Guessing at answers would have done about as well. These results indicate that the media are part of the problem. People do not always base their beliefs on scientific data. Rather, they turn to interpretations by television, magazines, and newspapers to construct ideas. But a gap between truth and the media is not inevitable.
Journalists can be part of the solution.
Our goal is for the CEC to become your trusted source for local environmental news. To earn trust, our reporting must be truthful, fair, and in depth. Telling the truth certainly includes finding the real story and getting the facts straight, but also avoiding melodrama and distortion of emphasis to gain attention. Depth means digging below the surface - reflecting how things are, rather than how they appear to be. Fairness is more complicated.