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Articles by Curtis Brainard | Email the Author

 

1. The Observatory

   Press digs into anti-GMO study

   October 1, 2012 11:00 AM

   A paper claiming that a diet of genetically modified corn and/or a widely used weed killer increased the likelihood of premature death in rats has received strong criticism in the media despite an attempt by the paper’s authors... Continue reading

2. The Observatory

   Shoddy TV science coverage

   September 27, 2012 03:00 PM

   It’s been a bad week and a half for coverage of science on television. Stories about cancer at CNN and climate change at PBS NewsHour offered lessons in what not to do when chasing or promoting a scoop. Thankfully, critics... Continue reading

3. The Observatory

   What does ‘healthier’ mean?

   September 11, 2012 11:30 AM

   “Healthier” is a word the media often use without enough care, and that shortcoming was on full display during last week’s coverage of a study examining the nutritional value and presence of contaminants in organic versus conventional foods.... Continue reading

4. The Observatory

   Yao Ming and the elephant massacre

   September 6, 2012 04:45 PM

   After weeks of the media mostly failing to realize why basketball star Yao Ming’s trip to Kenya was fairly important endangered species news, the terrifying surge in elephant poaching in Africa is finally getting the treatment it deserves. On Tuesday,... Continue reading

5. The Observatory

   Conventions create climate coverage

   September 5, 2012 06:00 PM

   The presidential candidates are still treating it like a back-burner issue, but the Republican and Democratic national conventions incited a short round of climate-change coverage as reporters dug into the newly approved party platforms. The GOP went first,... Continue reading

6. The Observatory

   Water woes

   August 30, 2012 04:30 PM

   Exposés about the changing climate in the polar north are great, and all the more important in light of reports that Arctic sea ice hit a record low this week. But there’s nothing like an investigation... Continue reading

7. The Kicker

   Required skimming: fossil fuels

   August 24, 2012 06:50 AM

   This month, CJR presents “Required Skimming,” a daily miniguide to our staffers’ beats and obsessions, ranging from finance to food. If we overlooked any of your must-read destinations, please tell us in the comments. • ProPublica’s fracking page:... Continue reading

8. The Observatory

   CBS goofs up the green beat

   August 23, 2012 11:00 AM

   Only two months after hiring him, CBS News has already botched a report from its new science and environment contributor, allowing him to interview a fire ecologist from The Nature Conservancy without mentioning that the contributor is the lead scientist... Continue reading

9. The Observatory

   Candidates clam up on climate

   August 21, 2012 03:00 PM

   Nary a word has been spoken about climate change on the presidential campaign trail, and it’s a silence that some journalists find deafening. In the last few weeks, a variety of reporters have called out the candidates for utterly ignoring... Continue reading

10. The Observatory

    UPI shirks responsibility

    August 17, 2012 04:10 PM

    The plagiarism, or problematic paraphrasing, parade continued on Thursday as several reporters from Science News complained on Facebook that the wire service UPI had cribbed their stories. Reporting on the charges, the Knight Science Journalism Tracker’s... Continue reading

11. The Observatory

    Ryan re-energizes coverage

    August 16, 2012 04:30 PM

    Paul Ryan’s selection as the GOP’s candidate for vice president has renewed debate about, and coverage of, the stark differences between Republican and Democratic energy policies. No sooner had Mitt Romney announced his choice of running mate than... Continue reading

12. The Kicker

    UPDATED: Crime and punishment

    August 15, 2012 04:30 PM

    As Fareed Zakaria’s trial-by-blogosphere for alleged plagiarism continues, Jonah Lehrer, whom the same jury convicted of fabricating quotes last month, has received a measure of clemency from an old employer. Last week, Time magazine and CNN <a href=http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/184664/time-columnist-fareed-zakaria-accused-of-plagiarism/... Continue reading

13. The Observatory

    Sex and sensationalism

    August 10, 2012 04:30 PM

    “The media loves to sensationalize research” on same-sex sexual behavior among animals, according to an analysis published this week in the journal Nature. A pair of biologists from Australia and the UK surveyed 48 newspaper, magazine, and online articles written... Continue reading

14. The Kicker

    Required skimming: space and astronomy

    August 10, 2012 06:50 AM

    This month, CJR presents “Required Skimming,” a daily miniguide to our staffers’ beats and obsessions, ranging from finance to food. If we overlooked any of your must-read destinations, please tell us in the comments. • Space.com: The most... Continue reading

15. The Observatory

    The science of performance

    August 8, 2012 06:50 AM

    Does sex diminish athletic vigor? Does athletic tape enhance it? These are just a few of the questions that one Reuters correspondent has sought to answer amidst the toil, tears, and sweat at the Summer Olympics in London. <a href=http://blogs.reuters.com/kate-kelland... Continue reading

16. The Observatory

    Muller’s media circus

    August 6, 2012 12:00 PM

    UC Berkeley physicist Richard Muller was all over the media last week talking about his “total turnaround” from global-warming skeptic to adherent of the longstanding scientific consensus that the planet is heating up. The question is: Did he... Continue reading

17. The Observatory

    The bright-young-things hypothesis

    August 1, 2012 05:30 PM

    The downward spiral of Jonah Lehrer’s career over the last month has shocked his peers and instilled in them a visceral need to understand. Following the revelations of self-plagiarism, outright fabrication, and lying to cover his tracks, we were bewildered.... Continue reading

18. The Observatory

    Lehrer resigns from The New Yorker

    July 30, 2012 02:45 PM

    Science writer Jonah Lehrer has resigned as a staff writer for The New Yorker following revelations that he made up quotes and misquoted singer Bob Dylan in his book, Imagine: How Creativity Works, which was released in March. Monday afternoon,... Continue reading

19. The Observatory

    InsideClimate out front

    July 26, 2012 03:23 PM

    In early July, the media covered a long awaited report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which blamed the 2010 oil spill in Michigan’s Kalamazoo River on the pipeline operator’s “pervasive organizational failures” and “weak... Continue reading

20. The Observatory

    ‘I don’t bluff’

    July 25, 2012 02:45 PM

    Penn State climate scientist Michael Mann is demanding that National Review retract and apologize for a July 15 post that compared him to Jerry Sandusky, the convicted child molester and former Penn State assistant football coach. The post... Continue reading

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