Academics

There was a time once, before I was born, when the media reporting of an academic study could be relied on to be of significance and probably quite useful. A media report would never have happened until well after the study had been published in a high quality peer reviewed journal.

These days academics often by-pass the journal step and go straight to the media with quasi-complete results. They justify this because they say the higher profile helps them get grants; it does not. The real reason they do it is for their own egos.

The problem is that most of the work thus published is rubbish put together by second or third rate academics at dodgy universities that used to be TAFEs. Even the Sandstone universities have dropped their academic standards considerably and they participate in this rubbish process.

Not one of the participating academics seems to have any concerns that the reporters they talk to, and their editors, end up sensationalising and exaggerating the significance of the results. Its all good they say!