Ellen Ruppel Shell is a professor of journalism, and co-director of Boston U.'s science journalism program. In theory, therefore, Ms. Shell should know something about professional ethics.
It appears that she doesn’t. In this week’s Newsweek Ms. Shell authored a column in which she took aim at the Atkin’s diet and the like, entitled It’s Not the Carbs, Stupid (Newsweek, p. 41).
“Stupid” was highly appropriate, because that’s what she thinks the readers are. Here is a quote:
I’m no fan of Atkin’s diet, but Jezus Christ. If the best opponents of the diet can come up with are utter non sequiturs, I might sign on.
Ms. Shell, there are more than 10 million obese people in this country. A lot more. Do the math, you lying excuse for a journalist.
Yeah, that is pretty damned stupid, since it also presupposes that buying the book means that one necessarily will follow the diet prescribed therein. I have cookbooks that I’ve never even read, let alone made a recipe from.
I wonder if she read the very thought-provoking article about obestiy and carbs that ran . . . last week? two weeks ago? . . . in the New York Times magazine. I suppose they could have titled it “It Is The Carbs, Stupid.”