Cristine Russell : Author Archive : CJR

Columbia Journalism Review; Strong Press, Strong Democracy

Author Archive

Articles by Cristine Russell | Email the Author

The Observatory

Pessimism Reigns a Year After Fukushima
March 12, 2012 05:00 PM
The barrage of stories worldwide on the first anniversary of the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant provided a largely gloomy forecast for the future of the nuclear industry. On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 undersea... Continue reading
The Observatory

Get a Life (Beyond the Web)
October 21, 2011 02:32 PM
FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA — Freelance science writer Steve Silberman might not be physically addicted to Twitter, but sometimes it seems like it. With nearly 15,000 followers and 25,000 tweets, he gets an online rush when tweeting and surfing the web and... Continue reading
Behind the News

Still Seeing Stars after Thirty Years
August 8, 2011 04:45 PM
Given the handwringing about the fate of newspapers (and the federal government) today, it is worth a moment’s reflection on a late, great afternoon newspaper in our nation’s Capitol that died thirty years ago, on August 7, 1981. After 128... Continue reading
The Observatory

The Importance of Energy Reporters
April 8, 2011 11:02 AM
The crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan has underscored the importance of specialized energy reporters. Unfortunately, there weren’t many American journalists on the beat when disaster struck on March 11. The New York Times's veteran energy... Continue reading
The Observatory

Las Vegas Sun Shines Light on Nevada Health Care
March 9, 2011 04:30 PM
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—“Where do you go for great health care in Las Vegas?” Answer: “The airport.” That local joke set Las Vegas Sun reporters Marshall Allen and Alex Richards on a two-year quest to figure out what was wrong with... Continue reading
The Observatory

Blogging from Biology Class
January 27, 2011 04:39 PM
If you’re worried about the future of science journalism, take solace in two fourteen-year-old students named Sam and Naseem who are passionate about science and writing, and hope to combine the two. They are the first high-school bloggers to join... Continue reading
The Observatory

The Hottest Thing in Science Blogging
January 18, 2011 05:22 PM
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, North Carolina — The hot ticket for science bloggers and online writers this year was a once-obscure North Carolina conference with only about 300 coveted seats available. It sold out in less than forty-five minutes after a... Continue reading
The Observatory

Bye, Bye Blackbirds
January 5, 2011 04:01 PM
With remakes of classic films all the rage, it may be time for Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller The Birds to be redone. Scene: Beebe, Arkansas, population 4,930. Time: New Year’s Eve. Event: Local fireworks. Action: Thousands of red-winged blackbirds falling from... Continue reading
The Observatory

From Copenhagen to Cancun
November 24, 2010 01:57 PM
It’s been a challenging time for the climate change story on just about every front. A year ago, the unauthorized release of a cache of controversial e-mails written by prominent climate scientists created a media firestorm just before... Continue reading
The Observatory

Gruesome Graphic Labels
November 12, 2010 06:08 PM
It was inevitable that the FDA’s new proposal to put graphic, and often gruesome, pictures of dead bodies and diseased lungs on cigarette labels would provide a field day for clever headline writers and pundits. “FDA is stepping up and... Continue reading
The Observatory

Man(n) the Torpedoes
November 11, 2010 04:58 PM
NEW HAVEN, CONN.—It’s been exactly a year since “Climategate” broke, putting Penn State University researcher Michael Mann and climate scientists on both sides of the Atlantic in the hot seat after hackers released private e-mails from the Climatic... Continue reading
The Observatory

Stephen Schneider: Climate Communicator
July 20, 2010 05:48 PM
Stephen Schneider was not an American household name. But within the ranks of science journalists and scientists, this Stanford University climatologist was a celebrity with the rare talent—and passion—for communicating with the public and politicians about the global threat of... Continue reading
Behind the News

From Gumshoe to Google Wave
March 25, 2010 02:53 PM
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—While investigative journalism still requires old-school skills like stakeouts, meetings with confidential sources, and painstaking scrutiny of documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, reporters and their news organizations are increasingly using social media and Web technology to... Continue reading
The Observatory

Revkin Taking NYT Buyout
December 14, 2009 09:55 AM
Andrew C. Revkin, one of the most influential and respected reporters on the environment, will take a buyout from The New York Times as part of the paper’s current round of budget cuts. His departure, after... Continue reading
The Observatory

Halloween Hype?
October 30, 2009 01:57 PM
As trick-or-treaters ready themselves for the annual ritual that is Halloween, health and headline writers around the world have found it hard to resist a rip-and-tear story involving pumpkins: • “Pumpkins May Scare Away Some Germs”... Continue reading
The Observatory

When Kennedy Didn’t Compromise
September 1, 2009 10:17 AM
I join the chorus of those who have long admired Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s remarkable Senate career and his persistence in pushing for health care reform throughout his forty-six years on Capitol Hill. Indeed, his negotiating skills and ability to... Continue reading
The Observatory

Some Optimism for the Future of Science Journalism
July 2, 2009 04:43 PM
LONDON — Amidst the gloomy climate in American science journalism, leading British editors have a decidedly upbeat view about coverage. “I have an enormously sunny outlook for the future of science journalism,” said James Harding, editor of London’s <a href=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/... Continue reading
The Observatory

Science Journalism’s Crystal Ball
May 7, 2009 10:58 AM
In covering a crisis, it is crucial to quickly separate reliable information from speculation and hype—or, in the case of the fast-moving swine flu story, an epidemic from a pandemic. It’s easier, of course, if you have strong science and... Continue reading
Behind the News

Gender Gap Gone?
March 19, 2009 01:11 PM
CAMBRIDGE, MA. When the team of Washington Post investigative reporters gathered in their editor’s office to put the finishing touches on a groundbreaking series on egregious housing violations in the nation’s capital, one thing caught their attention: all the people... Continue reading
The Observatory

Washington Post Pools Its Resources
March 6, 2009 08:22 AM
In the latest of many recent changes at The Washington Post, the management has announced a new plan to coordinate all health, science and environmental coverage paper-wide—from national to lifestyle—under a single editor. “As one step towards a broader re-imagining... Continue reading

—advertisement—

Desks

The Audit Business

The Observatory Science

Campaign Desk Politics & Policy

Behind the News The Media

Receive a FREE Issue

of Columbia Journalism Review

If you like the magazine, get the rest of the year for just $19.95 (6 issues in all).
If not, simply write cancel on the bill and return it. You will owe nothing.