Cancer, The Internet, and You

I will admit that I like to surf popular-URL sites (Digg, Reddit, popurls, etc.), not because I feel as though I\’m getting hard news, but just because it\’s a good place to find quirky, interesting stuff.

Of course, the problem is that I assume some people are using these sites on a factual basis, likey mostly because of the word \”news\” in the sites\’ headers.

In most cases, I don\’t have much of a problem with it. However, have a look at two links from today. This is a sensationalistic story about how \”scientists\” have already \”cured\” cancer, but we\’ll never see it because there\’s no money in the cure for the drug companies. This is a thoughtful and well-reasoned debunking of the first article, and others like it. It\’s a long read, and it requires both thought and reason of the reader.

Guess which article you\’re more likely to hear about at the water cooler? Yes, I\’m cynical.

I don\’t know that I have a definitive point here, aside from the traditional \”don\’t believe everything you hear (and only half of what you see)\”. I do like that there are alternative sources of information available, since I\’m not sure that traditional media isn\’t so much informing me as \”selling\” me on themselves. I just hope we can keep some of this stuff from being called \”news\”, I guess.

Anyone else have opinions here? Please offer \’em up in the comments section.

Addendum: Here\’s a very concise debunking.


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