Daily Fail Disappoints
Scroll to the bottom to reach updates, the worst aspects of the articles have been fixed :-)
2-14-2014 ~1PM
I know you are shocked, simply SHOCKED, to discover that the Daily Fail hasegregiously sensationalized my press info/briefing/interviews on my AAAS talk (and the Guardian replicates those issues in their headline). They misrepresent my opinions and statements. I won't even link to their articles because eff them I think it undermines mothers trying to meet their breastfeeding goals.
Italics- "reporting"/headlining.
"Dr Katie Hinde, from Harvard, says formula milk should be gender-specific"
NOT EVEN CLOSE. I said that there is emerging evidence that the "biological recipe" for milk for sons and daughters may be different in some species and at some times. This motivates doing more research to better understand what human infants may be adapted to expect in milk. In humans there are 5 total studies on milk for sons compared to milk for daughters, some of them show differences, some of them don't, so we need more research to understand differences in milk for sons and daughters. Without more research we can't know how formula could be improved. The work I do has implications for formula, but doesn't tell us what we should do.
"She also says some women produce such poor quality breast milk that their babies would be better off with formula milk" -DM
I specifically corrected this statement during the interview when they asked this question. I directly said to the reporters that "I would NEVER say that. I might say that some mother and infant dyads, if infant growth is faltering, could benefit from supplementing with some breast-milk alternatives, as can be recommended sometimes in clinical practice."
I am, always, an advocate for mothers having ALL the options, and that we should always be endeavoring to make the options better. That we should improve the science, the culture, and environment so that all mothers can achieve their breastfeeding goals.
10 minute video about what milk matters and how we need to stop failing mothers. Full Transcript here.
2-14-14 2:30 PM Update: The reporters I spoke with were not responsible for the title or the bullet points. The international journalists, due to the time difference have very tight filing deadlines from the press briefing. I get that, which is why I might with them early and spent a lot of time going over the work with them. I wasn't the only one whose work was sensationalized by these media outlets, so I wonder if sensationalizing was their primary goal.
Also here are some informative posts about milk for sons and daughters, here & here. And this really nice write up by Ed Yong. & the press briefing, with my statements about milk for daughters and sons is here.
2-15-14 6:00 AM Update: I have managed to get them to go from this headline (GAH!)
Due to the efforts of the journalist letting the editor know my thoughts. Some of text is still undermining to moms, babies, and families, which bums me out a lot. Folks who know me or know my work or know my message have been incredible. Thank you to everyone who helped spread the word.
And today, instead of thinking about the UK coverage, I am going to celebrate the fact that the AP has the excellent Lauran Neergaard who wrote an accurate comma awesome article for the Associated Press that was picked up by my hometown newspaper!
Update 4-17-2014
And the Guardian corrected the headline from this:
Update 2-18-2014
The Daily Mail has removed the third bullet point below the headline! :-)
Update 2-25-2014 AND NOW THE NYT has recycled some of these same problems, reporting "Ms. Hinde encouraged makers of baby formula to produce different mixtures to suit the different needs of boys and girls." No, I don't encourage that, I haven't encouraged that, I have as always encouraged more research on this. Either do your own reporting or if you are going to recycle the reporting of other's- do your fucking fact-checking. Oh and, it's Dr. Hinde or Professor Hinde to you.
Update 2-27-2014 Scathing letters are both very satisfying to write and ALSO generate a response. From today's NYT corrections:
BOOM!
Fun Fact: The journalist attempted to mansplain my own opinion to me, among other annoying tactics, in our email exchanges. I could almost give him a tip of my hat for that audacity.
2-14-2014 ~1PM
I know you are shocked, simply SHOCKED, to discover that the Daily Fail has
Italics- "reporting"/headlining.
"Dr Katie Hinde, from Harvard, says formula milk should be gender-specific"
NOT EVEN CLOSE. I said that there is emerging evidence that the "biological recipe" for milk for sons and daughters may be different in some species and at some times. This motivates doing more research to better understand what human infants may be adapted to expect in milk. In humans there are 5 total studies on milk for sons compared to milk for daughters, some of them show differences, some of them don't, so we need more research to understand differences in milk for sons and daughters. Without more research we can't know how formula could be improved. The work I do has implications for formula, but doesn't tell us what we should do.
2-14-14 2:30 PM Update: The reporters I spoke with were not responsible for the title or the bullet points. The international journalists, due to the time difference have very tight filing deadlines from the press briefing. I get that, which is why I might with them early and spent a lot of time going over the work with them. I wasn't the only one whose work was sensationalized by these media outlets, so I wonder if sensationalizing was their primary goal.
Also here are some informative posts about milk for sons and daughters, here & here. And this really nice write up by Ed Yong. & the press briefing, with my statements about milk for daughters and sons is here.
2-15-14 6:00 AM Update: I have managed to get them to go from this headline (GAH!)
to this headline:
And today, instead of thinking about the UK coverage, I am going to celebrate the fact that the AP has the excellent Lauran Neergaard who wrote an accurate comma awesome article for the Associated Press that was picked up by my hometown newspaper!
MONKEYS! Photo by K. West (not Kanye)
Update 4-17-2014
And the Guardian corrected the headline from this:
to this:
which is almost accurate. Rather sons and daughters seem to get different amounts of certain nutrients in breast milk in some species and some human populations.
But their job is to get headline clicks and my job is to be a pedantic academic and the reader's job to be aware that media and academia have overlapping, but not that substantially overlapping, agendas.
And in terms of exciting public interest in breast milk, lactation, and maternal behavioral biology, well, we have all done our parts. Because it JUST reached the TOP of Reddit Science! Aw Yeah.
Pretty sure that means I just bagged one of the Seven Summits of Academia, if I were keeping track of such things. ;-)
Update 2-18-2014
The Daily Mail has removed the third bullet point below the headline! :-)
Update 2-25-2014 AND NOW THE NYT has recycled some of these same problems, reporting "Ms. Hinde encouraged makers of baby formula to produce different mixtures to suit the different needs of boys and girls." No, I don't encourage that, I haven't encouraged that, I have as always encouraged more research on this. Either do your own reporting or if you are going to recycle the reporting of other's- do your fucking fact-checking. Oh and, it's Dr. Hinde or Professor Hinde to you.
Update 2-27-2014 Scathing letters are both very satisfying to write and ALSO generate a response. From today's NYT corrections:
BOOM!
Fun Fact: The journalist attempted to mansplain my own opinion to me, among other annoying tactics, in our email exchanges. I could almost give him a tip of my hat for that audacity.
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