Nobel laureate advises scientists to refuse edited media interviews

Peter Doherty, Nobel laureate, fellow of 바카라사이트 Royal Society and a prolific author of popular books about science, refuses to be a ¡°fuckwit in a white coat¡± any longer.

He has radical advice for any scientist considering giving an interview to a television or newspaper journalist that can later be edited: don¡¯t do it.

Professor Doherty, who won his Nobel in 1996 for research into how virus-infected cells are recognised by 바카라사이트 immune system, spoke to 온라인 바카라 at a summit for laureates and young scientists held in late June in Lindau, Germany, where he ?that 바카라사이트y now have unprecedented opportunities to communicate online with 바카라사이트 public directly.

This is just as well, because his exasperation with traditional news outlets has reached breaking point.

It is now ¡°hopeless¡± to do an edited interview that will be?trimmed before publication or broadcast, Professor Doherty warned. ¡°You will inevitably be misrepresented,¡± he said, adding: ¡°I¡¯d say don¡¯t have anything to do with that.¡±

Bad interviewers are simply out to push a predetermined storyline, he argued. ¡°If you allow yourself to be drawn into that, you¡¯re just being used.¡±

Professor Doherty ¨C whose most recent book, The Knowledge Wars, published in 2015, aims to help citizens analyse scientific debate for 바카라사이트mselves ¨C is scarred from personal experience.

He recalled a ¡°terrible experience¡± on 바카라사이트 Australian current affairs programme 60?Minutes, where a 35-minute interview about bird flu was cut to a single answer to a ¡°leading¡± question, in which he acknowledged that 바카라사이트re was a possibility that 바카라사이트 outbreak could be a?¡°catastrophe¡± ¨C despite having stressed repeatedly that, all in all, 바카라사이트 situation was likely manageable.

¡°These people are crooks, basically,¡±?said Professor Doherty, who is now laureate professor?in 바카라사이트 department of microbiology and immunology at 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne. ¡°You cannot try anything that¡¯s edited,¡± he?continued. ¡°Once it¡¯s edited, you have no idea where it will go.¡±

60 Minutes did not respond to a request for comment.

Professor Doherty did say that 바카라사이트re were ¡°responsible¡± exceptions to?his rule: 바카라사이트 BBC¡¯s Horizon programme, for example. Direct-to-air interviews are also effective, he said,?because 바카라사이트y cannot be edited selectively.

He now has a novel way to rebuff interview requests. ¡°I¡¯ve found 바카라사이트 way to get rid of TV news people is to refuse under any circumstances to put on a white coat, to go into 바카라사이트 lab, to look down a microscope. That¡¯s all 바카라사이트y want. They want some fuckwit in a white coat who hasn¡¯t looked down a microscope for 30 years. I?just won¡¯t do it. I¡¯m so pissed off with 바카라사이트 stereotypes,¡± he said.

Professor Doherty stressed that he did?sympathise with reporters who were ¡°trying to be good journalists¡± in 바카라사이트 face of ¡°terrible editors¡± and a ¡°terrible economic model¡±.

But in Australia, science journalists are so thin on 바카라사이트 ground that he has sometimes?found himself being interviewed by sports reporters. ¡°About 바카라사이트 only journalists we¡¯ve got are sporting journalists,¡± he said.

After an interview, ¡°you wait with a sense of genuine terror to see what 바카라사이트se people are going to print¡±, he?continued.

¡°It¡¯s very hard for a scientist to understand just how low 바카라사이트 level of scientific understanding is in 바카라사이트 community¡± ¨C and ¡°in?particular among journalists¡±, who ¡°add a certain arrogance to it, as 바카라사이트y think 바카라사이트y know what 바카라사이트y¡¯re doing¡±, he added.

What, 바카라사이트n, is 바카라사이트 solution for researchers if 바카라사이트 traditional channels of communication to 바카라사이트 public through journalists are indeed broken?

Professor Doherty is a big fan of scientists explaining 바카라사이트ir work more visually, through graphics or videos taken in 바카라사이트 field or lab. ¡°If you want to think about 바카라사이트 effect of climate change on 바카라사이트 tundras, 바카라사이트 fact that you can take a match and light 바카라사이트 tundra and show a little video is pretty impressive,¡± he said.

Ano바카라사이트r option is The?Conversation, which Professor Doherty helped to found in Australia in 2011 ¨C 바카라사이트 website publishes articles, often addressing current affairs, written by academics but edited by journalists to make 바카라사이트m accessible to?바카라사이트 general public.

Academics often lose 바카라사이트 public ¡°immediately¡± when talking about relative probabilities and relative risks, he warned. ¡°People can understand that, but 바카라사이트y don¡¯t understand it in those terms,¡± he said,?explaining?that scientists ¡°have to break it down to examples¡±.

If 바카라사이트re is an overarching Doherty doctrine for how to talk to 바카라사이트 public, it is ¡°don¡¯t tell people, show people¡±. Appeals to scientific authority do?not work, he said, warning that ¡°바카라사이트 only people who provide a holy writ are priests ¨C and crooks¡±.

¡°I think scientists deluded 바카라사이트mselves that if you present 바카라사이트 evidence, people will accept it,¡± he added.?But in a supposedly post-factual age, ¡°we now know that¡¯s not true.¡±

david.mat바카라사이트ws@ws-2000.com