Last week—along with science writers from more than forty countries—I flew to South Korea to participate in the 9th World Conference of Science Journalists. The conference had paired my lecture (Pulitzer Prize winner, 1992, beat reporting) with one by Sir Tim Hunt (Nobel Prize winner, 2001, Physiology or Medicine).
Yes, you are right, these are not equivalent honors. And, yes, you are right. This did not turn out well.
By now, especially considering the way that the two hashtags #timhunt and#distractinglysexy rocketed up the Twitter trending lists, you already know the incendiary, sexist comments that followed. They were reported across countless media platforms, including this one.
Some media organizations have stepped in to defend Hunt’s comments, which he now claims were an attempt to be entertaining. As a co-panelist sitting next to him at the luncheon, I heard a different story. His speech, he told me, was rooted in "honesty," not humor.
[For more of this story, written by Deborah Blum, go to http://www.thedailybeast.com/a...as-being-honest.html]
Comments (0)