excellent opportunity presented itself for testing a potential answer. A few weeks ago, Zoe Corbyn asked to interview me about science journalism and blogging for a feature she was writing for the Times Higher Education Supplement. As a journalist, I’ve done this on past features, as has Mark Henderson. It allows you to get more value out of work that’s already been done. During a Twitter discussion, Ed Gerstner suggested to me that interviewees could do the same thing, recording their own conversations and posting them on their own sites. [Update: Thinking about this further, these transcripts should also help interviewees to provide their views in full, rather than just a condensed soundbite. ZC: So are you saying this is perhaps a better use of their time?
Mutation or polymorphism? | The Human Genome A mutation is defined as any change in a DNA sequence away from normal. This implies there is a normal allele that is prevalent in the population and that the mutation changes this to a rare and abnormal variant. In contrast, a polymorphism is a DNA sequence variation that is common in the population. In this case no single allele is regarded as the standard sequence. Why are some sequence variants more common than others? Polymorphic sequence variants usually do not cause overt debilitating diseases. The above definitions cannot be applied rigorously. A good example is the allele of sickle-cell disease.
Trial by error How bad is mainstream science reporting? Can it be improved or has it had its time? Zoë Corbyn investigates the issues and considers whether a paradigm shift is needed In June, Dorothy Bishop decided to take matters into her own hands. "I am offering a prize each year for an article in an English-language national newspaper that has the most inaccurate report of a piece of academic work," she explained. "I think it stirred things up," she says, adding that although she has yet to receive a nomination, she has had many messages from fellow scientists who say it is a great idea. "I just thought that this is so typical of what tends to happen ... we have really got to name and shame the people who do this." Bishop explains how reporters subsequently had told her that they don't write the headlines, but she is unrepentant: the headline is what "screeches" at you, she says; writers should check them and editorial practices should change to make this easier. Triumph of the nerds?
HHMI青年科学家邵峰：追求卓越的科学 邵峰近影 龙年钟声响，科技传喜讯：我国7名科学家荣获霍华德·休斯医学研究所（简称HHMI）首届国际青年科学家奖，占到获奖总人数的1/4，为12个国家之最。 作为全球规模最大的非营利性医学研究机构，HHMI目前拥有330位研究员，其中13人是诺贝尔奖得主，147人是美国国家科学院院士，堪称美国生命科学及其相关交叉学科领域最高水平。28位青年科学家从760名申请者中脱颖而出，每人将获得65万美元的经费支持。HHMI主席Robert Tjian希望：10年后这28位获奖者能成为各自国家的科学领袖。 我国的7名获奖者为：清华大学教授颜宁，北京生命科学研究所高级研究员王晓晨、邵峰、张宏、朱冰，中科院武汉物理与数学研究所研究员唐淳，南开大学教授胡俊杰。 青年科学家寄托着中国科技的未来。 邵 峰： 北京生命科学研究所高级研究员。 其研究领域为病原细菌感染和宿主天然免疫防御的分子机制。 龙年春节，北京生命科学研究所（以下简称北生所）的高级研究员邵峰像往年一样来去匆匆：除夕回淮安老家看望父母，初三就回到北京的实验室。 “这样的工作节奏和时间安排，都是纯自发的，从来没有人要求我这么做。” 名副其实的学术明星 自2005年至今，在《自然》、《科学》、《细胞》等三大顶尖杂志上发表5篇论文 邵峰的实验室在北生所的三楼，推开门进去，给人的第一印象是“拥挤”：大门正对着的，是他学生的办公室，几排书柜都快碰到房顶；大门右侧单独隔开的，是相对宽敞的实验室；穿过中间狭窄的通道，靠南的大约只有4平方米的小屋，就是邵峰的办公室。 就是这个看上去普普通通的实验室，自2005年建立至今诞生了一系列国际一流的原创性成果，其中有5篇论文在《自然》、《科学》、《细胞》等三大国际顶尖杂志上发表。 “我们的主要研究领域，是病原细菌感染和宿主天然免疫的拮抗机制。” 他进一步解释说：细菌通过摆动鞭毛侵入人体后，宿主细胞就会通过识别鞭毛，激活一个信号通路，分泌某一类炎症因子，或者招募其他有杀伤力的细胞过来，把细菌尽可能地清除，或者控制在局部范围内。 “当然，这种分子水平上的‘战争’是异常复杂的。 2007年，邵峰在《科学》上发表文章，揭示了一种在动植物界都非常保守的病原细菌拮抗宿主细胞免疫信号通路的机理，从而颠覆了20多年来科学界“蛋白质磷酸化和去磷酸化是可逆调节”的认识。 全身心投入做科研 如果周末不陪孩子玩，我会整整一周都泡在实验室里 科研是兴趣也是使命
Fury at BBC’s ‘anti-Scottish’ broadcast Saturday, 28 August 2010 16:04 Politicians and members of the public have reacted with fury after a BBC Radio 4 broadcast heard commentators describe Scots as living off of benefits provided by the English and describe the Scottish parliament as a “charade of a building” inhabited by MSPs who “crawl out of the darkness”. The comments were made on the radio programme ‘Any Questions’ by Baroness Ruth Deech who is a former Governor of the BBC and Douglas Murray who is the Director of The Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC). The comments have resulted in a stream of complaints to the BBC. The show, broadcast on Friday 20th August, heard Baroness Deech claim that Scots lived off of benefits paid for by English subsidies and that the release of Abdelbaset Al Megrahi had embarrassed the rest of the UK. Deech said:“Alright, they're devolved, but I think they did this [Megrahi release] just to show the rest of us oh, that we are independent, we make our own decisions,” Hello Kind RegardsNewsnet Scotland
Troubleshooting Tip 7: Western Blotting - Current Protocols Problem The above image depicts a Western blot where the protein of interest is detected by chemiluminescence. Although immunoblotting is straightforward when a protocol has been optimized for a specific protein sample, antibodies, and detection system, it is very frustrating when it does not work, especially when the lab next door uses seemingly identical conditions successfully. Here we list the main points one needs to troubleshoot when Western blotting doesn't work. Possible Causes and Solutions Protein Sample Preparation 1. 2. Protein Transfer 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Primary and Secondary Antibodies 1. 2. Detection 1. 2. 3. 4. Details on how to perform immunoblotting and immunodetection can be found in Current Protocols Essential Laboratory Techniques, Unit 8.3, Current Protocols in Cell Biology, Unit 6.2, and Current Protocols in Immunology, Unit 8.10. Visit www.currentprotocols.com for tools, calculators, apps, videos, and information on all Current Protocols methods.
Phone hacking: Met police put on spot by ignored leads and discreet omissions | Media Somewhere in the offices of the Crown Prosecution Service, there is a file that will be of great interest to any independent inquiry that attempts to tell the truth about the behaviour of the Metropolitan police in the phone hacking scandal at the News of the World. The Guardian has read it. The police were dragged into the centre of the scandal last week when the New York Times quoted unnamed detectives claiming that Scotland Yard's "close relationship" with the News of the World had hampered the inquiry. Essentially, the Met is charged on two counts: first, that it cut short its investigation; second, that it then failed to tell the truth to the press, public and parliament. The police insist that they are innocent on both counts. The unpublished CPS file shows the inquiry started well. They wrote: "A vast number of unique voicemail numbers belonging to high-profile individuals (politicians, celebrities) have been identified as being accessed without authority.
Buying a Piece of America: Why Chinese Shoppers Love U.S. Brands - Tom Doctoroff Products from Nike to Apple to Lady Gaga offer a safe way to taste the forbidden fruit of American individualism. Shoppers walk past a new mall under construction in Shanghai. (Reuters). Americans can often carry a somewhat simplistic view of China and the Chinese people. Although apprehensive about the rise of this economic juggernaut and its impact on the American way of life, the images China casts are rooted in the past: dusty, robotic, gray, and ultraconformist. The Chinese, on the other hand, are fascinated by America, although often perplexed by its inherent contradictions. On a personal level, the Chinese admire -- are even intoxicated by -- U.S. In 1999, NATO bombed the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia. I had been in China for a year then and was always greeted with openness, curiosity, and warmth. Evidence of deep affection for the American way of life is everywhere. The American dream -- wealth that culminates in freedom -- is intoxicating for Chinese, young and old alike.
Adam Penenburg Adam Penenberg. If you call yourself an online journalist, and yet that name doesn’t immediately prompt a nod of recognition – a smile, even – then it’s time to close your laptop and bow your head in shame. Or at least head over to Netflix. It was Adam Penenberg who, back in 1998, first forced traditional journalists to sit up and take online reporting seriously. And he did so with a double whammy: scooping them on a big story – a scandal that went to the heart of one of America’s journalistic institutions – while also exposing a rising star of print journalism as a hack and a liar. The lying hack was New Republic wunderkind Stephen Glass and the story of how Penenberg – then a reporter for ‘Forbes Digital Tool’ (now sadly swallowed by the execrable Forbes.com) – exposed Glass’ fabricated reporting was subsequently made into a movie. Penenberg, then, is one of the founding fathers of digital journalism. Twelve years later, of course, none of this is news. Read that again. Yep.
..nil nisi bonum « previous post | next post » I can understand why Margalit Fox would want to give such prominence to Edwin Newman's two books on usage in her New York Times obituary for for the journalist, who died recently at 91. Newman retired from NBC more than 25 years ago, and people who remember him are likely to be hazier on his journalism than on his 1970's bestsellers Strictly Speaking and A Civil Tongue, which are still in print (though only in large type and audio editions appropriate to a public of advancing diopter). But I wish they had left me out of it. His prescriptive approach to English did not win favor everywhere. Not that I have any reservations about my criticisms of Newman's books. Among the sins that set Mr. But Newman didn't invent this style, and in retrospect he was a lot jollier about it than most other practitioners. Anyway, you'd hardly want to judge Newman on the basis of what was just a late sideline to a notable journalistic career. Mr. "Please don't," Mr. Permalink
Why I spoofed science journalism | Martin Robbins | Science Bizarrely, the most read article on the Guardian website last week wasn't about Ed Miliband or the Labour party conference, but a quirky special-interest piece spoofing science journalism which I assumed only about three people would get. Apparently I hit a nerve, but why? What's wrong with science journalism? How did it become so dull and predictable? My point was really about predictability and stagnation. Journalism – Analysis = RSS Feed To see what I mean about predictability, take a look at the BBC Science & Environment news page. UK 'needs domestic wind industry'Painless laser 'can spot disease'City life 'boosts bug resistance''Ghost particle'Neanderthals were 'keen on tech'Fossil flower 'clue to daisies'Winds 'may have parted Red Sea'Malaria 'caught from gorillas'LHC finds 'interesting effects' I could go on, but you can see 'the pattern'. Cobblers. A science journalist should be capable of, at a minimum, reading a scientific paper and being able to venture a decent opinion.