tag:www.cjr.org,2011-09-12://14 2013-06-17T01:36:12Z Columbia Journalism Review: The future of media is here tag:www.cjr.org,2013://14.37850 2013-06-17T10:50:00Z 2013-06-17T01:36:12Z

Does the UK model help journalists?

Fiona Fox and Connie St. Louis http://www.cjr.org With a mission to provide the press and the public with high-quality scientific information and sources, the Science Media Centers in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan have become influential, but controversial players in the world of journalism. While some reporters find them helpful, others believe they are biased toward government and industry scientists. This three-part series will tag:www.cjr.org,2013://14.37836 2013-06-13T18:52:36Z 2013-06-13T18:20:39Z

Some recent high points on the "superbug" beat

Sibyl Shalo Wilmont This is the first installment in an occasional series about antimicrobial resistance, which is one of the planet's most challenging public health threats. Maybe you don't worry much about MRSA. Or maybe you've never heard of it, let alone reported on it. If you are on the healthcare beat, though, maybe it's time. Infections of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus--MRSA--come at tag:www.cjr.org,2013://14.37829 2013-06-12T18:50:00Z 2013-06-13T22:47:59Z

Tips for covering the energy boom in Colorado and beyond

Joel Campbell http://www.cjr.org PROVO, UT -- On Monday, The New York Times wrote about an "unlikely resistance" building in "energy-friendly" Greeley, CO. "As [oil and gas] companies here and across the energy-rich West look for new places to drill," reported the Times's Jack Healy, "they are increasingly looking toward more densely populated areas, and bumping into environmentalists and homeowners." Forty-five minutes northwest of tag:www.cjr.org,2013://14.37825 2013-06-12T15:00:00Z 2013-06-12T19:42:05Z

RFK, Jr. talks journalists' ears off with his vaccine conspiracy theory

Curtis Brainard Check your caller ID. If you're a reporter who has criticized Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for spouting nonsense about vaccines and autism, your phone could ring at any minute, and if you pick up, you're in for a long, time-wasting lecture. Just ask Keith Kloor, a freelancer who blogs for Discover, and Laura Helmuth, the health and science editor for tag:www.cjr.org,2013://14.37790 2013-06-11T18:00:00Z 2013-06-12T13:22:09Z

How much tv weather reporting is news, and how much is just non-contextualized drama?

Steven Rosenbaum On ABC World News with Diane Sawyer on June 3, she asked a question that many of us are wondering: If "climate change is somehow creating a lot more tornadoes than usual." Then, she surprised many by explaining that tornadoes are actually down this year, with just 478 so far, while the average number of tornados for this time of tag:www.cjr.org,2013://14.37771 2013-06-05T15:15:13Z 2013-06-12T02:47:51Z

Keith Kloor makes a beat out of policing frightful coverage of GMOs

Curtis Brainard The media have stoked irrational distrust of science in many fields over the years, from vaccines to climate change. But today, such fear mongering is most evident in the coverage of genetically modified foods, with many journalists turning people against them, according to freelance journalist Keith Kloor. At Collide-a-Scape, his blog for Discover magazine, and elsewhere, Kloor has made a tag:www.cjr.org,2013://14.37752 2013-06-04T15:10:00Z 2013-06-04T16:45:12Z

The battle to control water in Texas may be even more defining than the battle to control oil here 100 years ago, and it needs to be covered with an urgency to match

Richard Parker AUSTIN, TX -- As the 83rd Legislature lingers in the state capitol for a special session, lawmakers here have already crossed one item off their list: a new plan to finance improvements in Texas's water infrastructure, part of which was signed into law just last week by Gov. Rick Perry. As KUT, the local NPR affiliate, put it: "legislators are tag:www.cjr.org,2013://14.37727 2013-05-30T19:00:00Z 2013-05-31T15:59:26Z

David Brooks attacks, then defends, psychiatry's shortcomings

Curtis Brainard On Monday, David Brooks weighed in on the debate about the merits of the latest edition of the DSM-5, psychiatry's primary diagnostic manual for mental disorders. As often happens when a columnist parachutes into a complicated scientific subject, he made a muddy topic even muddier with superficial generalizations. His column, headlined "Heroes of Uncertainty," is oddly contradictory, beginning with a tag:www.cjr.org,2013://14.37706 2013-05-29T16:15:06Z 2013-05-29T16:48:59Z

Ed Yong counsels scientists on giving comments to reporters

Curtis Brainard [Original post, May 28, 5pm] There is no shortage of advice for scientists on talking to journalists. Just look at the resources page provided by AAAS, the country's largest general scientific society. There, among other titles, one can find classics such as: "A Scientist's Guide to Talking with the Media: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists" "Don't Be tag:www.cjr.org,2013://14.37681 2013-05-23T20:17:17Z 2013-05-23T20:22:41Z

Big scandals grab headlines, but journalists can do more to expose misconduct

Declan Fahy http://www.cjr.org The extraordinary case of academic fraudster Diederick Stapel followed the typical narrative of a scientific scandal. A professor of social psychology at Tilburg University, he became a star researcher in his native Netherlands and abroad after years of eye-catching experiments on human behavior, such as a 2011 study published in Science that found a rubbish-strewn environment brought out racist behaviors tag:www.cjr.org,2013://14.37642 2013-05-21T10:50:00Z 2013-05-21T16:08:59Z

Climate Desk tracks down its 'most pernicious' troll

Curtis Brainard Frustrating as they may be, every journalist wonders at some point about the identity of his or her most devoted online hecklers, but The Climate Desk's James West and Tim McDonnell just couldn't let it go. Citing research that found that "uncivil discourse" in social media and comments sections can have a polarizing affect on consumers of science news, and tag:www.cjr.org,2013://14.37606 2013-05-16T15:00:00Z 2013-05-16T16:33:24Z

An Arizona Republic reporter and self-described "water geek" on how to cover western water issues

Joel Campbell http://www.cjr.org PROVO, UT -- Water issues may not be the sexy beat to which young journalists first aspire, but here in the southwest, such coverage is critical--and, unfortunately, receding, says Arizona Republic senior reporter and self-described "water geek" Shaun McKinnon. "Water reporters are definitely an endangered group of people," said McKinnon, who has covered water for more than 14 years for tag:www.cjr.org,2013://14.37550 2013-05-10T19:00:59Z 2013-05-11T21:03:30Z

The GOP hijacks the transparency debate as the EPA calls for a 'reset' with reporters

Curtis Brainard At Gina McCarthy's congressional confirmation hearing in early April, questions about transparency at the Environmental Protection Agency, which she'd been tapped to run, weighed heavy. Both the Society of Environmental Journalists and Republicans on the Senate Committee on Environmental and Public Works, which hosted the confirmation hearing, had released separate statements accusing the EPA of secrecy and demanding more openness, tag:www.cjr.org,2013://14.37533 2013-05-09T17:14:47Z 2013-05-09T18:52:55Z

And that's saying something

Ryan Chittum I'm still trying to reattach my jaw after reading this op-ed published by The Wall Street Journal today. It's shameful even by the dismal standards of that page. In Defense of Carbon Dioxide The demonized chemical compound is a boon to plant life and has little correlation with global temperature. Breaking! Plants like CO2. The numbskullery on display here was tag:www.cjr.org,2013://14.37512 2013-05-08T19:00:17Z 2013-05-08T19:01:21Z

Egypt Independent's closure a blow for environmental coverage

Curtis Brainard Last month's closure of the Egypt Independent, a weekly newspaper and website, was a setback for progressive journalism in the region, but it has dealt a blow to coverage of environmental issues in a country still wrestling with major development questions in the wake of its revolution. Launched in 2009 as an English-language edition of the privately owned Arabic daily