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Articles by Curtis Brainard | Email the Author
Don’t pick up!
RFK, Jr. talks journalists’ ears off with his vaccine conspiracy theory
By Curtis Brainard Jun 12, 2013 at 11:00 AM
Check your caller ID. If you're a reporter who has criticized Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for spouting nonsense about vaccines... More
Crop cop
Keith Kloor makes a beat out of policing frightful coverage of GMOs
By Curtis Brainard Jun 5, 2013 at 11:15 AM
The media have stoked irrational distrust of science in many fields over the years, from vaccines to climate change. But... More
Journalistic generalization disorder
David Brooks attacks, then defends, psychiatry’s shortcomings
By Curtis Brainard May 30, 2013 at 03:00 PM
On Monday, David Brooks weighed in on the debate about the merits of the latest edition of the DSM-5, psychiatry's... More
When a journalist calls [Updated]
Ed Yong counsels scientists on giving comments to reporters
By Curtis Brainard May 29, 2013 at 12:15 PM
[Original post, May 28, 5pm] There is no shortage of advice for scientists on talking to journalists. Just look at... More
Under the bridge
Climate Desk tracks down its ‘most pernicious’ troll
By Curtis Brainard May 21, 2013 at 06:50 AM
Frustrating as they may be, every journalist wonders at some point about the identity of his or her most devoted... More
A bogus boycott
The GOP hijacks the transparency debate as the EPA calls for a ‘reset’ with reporters
By Curtis Brainard May 10, 2013 at 03:00 PM
At Gina McCarthy's congressional confirmation hearing in early April, questions about transparency at the Environmental Protection Agency, which she'd been... More
Little green in Arab Spring
Egypt Independent’s closure a blow for environmental coverage
By Curtis Brainard May 8, 2013 at 03:00 PM
Last month's closure of the Egypt Independent, a weekly newspaper and website, was a setback for progressive journalism in the... More
A new ‘golden era’?
Nautilus is the latest in a proliferation of science-news sites
By Curtis Brainard May 8, 2013 at 11:00 AM
Nautilus, a new science magazine whose first issue appeared online April 29, has New York Times reporter Dennis Overbye, one... More
Finding James Foley
GlobalPost tracked down its missing reporter in Syria—now to bring him home
By Curtis Brainard May 3, 2013 at 06:00 PM
After 162 days with no information about his whereabouts, GlobalPost announced Friday that James Foley, an American journalist who went... More
Reinventing Audubon
Mark Jannot to craft new content, communications strategy
By Curtis Brainard May 2, 2013 at 03:00 PM
There's new vigor at the 108-year-old National Audubon Society, a nonprofit environmental group focused on birds, which is in the... More
Sticking with the truth
How ‘balanced’ coverage helped sustain the bogus claim that childhood vaccines can cause autism
By Curtis Brainard May 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM
In 1998, The Lancet, one of the most respected medical journals, published a study by lead author Andrew Wakefield,... More
Who’s covering local climates?
A new, interactive map from the Earth Journalism Network has details
By Curtis Brainard Apr 26, 2013 at 04:45 PM
Want to know more about how the climate is changing in your area, and who's writing about it? On Earth... More
Earth Day ennui
Google doodle dominates coverage of the environmental holiday
By Curtis Brainard Apr 23, 2013 at 03:00 PM
It's a bad sign when the biggest news on Earth Day is an animated Google doodle of nature, wherein a... More
Disaster science
Articles about explosives, surveillance, and prosthetics followed tragedies in Boston, Texas
By Curtis Brainard Apr 22, 2013 at 06:50 AM
As is often the case after bombings and explosions, a steady stream of science stories seeking to explain the mechanics... More
InsideClimate wins a Pulitzer
Five-year-old news site honored for exposé of Michigan oil spill
By Curtis Brainard Apr 16, 2013 at 01:45 PM
On Monday, InsideClimate News, a five-year-old investigative news outlet that is based in Brooklyn, but doesn't even have an office,... More
McCarthy faces transparency questions
Journalists, GOP demand more openness at EPA
By Curtis Brainard Apr 12, 2013 at 03:35 PM
Journalists and the GOP called for more transparency at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week, as Gina McCarthy, the... More
Keystone XL road trip
New ebook from TED Books and The Washington Post takes readers down the pipeline’s proposed path
By Curtis Brainard Apr 10, 2013 at 05:00 PM
In June 2012, a team from The Washington Post, including energy reporter Steven Mufson, photographer Michael Williamson, and videographer Whitney... More
Q&A: NewYorker.com editor Nicholas Thompson
On the site’s new science and technology section and blog
By Curtis Brainard Apr 4, 2013 at 04:45 PM
On Tuesday, The New Yorker launched a science and technology page on its website, along with a companion blog called... More
HeLa-cious coverage
Media overlook ethical angles of Henrietta Lacks story
By Curtis Brainard Mar 28, 2013 at 11:00 AM
A New York Times bestseller about the most widely used human cell line in biological research has inspired wide-ranging debates... More
‘The Finkbeiner Test’
Seven rules to avoid gratuitous gender profiles of female scientists
By Curtis Brainard Mar 22, 2013 at 11:00 AM
There's still a gender gap in the sciences, with far fewer women than men in research jobs, and those women... More
Woman’s work - The twisted reality of an Italian freelancer in Syria
Sourcing Trayvon Martin ‘photos’ from stormfront - Not a good idea, Business Insider
Elizabeth Warren, the antidote to CNBC - The senator schools the talking heads on bank regulation
Art Laffer + PR blitz = press failure - The media types up the retail lobby’s propaganda
Reuters’s global warming about-face - A survey shows the newswire ran 50 percent fewer stories on climate change after hiring a “skeptic”
Barack Obama: ‘those old times aren’t coming back’
“It used to be there were local newspapers everywhere. If you wanted to be a journalist, you could really make a good living working for your hometown paper”
The Guardian’s editor opens up on Reddit
Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, answered questions in an Ask Me Anything
The (almost) lost speech of Justice Anthony Kennedy
How his insightful remarks about the Constitution inadvertently make the case for a Supreme Court “media pool”
Fox News sues TVEyes for copyright infringement
Says subscription service sells access to its content without permission nor compensation
CJR's Guide to Online News Startups
ACEsTooHigh.com – Reporting on the science, education, and policy surrounding childhood trauma
Who Owns What
The Business of Digital Journalism
A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Questions and exercises for journalism students.
