Rowan, CH 12

I like the fact that the author pointed out that the majority of misinterpretations of science and the jumping to conclusions by the public are due to the way that journalist present the material without basically giving the whole story. If you look at any journalistic publication or media outlet this is true no matter what topic they are writing about or covering. Least we forget that the idealistic sense of an unbiased media providing the news to the masses is just that, idealistic. Journalism and different types of media are a business, hot topics and controversy sell stories, not facts. Facts are boring when it comes to writing stories and the public is not going to tune in or run out and buy a copy of the magazine or newspaper for boring material. The public in a sense is left in the dark, be it on purpose or not, to make up their own opinion and get the off the wall ideas and contorversy started that leads to more talk on the subject and sells more stories. I believe the line from Men in Black was that a person is smart but people are stupid, or something along those lines. This article is trying to convey the need for reasoning so that the best educated answer can be thought of, not a conclusion jumped to. The author is trying to dispell the myths that journalism has created and how not to fall into the same shortcomings in your speech writing or writing be it e-mail or any other document you may produce where interpretation by more the technical savy people or those who know about the subject may take place. The same would be true if you were preparing a proposal for your boss, you need to present the idea, show how it is a better way of doing things, support this fact staticstically, and show him why this is the best way to go by contrasting the least and greatest improvement your proposal will make. Dont' leave anything in the dark for misinterpretation, people have been programmed throught the media and general humanity to be skeptical and act before they know or understand all of the facts. By dispelling or reexplaining some standard myths about journalistic reporting of scientific facts and findings the author has showed the way on how to avoid being misunderstood in our own writings, this is the basis behind technical communications of explaining the scientific and hard to understand to the masses so that an educated opinion may be taken.