Unethical quote from Nature, the magazine?

by Fatfreek 31 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  Fatfreek

  I just emailed the following to the editorial department of Nature, the magazine.

  A religious magazine, Watchtower, 1998 6/15 p. 28, in their article “True Justice -- When and How?”, quoted your journal Nature in order to shore up their lack of support of the use of DNA in courts of law.

  Moreover, the magazine Nature notes that not all scientists agree on the interpretation of forensic evidence. "There can be genuine disagreement between forensic scientists." Sad to say, "faulty forensic evidence has already been responsible for more than its fair share of faulty convictions."

  I, being curious, decided to check out the context of that quotation so I went to your web site and happily found that you allow non-subscribers (like me) a search capability within your archive of journals. What I found was troubling. It appears they extracted that quotation from two different issues of Nature – separated by five months.

  The first piece of the Watchtower quotation, "There can be genuine disagreement between forensic scientists.", was derived from Nature 361, 575-575 (18 Feb 1993) News. My online search yielded the following from your site:

  Pay-as-you-go forensics could hurt British justice David Dickson CONTEXT: ...to by the recent miscarriage cases," it says. "There can be genuine disagreement between forensic scientists just as there can be disagreement between nuclear physicists."...

  The second piece of the Watchtower quotation , "faulty forensic evidence has already been responsible for more than its fair share of faulty convictions.", was from Nature 364, 175-176 (15 Jul 1993) Opinion. My search at your site returned the following:

  Making British justice fair and sure SUMMARY: 's first Royal Commission in a decade is not destined to blunt criticism of British justice, but the importance it attaches to forensic evidence may CONTEXT: ...judicial system, that would be mistaken and complacent. Faulty forensic evidence has already been responsible for more than its fair share of faulty convictions, and under...

  I’m not sure how you feel about such practice but I, as a reader, felt offended. I’m also not sure about the ethical guidelines that writers should follow when they quote sources but my instinct tells me that this example borders on outright deception on the part of the unnamed Watchtower writer.
• 

  Mysterious

  I know there have been threads before about their faulty scholarship. It reminds me of a first year student trying to find support for a shoddy essay. Is it any wonder how many lawyers they have on retainer when they want to run around pulling shit like that. I wonder if anyone has truly taken them to task for it before.
• 

  Seeker4

  I'm a journalist, and you're right. Quotes should be clearly designated and in context.

  Let me do a little research. I'll be back...

  S4
• 

  Seeker4

  The Society of Professional Journalists has these points in its code of ethics:

  Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible.
  — Diligently seek out subjects of news stories to give them the opportunity to respond to allegations of wrongdoing.
  — Identify sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on sources' reliability.
  — Always question sources’ motives before promising anonymity. Clarify conditions attached to any promise made in exchange for information. Keep promises.
  — Make certain that headlines, news teases and promotional material, photos, video, audio, graphics, sound bites and quotations do not misrepresent. They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context.
  — Never distort the content of news photos or video. Image enhancement for technical clarity is always permissible. Label montages and photo illustrations.
  — Avoid misleading re-enactments or staged news events. If re-enactment is necessary to tell a story, label it.
  — Avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of gathering information except when traditional open methods will not yield information vital to the public. Use of such methods should be explained as part of the story
  — Never plagiarize.
  — Tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience boldly, even when it is unpopular to do so.
  — Examine their own cultural values and avoid imposing those values on others.
  — Avoid stereotyping by race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance or social status.
  — Support the open exchange of views, even views they find repugnant.
  — Give voice to the voiceless; official and unofficial sources of information can be equally valid.
  — Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.
  — Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two.
  — Recognize a special obligation to ensure that the public's business is conducted in the open and that government records are open to inspection.

  S4
• 

  VM44

  Excellent find Fatfreak,

  As you pointed out, notice how the Watchtower writer gives no indication that the two quotations are from separate articles published in Nature and that there was also a FIVE month publishing interval between the two quotations!

  Also see how the Watchtower CHANGES the meaning of the sentence by making a subtle change.

  FIRST QUOTATION

  WATCHTOWER: “There can be genuine disagreement between forensic scientists.”

  NATURE: ...to by the recent miscarriage cases," it says. "There can be genuine disagreement between forensic scientists just as there can be disagreement between nuclear physicists."...

  SECOND QUOTATION

  WATCHTOWER: “faulty forensic evidence has already been responsible for more than its fair share of faulty convictions.”

  NATURE: "...judicial system, that would be mistaken and complacent. Faulty forensic evidence has already been responsible for more than its fair share of faulty convictions, and under..."

  See what the Watchtower writer did in both instances? The writer ended their carefully selected quote from Nature with a period! In both cases the original text as published in Nature is only part of a sentence!

  By ending the quotations with a period, the Watchtower writer effectively CHANGES the meaning of the original sentence.

  So this Watchtower writer strings together two sentence published five months apart, gives no specific references for the quotations, and then changes the meaning of the sentences by changing the punctuation. This only shows how arrogant the Bethel writers are in their own little self styled world.

  Good job Fatfreak. The Watchtower writer did not figure that you would have caught them on this.

  Think if we wrote Bethel about this that we would get an answer?

  --VM44
• 

  dvw

  how do these clowns at wts. have time to scour all the different mags. and books and still keep up with all the theocratic study? if you or i, or any other of the rank and lemming would spend an innordinate amount of time reading "worldly" literature, we would be counseled. i would love to see a list of all the subscriptions the wts. gets in the mail.
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  Kaput

  Nice find, pard! Just shows another example of how unethical the WBTS really is. To them, the truth is what you make it to be.
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  Fatfreek

  Mysterious: I wonder if anyone has truly taken them to task for it before. It must be nice, in a way, to have nameless, faceless, and blameless people behind their words and sentences and paragraphs. No single person to accept responsibility like folks with real jobs.
  

  Seeker4: Hey what a great paste, that Code of ethics. Thanks for digging and sharing. I never knew but suspected there must be some set of guidelines.
  
  VM44: Think if we wrote Bethel about this that we would get an answer? Bwahahahahahahaaaa!

  Kaput: Just shows another example of how unethical the WBTS really is. Yes, indeed, my hometown friend. Hope you're doing well.

  DVW: how do these clowns at wts. have time to scour all the different mags. and books and still keep up It makes you wonder. It looks like this writer went to great lengths -- over a period of five months worth of source material -- to laboriously piece together exactly what he felt was needed to make a point.

  Fats
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  Fatfreek

  Oh, yes, VM44. A great dissection, on your part, of the sneaky sentence construction techniques that writer used. Oh, yes, to those of you who are lurking -- one or more of the Governing Body had to sign off on this piece. They can run walk but cannot hide.
  

  Fats
• 

  serendipity

  
  HI Fats,

  How about a cc to Brooklyn?

  This is a nice project for those of you with time. Find the misleading quotes, send them to the appropriate publisher, with a cc to the WTS, along with a copy of The Society of Professional Journalists code of ethics.