Sunday, July 11, 2010

Follow Up: Causing Cancer...

Every day you read in the paper that THIS causes cancer and THAT will help to prevent it. How are you supposed to know what's good and bad today?

Sadly this isn't an ongoing project but Kill or cure? was a one time snapshot of what the Daily Mail had reported on a whole list of items.

The idea came via an article in the Guardian by Ben Goldacre. In it he pointed out that the Daily Mail is on a quest to categorize all the inanimate objects in the world into those that cause, or cure, cancer. He pointed out that sooner or later they would stumble onto a 'real' threat and probably be laughed at.

Paul Battley built an online app to allow the crowd to categorize Daily Mail articles about cancer. You decide what the article is talking about (magnets, vegetables, or cayenne pepper) and whether the article says it causes or cures cancer. The result is a snapshot of the state of the Daily Mail's view on cancer.

I wonder if this should become an ongoing project that slowly tracks trends and changes over time?

Have fun deciding what is good or bad for you.

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