Media Mediocrity: Waging War Against Science

“How is it possible to have a debate about the scientific veracity of global warming when 97 percent of the very people who are behind every shred of science in climatology and global warming, the scientific researchers, agree it is anthropogenic and we are headed for catastrophe if CO2 emissions are not lowered immediately? How is it possible to live in a world so inundated with the fruits of science and yet at the same time, to have so many of the public dismiss its findings? The answer to these questions is found in one word: television.” In Media Mediocrity, Richard Zurawski argues that the science we see on television is inaccurate and misleading, little more than spectacle and sound bites aimed at securing rather than educating its audience. As television continues to be the main source of scientific information for most North Americans, Zurawski contends that this dumbing-down of science has serious consequences. Examining issues such as global warming, tobacco consumption and intelligent design, Media Mediocrity argues that a misinformed public cannot hope to make informed decisions. We rely on experts to guide our individual and collective decision-making, but when scientific information is hijacked by vested interests and profit-making, we are denied access to those experts — and led to believe that debate is still an option. If science is our best hope for avoiding ecological catastrophe, we must put an end to this war on science and educate ourselves — before it is too late.