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Articles by Curtis Brainard | Email the Author
USA Today Wins Oakes Award
“Smokestack Effect” garners another prize for outstanding reporting
By Curtis Brainard Feb 4, 2010 at 07:00 PM
A USA Today investigation which found that the air outside thousands of schools across the country could be at least... More
WSJ Cancels Energy/Environment Blog
Two years after launch, popular site mysteriously dumped
By Curtis Brainard Feb 3, 2010 at 03:55 PM
After a mere two-year run, The Wall Street Journal has, for some inexplicable reason—or, rather, for some reason it refuses... More
Criticism of IPCC Continues
American media still missing in action
By Curtis Brainard Feb 2, 2010 at 07:08 PM
American media are still missing in action on the controversy currently embroiling the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In addition... More
MIA on the IPCC
American press largely ignores latest controversies
By Curtis Brainard Jan 29, 2010 at 12:26 PM
Almost two weeks ago, the Sunday Times, a British newspaper, “broke” the story that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change... More
Reporters Doubling as Docs in Haiti
Dual roles raise concerns about journalistic ethics
By Curtis Brainard Jan 20, 2010 at 05:15 PM
Prominent television journalists who are also certified doctors have been treating injured patients amidst the recovery and relief efforts in... More
Repairing Haitian Radio
Internews sends team of specialists, technicians to restore local broadcasting
By Curtis Brainard Jan 19, 2010 at 11:29 AM
With radio and television news outlets crippled by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti last week, Internews, an international media... More
BBC Trust to Review Science Coverage
Outlet’s “accuracy and impartiality” to be scrutinized following criticism
By Curtis Brainard Jan 14, 2010 at 02:25 PM
The BBC Trust—the governing body of the BBC—announced last week that it will review the accuracy and impartiality of the... More
“New” Media Crucial in Aftermath of Haitian Earthquake
Newspapers, television scramble to reach the scene
By Curtis Brainard Jan 13, 2010 at 12:22 PM
“New” media platforms were critical to delivering early information about damage and relief efforts in the aftermath of a 7.0... More
Flatlining Despite Healthcare Overhaul
CUNY, Univ. of Minnesota suspend health/medical journalism programs
By Curtis Brainard Jan 11, 2010 at 12:43 PM
With one of the most significant and expensive overhauls of the American health care system about to begin, the City... More
Just in Time for Winter
Homans on weathermen as climate skeptics
By Curtis Brainard Jan 7, 2010 at 03:53 PM
The cover story in the current issue of CJR, about why climate skepticism is so common among television weather forecasters,... More
Best of 2009: The Observatory
Brainard picks The Observatory’s top stories from 2009
By Curtis Brainard Dec 31, 2009 at 09:10 PM
Jan. 13 — Environmental S.W.A.T. Team: 2009 began on a seemingly positive note, with The New York Times pulling a... More
Copenhagen’s “Climate Pool”
Eleven international news agencies launch Facebook blog
By Curtis Brainard Dec 4, 2009 at 03:35 PM
The Associated Press and ten other international news agencies have launched “The Climate Pool,” a Facebook page that they hope... More
Hacked E-mails and “Journalistic Tribalism”
Climate coverage is imperfect, but is it ideologically biased?
By Curtis Brainard Dec 3, 2009 at 06:53 PM
In a column for USA Today on Tuesday, Jonah Goldberg argued that the mainstream press hasn’t given enough attention to... More
Saving Corwin’s Creatures
MSNBC wades into new territory with environmental documentary 100 Heartbeats
By Curtis Brainard Nov 20, 2009 at 10:31 AM
While filming his new documentary, 100 Heartbeats, Jeff Corwin cut off the horn of a black rhino to protect it... More
Trains, Planes, and Carbon Offsets
Times keeps a needed eye on green premiums
By Curtis Brainard Nov 18, 2009 at 01:31 PM
This week, The New York Times published two much-needed articles questioning the value of programs that let consumers pay a... More
Plimer, “Balance as Bias” Back in Climate Coverage
By Curtis Brainard Nov 13, 2009 at 04:49 PM
That old nuisance, “balance as bias,” cropped up in the press again on Thursday in an article in the Telegraph... More
The Fate of Former P-I Employees
By Curtis Brainard Nov 12, 2009 at 04:31 PM
Ruth Teichroeb, who worked as an investigative reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer from 1997 until its demise in March, is... More
AMNH Hosts 33rd Annual Margaret Mead Film Festival
By Curtis Brainard Nov 11, 2009 at 04:36 PM
Science news aficionados that are passing through New York City this week should check out the thirty-third Margaret Mead Film... More
Univ. of Montana Launches Environmental Journalism Program
School cites expansive value of training, diverse job possibilities
By Curtis Brainard Nov 11, 2009 at 02:39 PM
At least somebody gets it. The University of Montana in Missoula announced on Monday that it is accepting applications for... More
AAAS Announces 2009 Kavli Science Journalism Awards
By Curtis Brainard Nov 10, 2009 at 12:55 PM
Recipients of the 2009 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards were announced this morning. “A radio broadcast on probability told through... More
‘See you on the other side’ - Meet Jessica Lum, a terminally ill 25-year-old who chose to spend what little time she had practicing journalism
#Realtalk: This is the best moment to be in journalism - The old stuff isn’t coming back, but that’s okay
Streams of consciousness - Millennials expect a steady diet of quick-hit, social-media-mediated bits and bytes. What does that mean for journalism?
Sticking with the truth - How ‘balanced’ coverage helped sustain the bogus claim that childhood vaccines can cause autism
An ink-stained stretch - Can Aaron Kushner save the Orange County Register—and the newspaper industry?
What to do if you find a baby bird
Expert advice
Inside Google’s secret lab
We might deplore the practice, but posting pictures of our food online is a way to bring everyone to the table
How the ‘World’s 50 Best’ list changed the way elite restaurants do business
“Every time the restaurant switched up its format, it got plenty of accompanying media coverage that let judges know they needed to return to see what was going on”
CJR's Guide to Online News Startups
Uptown Messenger – Hyperlocal news for a neighborhood in New Orleans
Who Owns What
The Business of Digital Journalism
A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Questions and exercises for journalism students.
