Comments on: The trouble with journalism: An over-reliance on ‘experts’ http://www.grumpytraveller.com/2010/02/22/the-trouble-with-journalism-an-over-reliance-on-%e2%80%98experts%e2%80%99/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed Travelling beyond the gushing hyperbole Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:13:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jeremy Head http://www.grumpytraveller.com/2010/02/22/the-trouble-with-journalism-an-over-reliance-on-%e2%80%98experts%e2%80%99/comment-page-1/#comment-2115 Jeremy Head Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:24:54 +0000 http://www.grumpytraveller.com/?p=527#comment-2115 Completely agree with you about the rise of the expert... lazy journalism. I blathered about it here in what I think was one of my better posts! http://www.travelblather.com/2009/05/the-net-is-killing-journalism.html "The cult of the expert The alternative to pseudo research is to wheel in an 'expert'. In the absence of hard facts, media organisations are turning to opinion instead. You don't need to do hardcore costly research to back up your story if you can wheel out an expert - doesn't really matter who he is or where from - to verify your claims. Doesn't matter whether global warming will really kill us all by 2050 as long as a Professor from some university claims it will. And if he's no longer around to stand by and back up his claim in 2050, better still. You see this so much in 24 hour news these days. Pseudo fact... backed up with waffle from expert... job done." Completely agree with you about the rise of the expert… lazy journalism. I blathered about it here in what I think was one of my better posts!
http://www.travelblather.com/2.....alism.html
“The cult of the expert
The alternative to pseudo research is to wheel in an ‘expert’. In the absence of hard facts, media organisations are turning to opinion instead. You don’t need to do hardcore costly research to back up your story if you can wheel out an expert – doesn’t really matter who he is or where from – to verify your claims. Doesn’t matter whether global warming will really kill us all by 2050 as long as a Professor from some university claims it will. And if he’s no longer around to stand by and back up his claim in 2050, better still. You see this so much in 24 hour news these days. Pseudo fact… backed up with waffle from expert… job done.”

]]> By: Gary Arndt http://www.grumpytraveller.com/2010/02/22/the-trouble-with-journalism-an-over-reliance-on-%e2%80%98experts%e2%80%99/comment-page-1/#comment-2114 Gary Arndt Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:57:03 +0000 http://www.grumpytraveller.com/?p=527#comment-2114 I've never understood the "top places to visit in 2010" lists. Every publication comes out with them, and there is never any overlap. It is like the put names in a hat. No rational as to why these places will be special during 2010. They might as well come out with a list of "random places to visit in 2010". I’ve never understood the “top places to visit in 2010″ lists. Every publication comes out with them, and there is never any overlap. It is like the put names in a hat. No rational as to why these places will be special during 2010.

They might as well come out with a list of “random places to visit in 2010″.

]]> By: Melissa Shales http://www.grumpytraveller.com/2010/02/22/the-trouble-with-journalism-an-over-reliance-on-%e2%80%98experts%e2%80%99/comment-page-1/#comment-2112 Melissa Shales Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:26:34 +0000 http://www.grumpytraveller.com/?p=527#comment-2112 I sat in on some focus groups a few years back on whether people would trust travel info on the web. They would only trust it if it came with a recognisable label - eg Thomas Cook or Lonely Planet, even though the new info we were offering them was authoritative, more up-to-date, and in many cases written by the same people. Some however, then went on to say that they wouldn't trust Thomas Cook because it was commercial, leaving only LP as a beacon! We eventually opted for branding the website with biogs of all the contributors to prove they were the 'people who had written the LP books in the first place!' Branding is all. I sat in on some focus groups a few years back on whether people would trust travel info on the web. They would only trust it if it came with a recognisable label – eg Thomas Cook or Lonely Planet, even though the new info we were offering them was authoritative, more up-to-date, and in many cases written by the same people. Some however, then went on to say that they wouldn’t trust Thomas Cook because it was commercial, leaving only LP as a beacon! We eventually opted for branding the website with biogs of all the contributors to prove they were the ‘people who had written the LP books in the first place!’ Branding is all.

]]> By: David http://www.grumpytraveller.com/2010/02/22/the-trouble-with-journalism-an-over-reliance-on-%e2%80%98experts%e2%80%99/comment-page-1/#comment-2111 David Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:14:19 +0000 http://www.grumpytraveller.com/?p=527#comment-2111 @alastair I was merely saying that one sauna was hotter than the other. They wanted me to find a link to a respected site that would back this up. Which to me, was unbelievably petty. I've no problem with fact-checking - in fact I think it's a great thing that doesn't happen enough. My point is that independent research is rendered entirely useless when everything has to be backed up by something someone important has already said. The taking things from experts at face value is the flip side of this. @alastair I was merely saying that one sauna was hotter than the other. They wanted me to find a link to a respected site that would back this up. Which to me, was unbelievably petty. I’ve no problem with fact-checking – in fact I think it’s a great thing that doesn’t happen enough.

My point is that independent research is rendered entirely useless when everything has to be backed up by something someone important has already said.

The taking things from experts at face value is the flip side of this.

]]> By: Alastair McKenzie http://www.grumpytraveller.com/2010/02/22/the-trouble-with-journalism-an-over-reliance-on-%e2%80%98experts%e2%80%99/comment-page-1/#comment-2110 Alastair McKenzie Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:07:08 +0000 http://www.grumpytraveller.com/?p=527#comment-2110 Not sure I understand, David. Isn't your Finnish sauna corroboration an example of the publisher NOT taking something on face value and asking you to back it up, especially since you yourself could have based it on the newspaper story? IE the very thing you are complaining about. Not sure I understand, David. Isn’t your Finnish sauna corroboration an example of the publisher NOT taking something on face value and asking you to back it up, especially since you yourself could have based it on the newspaper story? IE the very thing you are complaining about.

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