Times gutter press - cod in North Sea

[BrilloPad]

BBC News - North Sea cod: Is it true there are only 100 left?

Are there any decent news sites left? Apart from cuk of course....

[KentPhilip]

I still have my fishing rod, so I'm going to catch them and cook them for you.
How do you like them; grilled or smoked?

[centurian]

When you look at the detail in the article, they are referring to cod above a certain age, but the headline misses out that very important fact and gives a statement that looks positively bonkers.

There are only 820 centenarians (people over 100 years) living in Scotland (2010 census estimates).

So it would be like running the headline "only 820 people left in Scotland"

[NickFitz]

It's a classic example of what happens when journalists with a background in arts subjects try to do even basic science and statistics.

The real problem is that editors expect a journalist with no scientific background to be able to write about such topics; but, of course, the editors themselves are lacking in knowledge and expertise in exactly the same areas, and thus don't appreciate that the results are doomed to be flawed and possibly, as in this case, laughable. It's the Dunning-Kruger effect by proxy.

[BrilloPad]

It's a classic example of what happens when journalists with a background in arts subjects try to do even basic science and statistics.

The real problem is that editors expect a journalist with no scientific background to be able to write about such topics; but, of course, the editors themselves are lacking in knowledge and expertise in exactly the same areas, and thus don't appreciate that the results are doomed to be flawed and possibly, as in this case, laughable. It's the Dunning-Kruger effect by proxy.

+1

And just to extrapolate, you get editors like Kelvin McKenzie who will damn right lie. And then expect an apology.