H1N1 and the “crisis in the clinics”: Apathy, risk, and the problem of communication

Yesterday I spent the better part of an hour with Joanne Laucius, a reporter at the Ottawa Citizen. Ms. Laucius phoned to interview me about the public health authorities’ messaging surrounding the H1N1 issue, particularly as it relates to vaccination and the “crisis in the clinics”. The conversation began with her providing a 3-5 minute [...]

Global Climate Change, the Problem with “Public Opinion” and Epistemic Dependence

I recently submitted a think piece to the online news magazine The Mark. My article deals with how the term “public opinion” has been used by reporters, political officials and environmentalists to influence the debate about global climate change.
The basic point I make is that public opinion is a social construction, yet it often comes [...]

Back to the blog

After several months away it’s time to get back to blogging – it’s not that I’ve been lazy or disengaged, just distracted by other things. Here’s a summary of what I’ve been up to since (gulp) my last post in February.
In late May, I was the conference program co-chair of the Association for Nonprofit and [...]

The Janus Face of the Financial Crisis

There is a temptation when crises hit to turn inward: marshal the troops, focus on the immediate needs of your organization or sector and weather the storm. This applies whether the crisis is localized (e.g. accusations of malfeasance) or more global in context — major natural disasters, massive outbreaks of food borne-illness or disease, and [...]

Vaccines, Autism and the “Liberal Media Conspiracy”

In a media release dated November 11, the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest (CMPI) accused CBS Evening News, and singling out its lead anchor Katie Couric, for leading a witch hunt against vaccine makers and perpetuating a myth that there is a link between vaccines and autism. According to the CMPI, “CBS Evening News has [...]