I think Journalism majors should be required to have a course in the proper way to cover science news.

We stayed at a hotel in Charlottesville this weekend, which gave me chance to sit and watch tv. I typically don't get to see how stories are covered in television news. I felt utterly bombarded by the news story about the study that found that women who drank more than two cups of coffee a day while pregnant were more likely to have a miscarriage. I know I saw it on Fox News, CNN, and in USA Today this morning. Of course, the news media sensationalized the whole thing by saying caffeine "doubles" a woman's chance of a miscarriage. I get really annoyed when I hear science news and no one reports n's and I have no real way of evaluating exactly how risky certain behaviors are. Luckily, the New York Times did a slightly better job of covering it. Here's the article.

I love the quote at the end that talks about moderation and how human beings are more robust than dying off over tiny bits of any one things during pregnancy. I'm glad the Times actually tries to temper the freak out factor a bit. Oh, and I'm glad they tried to discuss a bit of the scientific debate surrounding the results because it is only one study. Kudos, New York Times.