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A rather limited study by neuroscientist Dr. Tara Swart of brain patterns in 40 volunteer journalist subjects seems to show a prevalence of lack of emotional self-control, as well as lower than average problem-solving skills, among other deficiencies. High blood levels of cortisol were significant.
The headline conclusion reached is that journalists are undoubtedly subject to a range of pressures at work and home, but the meaning and purpose they attribute to their work contributes to helping them remain mentally resilient despite this. Nevertheless, there are areas for improvement, including drinking more water and reducing alcohol and caffeine consumption to increase executive functioning and improve recovery during sleep.
[...] As a group, the journalists also exhibited lower executive functioning scores than the average person, indicating a lower than average ability to regulate emotions, suppress biases, solve complex problems, switch between tasks, and think flexibly and creatively. It is likely that the levels of caffeine/alcohol and the lack of water consumed contributed to the low scores recorded for executive functioning because of the severe impact of dehydration on cognitive ability.
Read the study here: TaraSwart.com [PDF]
[ n1: This is not a peer reviewed study. It was launched in association with the London Press Club, and the objective was to determine how journalists can thrive under stress. Tara Swart is a Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan, she holds a BsC in Biomedical Science and PhD in Neuropharmacology from Kings College London, and a BM BcH in Medicine from Oxford University. ]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by jmorris on Sunday May 21 2017, @12:44AM (12 children)
You mean like the 'studies' every month or so 'proving' conservatives are mentally defective? Thought you would always have a monopoly on #FakeScience?
Don't really need a study to know journalists as a groups are on the left side of the bell curve when it comes to reasoning, general knowledge and such when we can look at the work product and see it clearly. What makes pathetic is they are so convinced they are on a Holy mission to save the world.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @01:02AM
Look up the paper where they "proved" people identifying as republicans tended to be insane/stupid which lead to a bunch of media coverage and citations. Then later it was admitted they reversed the democrat/republican label in their dataset (ie: 0= rep, 1=dem vs 1 = rep, 0 = dem). It is all bs, there is no difference between the two.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @01:10AM
Who says that it's not possible that conservatives and journalists are mentally defective?
(Score: 2, Troll) by aristarchus on Sunday May 21 2017, @01:40AM
You mean like the 'studies' every month or so 'proving' conservatives are mentally defective?
Who needs studies to prove this, when we got a "jmorris"! Res ipsa loquitur.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @01:47AM (6 children)
Crap. Talk about junk science and collected bullshit.
...limited study...
I'll say, 21 journalists. That is a sufficient sampling to draw any conclusion? I'm pretty sure I can go to any city with a top 20 college football team and get 100% agreement that they should have been in the playoffs.
It is likely that the levels of caffeine/alcohol and the lack of water consumed contributed to the low scores recorded for executive functIon
One doesnt have to be a neuroscientist to know this. This claim is that it is disproportionate in journalists? No comparison.
FTA
Leading Sustainable Performance designed by Dr Tara Swart which she ordinarily runs with leadership teams in banks and large corporates.
In other words this is a white paper or commercial for her practice.
If you have not been on the planet long enough to know, people don't go into journalism because they found physics and calculus to easy. You will find creative/emotional types more likely in journalism. Are you shocked by that?
Do you just pull this balogna out of your ass? I check news and slashdot every day. I guess I missed the monthly research reported on the mental defective conservatives. I would have no problem if someone suggested that the belief in an all powerful god who created and controls the universe was evidence that a large segment of the conservatives lacked basic logic and reasoning capabilities.
Finally, journalists are on a holy mission to save the world? Where did yo get that horseshit? This is a classic example of claiming the enemy is doing exactly what you are doing.
(Score: 2) by https on Sunday May 21 2017, @03:54AM (4 children)
You're spilling elitist nonsense.
Trying to paint physics/calculus as a "only the best get here" field is bullshit. A different set of skills are required. Maybe the average NYT reporter couldn't integrate ex without Wolfram, but the average mathematician couldn't tell a passive construct from a "dagling" participle - and they'll have spellcheck turned off because of all the abbreviations and jargon.
Offended and laughing about it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @05:50AM
It isn't true that the average mathematician couldn't tell a passive construct from a "dagling" participle. Mathematicians do better than journalists. Grammar is about precise logic, which is exactly what mathematicians are good at. They kick ass.
If "they'll have spellcheck turned off", oh well. They are less likely to need it.
You could make a legit complaint about obscure humor, being unable to evoke emotions as intended, or accidentally offending people.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @09:34AM
It is "only the best get here" field partly because it has so little employment opportunities and partly because it's fucking hard. I guess it was too hard for you, else you wouldn't feel the need to make yourself feel better by denigrating your intellectual superiors.
Yes, the two fields require different skills, but the skills required to be good at mathematics require far greater problem solving ability and a lot more work towards competence. Anyone with a YouTube channel can do journalism well, although obviously not as effectively and skillfully as someone with a long career in the field and proper work ethics. When it comes to mathematics on the other hand, you are just taking your baby steps until you finish your masters degree.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @12:34PM (1 child)
It was just an example. I couldn't list every single field of study now could I? Any high school kid who paid attention can write complete sentences, spell, and knows what a split infinitive is.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @01:39PM
My native language doesn't have such a thing as an infinitive form you insensitive clod.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @09:27AM
No, but it is sufficient sample size to establish a possible trend. Certainly I wouldn't suggest to draw any policy from it, such studies are more of a "oh cool, we should definitely look more into it" kind of thing.
In this case, you are cherrypicking your samples. Please cite the relevant parts of the methodology of the study which you think demonstrate cherrypicking or provide counter-example studies which are better researched/sourced.
On a slight tangent, if you are going the violate the charity principle like that then you aren't going to convince anyone except those who are already predisposed to your position. Unless your intention was to preach to the SJW choir for free karma, I would suggest trying different tactics.
Journalism is no science, but when properly done it is a rigorous and methodological process. A good journalist is more akin to the protagonist of a detective novel than to a wacky Hollywood artist. If the majority of your journalists are liberal arts majors... well that's something we should all be concerned about.
Well, you have a massive selection bias right there. Are you are journalist by any chance. /snark
Try Salon [google.com]. There is certainly an endless slew of "conseratives are $BAD" articles to be found among the leftist trash media. And no, I'm not saying the other side doesn't do it, don't give me any of that partisan bullshit.
Funny you should say that. I wasn't able to find any such studies, but according to at least one study, conservatives tend to be more emotionally stable than liberals [wikipedia.org]:
I know, I know, it's Wikipedia but the cited paper stands up quite nicely to scrutiny.
It's bias on your part, that much I can guarantee. It's not that the right doesn't have their fair share of ideological crusaders but they tend towards a more cold-blooded form of disingenuous journalism. Leftist writers on the other hand will haply take a running jump off the slippery sloop with alarming frequency.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @03:13AM (1 child)
Maybe not the journalists themselves, but their owners perhaps?
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday May 21 2017, @03:59AM
The owners may profit and set the agenda, but they don't do all the legwork journalists have to do -- deal with people, which often means getting drunk with them to loosen the sources up so they'll offer information or some context off the record which could provide more information for a scoop or more leads. And, the journalists aren't the only ones getting wasted -- It's called the "D.C. Cocktail Circuit" for a reason.
But there are reasons why journalists may drink more than professional basket-weavers and kitten-breeders -- because they see firsthand how fucked up and crooked the world really is, and that the people who makes the rules are living in warped forms of non-reality, yet they shape reality for us normal folks.
That doesn't count journalists like Assange who probably can't drink (publicly at least) or CIA plants like Anderson Cooper who are basically plastic automatons.