Freelance writer and editor
Surprising comment from Ben Goldacre on The World Tonight last night. Bemoaning the one-sided press coverage of Andrew Wakefield’s allegations about the MMR jab (from around 37:30), he said:
… what I would ask is that journalists describe the evidence clearly, and describe the strengths and weaknesses, and also give a balanced picture of the weight of medical opinion.
Evidence? Described clearly? Balanced picture? Has he EVER READ a British newspaper?
This is what the FT said about the bosses of AOL and Time Warner when the two companies merged ten years ago:
The future they have glimpsed is one in which consumers and employers live in a permanently connected world. Broadband communication networks would pipe all manner of information and entertainment to television sets, personal computers and other appliances not yet imagined. Ubiquitous wireless gadgets would make it possible to work, communicate and be entertained from anywhere.
They weren’t that far wrong, even if the merger didn’t work out. Michael Skapinker says: “The problem was that, having precisely foretold the future, they could not get their company to deliver it.”
