Author Archive
Articles by Curtis Brainard | Email the Author
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
All thumbs, none green
Environment coverage is down at the Times, even if it wasn’t supposed to be
By Curtis Brainard Mar 19, 2013 at 06:58 AM
Two weeks ago, I excoriated The New York Times for canceling its Green blog a month after it had dismantled... More
Open government?
Some progress, on paper at least
By Curtis Brainard Mar 15, 2013 at 06:58 AM
Since President Obama came to the White House in 2009, federal regulatory and science agencies have taken measurable steps--on paper,... More
Windmills, tourism, and transparency
Maine blogger’s ongoing conflict-of-interest problems spark concern
By Curtis Brainard Mar 13, 2013 at 04:00 PM
The former executive director of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, who's now a fulltime media personality covering travel and outdoors... More
Green drones?
Unmanned aerial vehicles poised to enhance environmental coverage
By Curtis Brainard Mar 6, 2013 at 04:56 PM
As the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prepares to allow the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for a wide array of... 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?
This is the best moment to be in journalism (25)
The WSJ editorial page hits rock bottom (19)
The New York Times told me to take this down
“If you wouldn’t mind using another publication to advertise your infringement tool, we’d appreciate it”
In AP, Rosen investigations, government makes criminals of reporters
“[A]s flagrant an assault on civil liberties as anything done by George W. Bush’s administration”
Jay Carney press briefing blues
“Reporters are increasingly skeptical about Carney’s demeanor and the veracity of some answers”
Jaron Lanier wants to build a new middle class on micropayments
A future where writers can gain wealth through a “freelance economy”
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.
