tag:www.cjr.org,2008://1 2008-05-09T13:18:10Z Movable Type 3.2 tag:www.cjr.org,2008://1.15744 2008-05-08T18:20:16Z 2008-05-09T13:18:10Z

Reporters let bloggers and columnists do the work

Russ Juskalian The possible suspension of the federal gas tax has become a big issue in the presidential race, and the latest media frenzy surrounding the candidates. As we noted last week, the press aggressively (if belatedly) attacked the idea, which John McCain and Hillary Clinton support and Barack Obama opposes. But regardless of whether tax holiday amounts to political "pandering"... tag:www.cjr.org,2008://1.15735 2008-05-07T17:49:11Z 2008-05-09T13:18:10Z

The press gets wrapped up in one debate, but misses a parallel

Curtis Brainard Since Hillary Clinton announced her support last week for suspending the federal gas tax between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the press has marshaled economists and environmentalists from around the country to wholeheartedly denounce the idea. Of course, it's not really the soundness of the plan that the media are after, or else they would have mounted a similar... tag:www.cjr.org,2008://1.15715 2008-05-05T21:22:28Z 2008-05-07T16:13:06Z

Going, going … green?

Michele Wilson Editor's note: The Observatory is on “green” watch. Two weeks ago, on Earth Day, we launched Green Thumb, a new feature that will shout out sightings of the greening of America and welcome your picks and comments. Here’s our rating system: •THUMBS UP: Eco-friendly •CARBON NEUTRAL: Can't hurt •THUMBS DOWN: Greenwashing Professional and collegiate sports are... tag:www.cjr.org,2008://1.15698 2008-05-02T17:43:14Z 2008-05-06T12:39:56Z

And what is familiar

Curtis Brainard Science News, the eighty-seven-year-old weekly staple of dedicated science news enthusiasts is making a few changes this month. Or rather, it's making "Change Without Change," according to an editor's note by Tom Siegfried, the publication's captain of seven months, which appeared in the first redesigned issue. The content, the quality, and the mission are all the... tag:www.cjr.org,2008://1.15687 2008-05-01T18:24:42Z 2008-05-05T12:44:36Z

What’s he doing? Don’t ask the media

Trudy Lieberman John McCain finally came forth this week with what his campaign dubbed a major policy speech, laying out his To Do list for health care reform. We at CJR have been asking a lot about his plans lately, which up to this point had raised more questions than answers. Tuesday’s address wasn’t much more illuminating. In fact,... tag:www.cjr.org,2008://1.15686 2008-05-01T17:29:44Z 2008-05-08T20:28:04Z

Press wrestles with definition and economic reality

Russ Juskalian When John Edwards bowed out of the Democratic primary in January, the presidential race lost its most vocal supporter of so called green-collar jobs. His former opponents have carried the mantle forward, however-Senator Hillary Clinton in particular, who introduced an amendment to the 2007 energy bill, calling for green-collar job training. "Green-collar" is a... tag:www.cjr.org,2008://1.15664 2008-04-29T12:30:00Z 2008-05-01T16:24:22Z

PEJ’s statistical slip

Curtis Brainard Last week, a report from the venerable Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) created something of a stir with a quantitative analysis of how The Wall Street Journal's front-page coverage has changed by topic since Rupert Murdoch took over Dow Jones in mid-December. Jim Romenesko, the Internet's premier media news aggregator, quoted the report's key phrase: "In the... tag:www.cjr.org,2008://1.15647 2008-04-25T17:19:35Z 2008-04-29T03:56:37Z

Viceland’s alternative model for environmental reporting

David Downs Fledgling online video Web site VBS.tv scored an environmental journalism coup this month with "Garbage Island" - a quirky, travelogue-documentary about man-made debris floating in the North Pacific Gyre. Currents in that part of the ocean naturally swirl around like a giant whirlpool, drawing in decades of pollution. Since the flotsam and jetsam first popped up on... tag:www.cjr.org,2008://1.15645 2008-04-25T16:40:26Z 2008-04-29T03:56:37Z

Journalists catch Obama and Clinton walking a carbon tightrope

Curtis Brainard Most journalists covering the environmental side of the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have come to the same conclusion: that either of them (and John McCain, too) will be better than George W. Bush. Yet despite the candidates' green rhetoric, journalists have been unable to "spur" them into a more specific debate on issues like... tag:www.cjr.org,2008://1.15637 2008-04-24T17:54:48Z 2008-04-28T13:41:23Z

Vanity Fair once again sets the bar, but has competition

Curtis Brainard Instead of switching to fluorescent light bulbs, urging my congressional representative to support climate legislation, or attending one of Manhattan's green consumer extravaganzas, I spent Earth Day reading through the now regular spring tide of magazine Green Issues. It's hard to keep up. I'd meant to write a roundup in time for Tuesday's environmental celebration, but wound up,... tag:www.cjr.org,2008://1.15611 2008-04-22T18:35:31Z 2008-04-23T16:40:47Z

Media sightings on the Greening of America

Cristine Russell "Green" is the latest media buzzword in news, features, entertainment, and advertising. U.S. newspaper mentions of "going green" have jumped ten-fold since 2005, according to a LexisNexis search, and show no signs of slowing down. Green is still the new black, as the saying goes. But is it a fad that will fall out of fashion? Will it help or... tag:www.cjr.org,2008://1.15580 2008-04-18T16:02:37Z 2008-04-21T17:00:11Z

Harvard conference gives reporters a new language

Cristine Russell What happens when VMT meets GHG? A new version of the old “Two Cultures” problem articulated by British scientist and novelist C.P. Snow nearly fifty years ago. Snow focused broadly on the schism between science and the humanities. Today, in looking at the human impact on the natural environment, climate scientists and urban planners also see the problem from... tag:www.cjr.org,2008://1.15574 2008-04-17T20:03:47Z 2008-04-21T16:32:41Z

Dot Earth takes a novel approach to the coverage

Curtis Brainard Yesterday, President Bush called for the United States to halt the growth of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, and urged other countries to enact similar national targets. Most of the print press covered the event's four key points: that Bush was all about goals and light on specifics for achieving them; that his targets remain voluntary rather... tag:www.cjr.org,2008://1.15556 2008-04-16T17:47:44Z 2008-04-18T12:17:09Z

News outlets launch a glut of green business conferences

Curtis Brainard News outlets large and small, in the U.S. and overseas have, for years now, talked about a coming energy "revolution" akin to the Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth century. The belief that wind, wave, solar, geothermal, bio-power, and the like will incite such a profound transformation in our world order explains, in part, why one... tag:www.cjr.org,2008://1.15546 2008-04-15T22:03:33Z 2008-04-17T01:57:45Z

NYT says it's "central" to his campaign. Since when?

Zachary Roth Reporting on John McCain’s proposal for a “gas-tax” holiday this summer as a way to boost the struggling economy, laid out in a speech this morning, Michael Cooper of The New York Times notes that “some environmentalists said that the change might encourage more people to use their cars, while Mr. McCain has made combating global warming central to...