This is a great article that was written about the media and misinformation on this shale issue...just recently actually.

http://www.stats.org/stories/2011/medias_gas_problem_oct6_11.html

Read it all if you have time, but here was a few things that I find interesting and is clearly what we are seeing not just in NY state, but have seen from the start in Quebec...

"This debate has heightened media interest in any new scientific study that addresses the effects of fracking and the environmental and health consequences of natural gas. Unfortunately, the media have a long history of misunderstanding environmental and health risk assessment, sometimes resorting to sensationalism that overstates potential dangers. This includes giving more attention to studies that find a risk than studies that do not. For example, a George Mason University survey found that 97 percent of toxicologists believe the media can’t distinguish well-done studies from poor ones.

Thus, the recent appearance of two scientific studies that bear directly on fracking provide a kind of natural experiment on media sensationalism. Study One was critical of natural gas development; Study Two was supportive. How much coverage did each get in the mainstream media? The score: Study One – 24 big-city newspaper articles and an NPR appearance; Study Two – two newspaper articles, one of them in a story primarily about Study One."

What is a shame is that media is all about selling newspapers...it's a business. Truth really doesn't need to be there. What is upsetting is that most have forgotten that they have a duty to the readers to present the facts. I know a few solid Quebec journalists that have given both sides of the story. At least people know there is huge positive. Most aren't scientists, nor will they research it themselves. If I read about shale in Quebec as someone who was first hearing about it, I'd think it was the devil too.