With 24 hour rolling TV news stations, news websites and newspapers, all of which are easily accessible from pretty much anywhere, there are bound to be some news stories that just act as 'filler'. Increasingly though, there seem to be a number of stories which aren't really newsworthy, but make it onto TV anyway, disguised as actual news because an 'expert' said it. Go through a news website or watch a news channel for long enough and you will definitely come across a story like this. If you search 'experts say' on the BBC News website one of the things you'll realise is that there are far too many experts. This gives any news outlet the chance to justify almost any claim on the grounds that, odds are, they can find an 'expert' to quote.
The reason why I put 'expert' in quotation marks is because most of the statements made by these 'experts' are blindingly obvious to anybody who hasn't got a chunk of their brain missing. Stories along the lines of 'Cutting the NHS budget will negatively impact care, say experts' and 'Morale of teachers drops as education budget is slashed according to expert report'. Now if this is the standard of knowledge to require you to become an expert I think I'll have to share my own gems. Chopping off your left arm will hurt. Punching someone in the face for no reason will have negative consequences. 84 is a larger number than 7.
Seriously, when you find out something we don't know, or something useful, or something you can all agree on, or something that couldn't be figured out by a simply Googling a few key words then get back to us. Until then, news outlets, please stop giving us the 'expert' opinion.
Even when experts have found out something that appears useful it usually turns out they've got it wrong. This seems most common in food stories. Of course an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but doesn't stop you needing treatment for cancer if some stories are to be believed. Although actually apples can reduce the risk of cancer according to other reports. But you'll be fine as long as you don't eat chocolate, apart from maybe dark chocolate which has a host of benefits. Oh no but wait, it is fatty and high in calories. We should just stick to a nice cup of tea, which has antioxidants and other lovely things in, everyone knows that. Unless you're a woman, in which case it'll probably give you arthritis. Okay, so bad news for tea drinkers, but good news if you like coffee! It can reduce the risk of a variety of cancers, as long as you survive the potential heart, stomach and stress related problems it can cause. If you're thinking of just playing it safe and drinking water then be careful! Drink too much and you won't sleep properly and it might cause kidney damage. Thinking of just eating plain ol' rice? Big mistake. It can upset your mineral balance and stop you absorbing nutrients. In summary, ignore the experts and do what pretty much everyone has known for years yet chooses to ignore, have a balanced diet and exercise.
Then again, what do I know? I'm no expert.
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