{"id":132,"date":"2010-07-21T21:18:44","date_gmt":"2010-07-21T21:18:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/notranting\/2010\/07\/21\/in_praise_of_the_shambolic\/"},"modified":"2010-12-20T20:51:27","modified_gmt":"2010-12-20T20:51:27","slug":"in_praise_of_the_shambolic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/notranting\/2010\/07\/21\/in_praise_of_the_shambolic\/","title":{"rendered":"In praise of the somewhat shambolic"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Scienceblogs<\/em> saga continues to rumble on, with more people quitting \u2013 the departure of Bora Zivkovic<\/a> making perhaps the biggest ripples in this latest group \u2013 and now PZ Myers going on strike (see some discussion in the comments here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

[Note added: As I was finishing off this post, I saw one of my favourite Sb bloggers, Abel Pharmboy of Terra Sigillata<\/a>, is going too. That only leaves Orac, of the Sb-ers I read regularly, still blogging at Sb]<\/p>\n

Posts talking about the Sb saga have even been appearing<\/a> here at NN, though I think most people around here are a bit wary of talking about Sb too much (remember what happened the last time).<\/p>\n

Anyway, there has been so much discussion of the current and ongoing Sb saga in the blogosphere, including the lengthy posts that the departing bloggers have penned giving their personal reasons for leaving (e.g. from dual ex-Sb\/NN resident GrrlScientist<\/a>) that it was rather a surprise to see this in the Guardian<\/em> Science online yesterday, written by Oregon-based freelancer David Appell:\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

PepsiCo and the shame of the bloggerati<\/strong><\/p>\n

A real chance to call the corporation to account was missed when Food Frontiers was forced out of Scienceblog<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThis month Seed magazine decided to introduce a new blog to its Scienceblog department, called Food Frontiers. It was sponsored by PepsiCo and was to be written by their scientists. Less than a day later Seed shut the blog down \u2013 before a word of substance had been posted \u2013 because of a backlash from its readers and other Sciencebloggers.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how easy it is for the bloggerati to hound out undesirable opinions. This is a shameful response from nearly all parties involved. Suppression of free speech is never acceptable, no matter who is being censored or who is calling for it. That prominent science writers aided such suppression is even more problematic \u2013 and, in my opinion, even cowardly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Reaction on Twitter to Appell\u2019s piece was, er, somewhat incredulous, with many commenting that it added nothing to the much more in-depth discussion that had already gone on on Sb (especially) and elsewhere. The comments thread after Appell\u2019s article was also mostly negative. Here is my own little contribution:<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n

ACElliott<\/strong><\/p>\n

20 Jul 2010, 3:11PM<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMuch too simplistic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Apart from what GCday correctly states about opening the Sb bloggers to the \u201cshill\u201d accusation, a major issue was that Sb did this completely without warning, and without in any way \u201cmarking\u201d the PepsiCo blog as \u201cAdvertorial\u201d (or similar). It was also clearly the last straw for many of the Sb bloggers, building on long-standing gripes about lack of tech support and other stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking as the editor of a (admittedly non-retail) science magazine<\/a>, I am astonished the Sb management hadn\u2019t consulted the bloggers first, as in:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUnder what circumstances and safeguards would a paid-for blog written by PepsiCo scientists here be acceptable?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I would suggest that if they had done that the exodus would likely have been far smaller. But blind-siding ALL their contributors at a stroke, and ignoring (or not knowing) established conventions of (US) journalism ethics about separating and marking journalistic and advertorial content, would leave anyone wondering if Sb have a clue.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, as several people have said here, Pepsi have a similar blog on their own site; and there is also nothing to stop their scientists, individually or collectively, setting up on WordPress, or Blogger, or some other network. Which is what everyone else does.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n

And today a more serious response<\/a> appeared in the Guardian<\/em>, penned by one of the Sb \u00e9migr\u00e9s, David Dobbs of Neuron Culture<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I think the Interwebz way to say it is that Appell\u2019s piece has been well and truly \u201cpwned\u201d<\/span>. But one thing which I did find rather funny was that the Graun\u2019s own contributors<\/em>, and even Guardian<\/em> science correspondent Alok Jha,<\/a> seemed rather bemused by the appearance and tone of Appell\u2019s offering. Here is Adam Rutherford:\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n

Adam Rutherford<\/strong><\/p>\n

20 Jul 2010, 4:46PM<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the bloggers hounded Food Frontiers out. They disagreed and then left to write somewhere else. That seems to me to be perfectly reasonable and democratic protest: to chose not to share a forum with something they disagree with or do not wish to be associated with. [Sb publisher] Seed and [Seed CEO] Adam Bly buckled under this mass protest and migration pressure and Pepsi withdrew. You\u2019ll have to point out how that is suppression, cos I must\u2019ve misunderstood what the word means.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014And here is Jha:<\/p>\n

AlokJha<\/strong><\/p>\n

20 Jul 2010, 5:27PM<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDavid, have you read any of the careful debate that went on all over the blogosphere this past week about why Food Frontiers was a bad idea? Many people have addressed the same issues as you but have done it in a more constructive way that lays out why ScienceBlogs stumbled over PepsiCo\u2019s blog. Yes Pepsi should have its say. But perhaps not in the sly way it was presented by editors at SB.<\/span><\/p>\n

Start here.<\/span><\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s this<\/a> \u2013 and\u00a0this<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

But I think my favourite comment of all was the following one, in which a commenter under the splendid \u201chandle\u201d<\/span> of Dead Badger<\/strong> offered Appell a civics<\/a> lesson:<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n

DeadBadger<\/strong><\/p>\n

20 Jul 2010, 3:34PM<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDear David:<\/span><\/p>\n

Freedom of speech does not entail freedom from criticism.<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019re welcome.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014—————————<\/p>\n

In praise of the Grauniad<\/em> \u2013 I want<\/em> my newspaper a bit<\/em> shambolic<\/strong><\/p>\n

Several of the science and Bad Science Twitterati tweeted yesterday with variations on \u201cWhy is the Guardian publishing this?\u201d<\/span>. Which is a fair question. But\u2026 actually, in a funny way, the whole thing encapsulates one of the reasons why, more than a third of a century after I started reading the Grua<\/em>n, it is still my daily newspaper choice.<\/p>\n

To whit:<\/p>\n

Interesting and unpredictable daily mix of the excellent, the good, the OK, and the frankly dismal? Check<\/strong><\/p>\n

Inability to stick universally to a focused and consistent editorial line? Check<\/strong><\/p>\n

Disparate bits of the paper apparently not knowing what each other are doing? Check<\/strong><\/p>\n

Plenty of opinionated people sounding off? Check<\/strong><\/p>\n

Writers disagreeing and criticizing bits of their own paper publicly? Check<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lengthy arguments starting at the drop of a hat?\u00a0Check <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

And there you have it. The Graun<\/em> reminds me of\u2026 well, of a University<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And that,<\/em> despite the Woo-friendly tripe that regularly appears in the \u201cLifestyle\u201d bits of the paper, and also despite Simon Jenkins\u2019 regularly idiotic broadsides<\/a> at pointy-headed elitist scientists and academics, is why I am still a reader.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Scienceblogs saga continues to rumble on, with more people quitting \u2013 the departure of Bora Zivkovic making perhaps the biggest ripples in this latest group \u2013 and now PZ Myers going on strike (see some discussion in the comments … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,4,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annoyances","category-grumbling","category-the-interwebz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/notranting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/notranting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/notranting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/notranting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/notranting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/notranting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/notranting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/notranting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/notranting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}