United Kingdom: Science Media Centre (including Fiona Fox)

Just leaving this here: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2003/dec/09/highereducation.uk2

 

Talks the talk doesn't she .

Doesn't it just.

 

Academy of Medical Sciences
List of Presidents

• 2015–2019 Sir Robert Lechler (King's College London).............

 

Thread about a Fiona Fox article for the Revolutionary Communist Party c.1996 for anyone who’s not seen it: https://www.s4me.info/threads/artic...he-revolutionary-communist-party-c-1996.3452/

(This is the article where she claims that involvement with the RCP inoculates her against myalgic encephalomyelitis.)

Direct link to annotated RCP article:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jroffc18kizqzzn/fiona_fox_ME_RCP_with_links.pdf?dl=0

 

I. What?

 

Am sitting here with my jaws dropped....... The audacity, arrogance and superciliousness of the woman! No wonder we have a problem with the SMC!
I feel for poor Carol!


Mentions ME and claims it is caused by a virus...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/en/articles/art20130702112133756

"Science and the media: Fiona Fox (and the Holy Grail of journalistic balance ......words of wisdom during the BBC interview)

If you aren’t a specialist in a particular area, there’ll always be a lot of people who know more about a subject than you do..... (right on comrade F!)
Fiona Fox is chief executive of the Science Media Centre which provides advice and support to scientists and journalists.

And, quote from talking to the Lancet, Ha! (my emphasis)
"The SMC offers media training for scientists, including meet the media days where they come face-to-face with UK national journalists in an informal setting. Fox and her colleagues also provide expert comment on just about any science or health subject. “There are far less journalists nowadays, but with much more space to fill. By providing them with expert comment, we are giving it to them on a plate—but what they are getting is fair, balanced, journalism”, says Fox........ (Oh no she isn't!)

 

I know I am recycling, but think it's useful to re-highlight under this thread.

Here's one JtJ did earlier, https://johnthejack.com/2017/10/20/a-response-to-fiona-fox/
and a great link!
http://data.parliament.uk/WrittenEv...logy/Science communication/written/34673.html

 

I think this may be a sign of the end of civilisation as we know it.

A journalist who doesn't distinguish between "less" and "fewer".

That is guaranteed to upset the residents of Tunbridge Wells.

 

Centuries of science have made that point extremely clear: eminence is a lousy system to determine what is true and what isn't and objective science, one that painstakingly acknowledges biases and works hard to reduce their influence on outcome, is the only process that yields useful outcome over the long term. Reality is just not intuitive, you have to seriously poke at it to get the juicy bits of truth out.

And she's proud of rejecting those painful lessons and embracing argument by eminence. Disgraceful. Explains a lot, though. Quite fitting that this is a movement promoting what is essentially a rejection of the germ theory of disease as the foundation of modern medicine, another painfully learned lesson that took centuries to perfect.

[Edit: no politics ]

 

Had hoped that the reference to "Eminence-Based" Medicine meant that she had been reading Brian Hughes' book.

 

I think it means some amongst them must be aware of his criticisms, and that final comment just validates what @Brian Hughes says, though I doubt that speaker had the slightest awareness of his doing that.

 

Is this it?

http://www.margaretwilliams.me/2013/role-of-science-media-centre-and-insurance-industry.pdf

"Section 4: The SMC’s campaign against ME/CFS patients"

This is accessible from MEpedia's page (ref 98) ...

https://me-pedia.org/wiki/PACE_trial#Prof_Malcolm_Hooper.27s_complaints

 

Greenpeace have capitulated to corporatism and money spinning and grabbing. They, with 9 other large "charities" "allowed" and endorsed the destruction of a key "Suffolk Coastal local plan protected" wildlife space with 250 community planted trees, badgers and other wildlife in Rushmere and made us take the issue to Judicial Review in 2016. Cost us a packet but one has to stick to one's principles........ At a cost to fight government development policy and corrupt/ biased and twisted judicial system.

 

https://twitter.com/user/status/1080871439576850432

https://twitter.com/user/status/1080934209307455493

 

I see that Dr Brennan Kahan is a lecturer in medical statistics at QMUL:
https://www.qmul.ac.uk/blizard/staf...re-and-public-health/staff/brennan-kahan.html

 

Beat me to it.

I shall retire to my sofa with a glass of sherry.

 

In Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray," Lord Wotton says that he likes to choose his enemies for their good intellects. Unfortunately, even in this regard, it looks like ME patients are once again screwed.