
A template for future news stories about scientific breakthroughs - tokenadult
http://andrewgelman.com/2016/05/04/a-template-for-future-news-stories-about-scientific-breakthroughs/
======
btilly
The main problem with this solution is that he assumes that the purpose of
news stories is to inform.

It isn't.

It is a vehicle for generating ad impressions. It doesn't matter whether it
has all of the intellectual content of cotton candy, the purpose is served if
it gets clicks. Therefore widespread reporting of a bad paper is not a problem
for the industry, it is an opportunity. And if it is so bad that they are
forced to publish a retraction, well cry me a river to the nearest bank
account, they got more ad impressions!

This will continue and intensify until people get so fed up that the online
equivalent of the NY Times becomes viable. A subscription news source that
people trust for content, that people go to because the free news is so
obviously made up BS.

