Don't trust everything you read or hear from the media.
From SusoSight
(Redirected from Thoughts/Don't trust everything you read or hear from the media.)| Number: | 84 |
| Date created: | 2003-02-28 15:27:18 |
| Previous Thought: | Why all the rush |
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| Voting results: | Television: 1 |
The media, our prophet of the world around us and beyond us. A lot of us trust it implicitly to give accurate and complete information. But I think that trust goes too far. On several occasions I have found that even creditable news reporting agencies reporting incorrect information.
For instance, about two months ago, Rensellear Polytechnical Institute made a press release about scientists that had discovered new stars on the edge of the milky way galaxy. The associated press added some false information about the orbital period of the stars being 60,000 years. Really? That's interesting. If it were true it would mean that the stars are moving almost 5 times faster than the speed of light. This is because the milky way galaxy is measured to be around 100,000 light years in diameter. So you get the picture. I ended up writing to a the scientist who they quoted in the article and he wrote me back saying that it is a mistake and he didn't understand how the AP could make such a mistake. The oribital period of the stars would more like 600,000,000 years.
Another mistake I found recently while watching TV. My wife and I were watching a program about weddings. At the end of the program they listed the top five wedding songs used in the ceremony. One of them they listed was Pachelbel's canon in D minor. Really? That would be interesting. Canon in D minor would end up sounding more like a funeral than a celebration. For those of you that aren't musically aware of this mistake. Pachelbel's famous piece that is commonly used in weddings and other events is actually called Canon in D major. It makes a world of difference that it is in a major key than in a minor key. I find that on the web though, several people have made this same mistake of refering to the piece as Canon in D minor. Do a search for "Pachelbel's canon in D minor" and you'll see for yourself.
So my question for this thought is, what form of media do you trust the most when thinking of creditable sources of that media.