Don't Believe it.
In my daytime job I am a transcriptionist.
That means that somebody talks into a tape recorder (mostly doctors) and I then listen to it and type it out for them.
But I don't just do medical transcription, I have been lucky enough to do some legal work with a private investigator (very interesting) and some work with a couple of PhD students too, preparing their dissertations.
The one that struck me as most interesting, was the student whose theme was "Do People Believe What They Read?" I transcribed many, many interviews where this student went into people's homes, checked out the books on their book shelves and asked them about how they chose the books (nonfiction), if they researched the authors and their qualifications, and that type of thing.
And do you know what my non-scientific interpretation of her data was? It was that people assume that the publishers have checked out the authors, their topics and their research and that everything for sale on the racks in the bookstores is the God's Honest Truth.
On lady had totally changed her diet to try to cure a bowel condition based solely on a book by an author with a Bachelor of Education degree that had never worked in the nutrition field but found the diet worked well for her.
People are basing their entire belief systems on books by authors who are no where near a specialist in their field. And as far as I know, the only publishers that actually check on facts, are the publishers of the legitimate medical journals. Regular publishers just run things by their legal department to check on liability and then have authors sign contracts assuming all responsibility.
In this day and age, when television networks have reclassified their News Divisions under the Entertainment Division, and when reporters suddenly have an opinion (remember the good old days when reporters were unbiased and if you wanted an opinion you had to go to the editorial page), and when celebrities are posting blogs just to correct all the lies out their about them - you cannot just believe anything. Whether it's the New York Times, 60 Minutes, or Katie Couric on the Evening News, you have to listen to what they say and then get other input and opinions.
Seeking facts is not longer what THEY do, they seek sensationalism to sell papers and collect ratings points. The responsibility is now on us to seek facts. Don't let us down and don't believe what you read!
That means that somebody talks into a tape recorder (mostly doctors) and I then listen to it and type it out for them.
But I don't just do medical transcription, I have been lucky enough to do some legal work with a private investigator (very interesting) and some work with a couple of PhD students too, preparing their dissertations.
The one that struck me as most interesting, was the student whose theme was "Do People Believe What They Read?" I transcribed many, many interviews where this student went into people's homes, checked out the books on their book shelves and asked them about how they chose the books (nonfiction), if they researched the authors and their qualifications, and that type of thing.
And do you know what my non-scientific interpretation of her data was? It was that people assume that the publishers have checked out the authors, their topics and their research and that everything for sale on the racks in the bookstores is the God's Honest Truth.
On lady had totally changed her diet to try to cure a bowel condition based solely on a book by an author with a Bachelor of Education degree that had never worked in the nutrition field but found the diet worked well for her.
People are basing their entire belief systems on books by authors who are no where near a specialist in their field. And as far as I know, the only publishers that actually check on facts, are the publishers of the legitimate medical journals. Regular publishers just run things by their legal department to check on liability and then have authors sign contracts assuming all responsibility.
In this day and age, when television networks have reclassified their News Divisions under the Entertainment Division, and when reporters suddenly have an opinion (remember the good old days when reporters were unbiased and if you wanted an opinion you had to go to the editorial page), and when celebrities are posting blogs just to correct all the lies out their about them - you cannot just believe anything. Whether it's the New York Times, 60 Minutes, or Katie Couric on the Evening News, you have to listen to what they say and then get other input and opinions.
Seeking facts is not longer what THEY do, they seek sensationalism to sell papers and collect ratings points. The responsibility is now on us to seek facts. Don't let us down and don't believe what you read!
posted by Deborah Nicholson | 12:07 p.m.
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