An analogous situation holds for ecologists. Environmentalists
(not necesarily ecologists) make extreme
statements that are intended to dramatize the
situation, but end up polarizing it instead.
The problem is that these issues are often presented
in both the scientific literature and in the
popular press in a "debate" format, one that assumes
there is a "right" and a "wrong" answer and
attempts to lay out the opposing positions so the
audience can choose for themselves who is "right."
This format appeals to journalists trying to achieve
"balanced" coverage, but, ironically, the complex
and important issues that are often the subject of
these debates become muddied rather than sharpened
when subjected to this format. They are not black
and white issues; accentuating the debate format
actually hinders our ability to paint a richer, multicolored,
picture and achieve consensus on appropriate
courses of action. In addition, the journalistic
search for "balance" often pits a broad scientific
consensus against a few crackpots willing to take the
opposite position--hardly an accurate picture of the
true balance of opinion in the community. This is not
to say we don't need a thorough and ongoing discussion,
but the format should be one of truly balanced
and interactive dialogue rather than confrontational
debate in the journalistic style.