Saturday, December 7, 2024

BIG Media Top 101 – truthfully yours but nothing from yours truly

I don’t believe my friends would ever describe me as humble.

I am an extrovert who rarely wears a shirt during the summer (playing beach volleyball, not like walking through the mall), and I am a fairly prolific writer.

I have written hundreds of posts on LinkedIn, many quite controversial, and have penned more articles than any other journalist for the truth/integrity-focused media platform that I launched at BIG Media with a few associates last year.

This morning, I decided to compile a list of the Top 101 articles published by BIG Media Ltd. since our February 8, 2021, kickoff.

Now, although our news coverage is arguably the most spin-free in the industry, I am admittedly biased toward my writing. Yet, even with an egocentric predisposition, I could not justify having any of my articles included in our Top 101.

To protect my ego, instead of looking at this as a blow to my writing credentials, I choose to see it as an endorsement of my recruiting skills. The truth is, BIG Media Ltd. has an incredible editorial team.

I am good with numbers and words, but I simply do not have the intelligence nor scientific background to write at the level of scientist/entrepreneurs Laurie Weston, Lee Hunt, Brad Hayes, Brian Russell, Oliver Kuhn, epidemiologist Dr. David Vickers, scientist/lawyer Kevin Burron, economics/government policy/communications wiz Muriel Protzer, and engineers Jesse Keith and Paul Buller.

Is there another media company on the planet that has every article related to the COVID-19 pandemic reviewed by a committee consisting of four people, three of whom are data scientists, one of whom is an epidemiologist?

Even though we are just an ambitious startup, you will be hard pressed to find articles on any rival news site – yes, I said “any” … so including such former bastions of editorial integrity as the New York Times and Globe & Mail – that compete with our Top 101 in the crucial categories of accuracy and integrity.

I hope you agree that the abundance of practical information, some of which is cited below, is well worth about $10 USD per month to be a member at BIG Media. To ensure lasting integrity, we do not accept advertising, sponsorship, or government funding, so our readers are the only ones to whom we answer.

Establishing a trustworthy and very accurate source of news on the big issues is vitally important, and your support is needed and appreciated.

 

Causes of death and excess deaths

Analysis of excess deaths in 2020 reveals surprising deviations

A look back at causes of death in the first year of COVID-19

Biomedical ethics

Examining the ethics of triage in a pandemic

Mounting COVID frustration is no reason to abandon fundamental principles

Wicked problems are our business – and yours

The history of vaccination

Vaccines – a historical perspective

COVID vaccination

Making sense of myocarditis data as it relates to children

Exploring potential biases in estimating vaccine effectiveness

COVID-19’s impact on young children and the question of whether to vaccinate

Omicron update: vaccine effectiveness against ICU admission holds at 80%

The best missed prediction: disease severity 50% lower than we predicted

Omicron update: vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization drops sharply

As Omicron cases surge, impact on health care systems is difficult to predict

Ontario vaccine effectiveness nosedives amid surge in new cases

Vaccine effectiveness and adverse events – what we have learned

Taking a responsible look at adverse events following immunization

Analysis of severe events following COVID vaccine shows increased incidence of myocarditis and lymphadenopathy

Understanding vaccine effectiveness and breakthrough

COVID context

Assessing the relative lethality of COVID-19: a Canadian case study

COVID-19 is definitely not the flu

What we forgot about the Spanish flu

COVID clarification – a tale of two tales

COVID calculations – applying statistics to COVID-19 testing

COVID context – how concerned should we be about dying from this virus?

COVID-19 collateral – strained mental health a global concern

Crisis leadership – transparent decision making and building trust

The science of masks

Face the facts – diving into the science of masks

Influenza

Is flu vaccination important this year?

Where did the flu go – and do we miss it?

Reviews of misleading COVID studies

Potentially polarizing paper anything but model behaviour

Random COVID-19 response rankings no reason to boast

Higher rates of adverse events after mRNA vaccines interpreted poorly by study authors

Analysing scientific studies

Sources of contention: is citing a reputable journal article really enough to end the argument?

How to correctly and effectively read a journal article

Philosophy

Selfishness, hypocrisy, the golden rule, and hope

Wicked problems are our business – and yours

Returning to our WEIRD roots

Prisoner’s dilemma and vaccination

Pandemic restrictions, protests, and the rule of law

The Canadian prime minister’s emergency act

Rule of law wins in pastor’s successful appeal against pandemic protest contempt charges

Restrictions, rights, and the rule of law

Abortion law

The demise of Roe v. Wade – breaking down the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs case

Drugs and the law

Responsibility, jurisprudence, and the magic mushroom decision – Part 1

How many of us are doing drugs – and what is the connection to crime?

Hate crime

Bill C-36: hate, truth, and the return of the tribunal

Climate change context

Climate change and energy: context for the great debate

Is it really ‘now or never’ to stave off climate disaster?

Climate change – environmental emergency or economic opportunity?

Global emissions

Putting global emissions in perspective

Fracking

Fracking 101: Just the fracts

Carbon capture

Capturing carbon – the science and the subtleties

Sea level rise

Sea level is rising; should we be worried?

Glacial recession

Funeral for a glacier

Geologic history lessons

Examining the great Spokane Flood yields many lessons

Cancer

The business of cancer: a growing concern

Goldilocks goes to the beach – assessing the benefits of sunlight versus the risks of skin cancer

Monkeypox

Monkeypox data indicates no reason for panic

Energy transition

Return to sensible energy policy – a painful but necessary transition

Diving beneath the surface of the energy transition discussion

Examining the real meaning of ‘energy transition’ in the face of undeniable historic trends

How on Earth do we co-operate in charting our energy future?

What the International Energy Agency is actually telling us

It’s time to start setting realistic goals for energy transition

Climate policy

Policies that took energy security for granted have put much of the world in a tough spot

Energy prices climb … no surprises here

Scientific and realistic views on climate policy – a lesson from Scott Tinker

Renewable energy

Will renewable energy costs continue to drop – and will this make electricity cheaper?

Renewable energy – renewing hope or struggling to cope?

Renewables Part 2: cost and economic viability

Renewables Part 3 – assessing the technological capability of wind and solar

Geothermal energy and its place in the evolving power paradigm

Energy context

Power struggle – data analysis puts Texas energy debacle in perspective

Global oil resources – how much is left and do we have enough?

Energy fundamentals – an essential element of the transition discussion

Recycling

Coffee cup quandary is catalyst for recycling research

Plastic in the ocean

The science of science

Science – there is method to the madness

Manipulating science – activism and advocacy

Science and morality – ethics and judgment

Do you ‘believe the science’? How about starting with understanding the science?

Artificial intelligence

AI: Where are we and where are we going?

Data analysis

Man dies from vehicle collision with parasite

Science and music

Music, mathematics, and physics

Music, mathematics, and physics Part 2 – musical scales

Music, mathematics, and physics Part 3 – harmony and chords

Mathematics

Analog to digital music – where the magic happens

The numbers game – conquering confusing card quizzes and investigating information theory

Bayes’ Theorem and the probability of having cancer

Politics

A different take on the political spectrum

Information integrity

The smallest of lies are destroying our democratic institutions

BREAKING NEWS … into rational pieces

Striving to avoid bias in our own coverage

Overdose crisis

COVID collateral – overdose data shows alarming crisis

Debt in the G7

No doubt about debt – is it time to push panic button?

Vitamins and supplements

Vitamins and supplements – linchpin of optimal health or expensive urine?

The value of sleep

Wake up to the alarming A to ZZZZZs on the importance of sleep

Coffee culture

Coffee culture continues to carry colossal clout

The meat market

Deep dive delivers definitive data on meat marketplace

Social influencers

Social influencers – following the money

Wildlife management

Wildlife conservation – a big and often misunderstood game

Polar bear population analysis presents balanced picture

Rob Driscoll
Rob Driscoll
Rob Driscoll is co-founder and president of BIG Media Ltd. He is a writer and entrepreneur who is deeply committed to elevating the level of coverage of our society's most pressing matters as well as the level of respect in public discourse.
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