by I.M.

Created on: June 19, 2008   Last Updated: July 29, 2011

It is definitely not the job of the media to predict future crises or conflicts. And if any predictions are made, they need to be supported by statistical evidence and expert analysis. The media exists to provide facts, and it is from these facts that people will draw their own conclusions. The question is really whether or not the media - as it exists today - is capable of providing just facts without bias. If the facts that Alex Stonehill bases his presumption on in "Off the Record: The Coming World Water Crisis" were reported along with other international news, on the same level of importance, as say the price of oil, then more people could come to the same conclusion without having to resort to opinion pieces. Opinion is not news, and when news becomes opinion, it is no longer ethical to classify as news or journalism. An educated - or at least sensible - person is able to piece together the facts, and weigh them with his or her own knowledge, and come to a conclusion.

The speculations of a panel of experts - in the areas that the article deals with - would be considered newsworthy, the difference being as with the testimonies of an eyewitness and an expert in the court of law. One cannot ask an eyewitness to make statements about an area of expertise that they are not qualified to make. Conversely, an expert who is not an eyewitness cannot make presumptions about the eyewitness testimony, unless there is a conflict of facts. Therefore, a journalist can only do as much as an eyewitness, and coming to conclusions about elements of the story that are purely layman's speculation, then it is not newsworthy in the sense that it could be done by any person who is presented with the same facts, and could possibly reach a different conclusion. What is required when making predictions, especially on a global scale, are expert statements supported by facts. The issue of global warming is not opinionated news, inasmuch as there is a panel of experts that stands behind the assumption that it does exist, and is in fact, occurring. If a single person, without scientific training, traveled around the world for several years, and came to the conclusion that the world is becoming warmer, we could not possibly take those findings on global warming seriously.

The facts in "Off the Record: The Coming World Water Crisis," in simple terms, are that there are people that have different techniques of sustaining their livelihood. It is also factual that agriculture, especially

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