There has always been a chasm between the stuff written by medical correspondents and "health writers" on many newspapers. The former are specialist science writers whose beat includes the latest goings on on medical research. This is territory that is also the natural habitat of many science writers with a broader remit. Now, it seems, we have to find some way to differentiate environment correspondents from "green writers".
Just as health writers will cover any old tosh that deals with the human body, be it quack remedies or copper bracelets that cure snoring, while medical writers want some science behind their articles, we had always thought that an environment writer also built on scientific foundations. Indeed, many science writers also cover the environment which is, after all, a highly scientific subject.
Evidence that the green writers do not need this underpinning of science comes in the shape on an article that appeared in The Independent, My war on electrosmog by Julia Stephenson. The article is yet another in the saga of slow death by electromagnetic radiation that surfaces from time to time around mobile phones and, more recently, wifi. Ms Stephenson, whose own embryonic web site verges on the cleavage side of photography, has been feeling tired of late. Even her plants are in a bad way.
The self styled "Green Goddess" consulted her naturopath who "insisted that my exhaustion was caused by electromagnetic "smog" in my flat". Apart from finding it dodgy that anyone writing on such matters should consult a naturopath, I am puzzled that she also feels the need to talk to a "London-based complementary health practitioner". Ms Stephenson quotes Dr Nicole de Canha as saying "Any imbalance in our electromagnetic field creates a disturbance in cell structure and function, which can lead to illness in sensitive individuals."
Where, we have to ask, did Dr de Canha acquire that PhD? Therapynet, which seems to be a place for such folks to advertise their magic, tells us little beyond saying that the good doctor has a Doctorate in Homoeopathy, as well as Sports and Therapeutic Massage Diploma, Indian Head Massage, Ear Acupuncture Diploma. There is a link to Relax-O-Therapy but the website wasn't there when we clicked it.
It is depressing that a newspaper as solid as The Independent carries this sort of tosh. Perhaps the one saving grace is that they file it under "Lifestyle".
06 June 2007
A lethargic green writer
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2 comments:
Oh I don't know. I'm with Mr. Kenward. I work a respiratory therapist in a hospital and I like a little science to back my diagnoses too. Having people ignore the pulmonologist who's working from actual medical studies in favor of what "my chiropractor" or "Massage therapist" said gets a little old. He works in the world of print. I work clinically. It still gets old no matter where you see the bullshit.
And by the way, I'm not flaming anybody but even when I disagree, I sign my name. I'm not ashamed of my opinions.
Thank you Glenna. Ignorant "your comments are worthless" jibes tell us how much attention we should pay to their anonymous sources.
I have followed the discussion of the effects of radiation, electromagnetic and otherwise, for some years. It isn't just that no one has come up with a convincing mechanism for the alleged effects, there isn't even the epidemiology to show that there is an effect. (Sorry to "anon" for the need to use long words, but they are essential in science and medicine.)
I may have an aged physics degree but as a writer my main interest is in how people write about these things. Anyone interested in dismantling the quackery would do well to consult David Colquhoun's Improbable Science page and Ben Goldacre's Bad Science.
I confess that it was Ben who first alerted me to the self styled "Green Goddess". She is, it seems, a Green Party candidate in some election or other, which may tell us a lot about their approach to science.
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