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Articles by Curtis Brainard | Email the Author

 

1. The Observatory

   Repairing Haitian Radio

   January 19, 2010 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 development organization, announced Wednesday that it was sending a team to the impoverished island nation to help get... Continue reading

2. The Observatory

   BBC Trust to Review Science Coverage

   January 14, 2010 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 outlet's coverage of science. “Science is an area of great importance to licence fee payers, which provokes strong... Continue reading

3. The Observatory

   “New” Media Crucial in Aftermath of Haitian Earthquake

   January 13, 2010 12:22 PM

   “New” media platforms were critical to delivering early information about damage and relief efforts in the aftermath of a 7.0 earthquake that rocked the small island nation of Haiti shortly before 5 p.m. on Tuesday. “As phone lines went down... Continue reading

4. The Observatory

   Flatlining Despite Healthcare Overhaul

   January 11, 2010 12:43 PM

   With one of the most significant and expensive overhauls of the American health care system about to begin, the City University of New York’s (CUNY) Graduate School of Journalism recently decided to suspend its health/medical reporting concentration due... Continue reading

5. The Observatory

   Just in Time for Winter

   January 7, 2010 03:53 PM

   The cover story in the current issue of CJR, about why climate skepticism is so common among television weather forecasters, is a must read. With the onset of winter, and abnormally cold temperatures around the globe,... Continue reading

6. The Observatory

   Best of 2009: The Observatory

   December 31, 2009 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 group of talented reporters from its science, business, metro, national, and foreign desks into a specialized “pod” focused... Continue reading

7. The Observatory

   Copenhagen’s “Climate Pool”

   December 4, 2009 03:35 PM

   The Associated Press and ten other international news agencies have launched “The Climate Pool,” a Facebook page that they hope will help readers to interact with journalists covering the climate-change summit in Copenhagen, which starts Monday.... Continue reading

8. The Observatory

   Hacked E-mails and “Journalistic Tribalism”

   December 3, 2009 06:53 PM

   In a column for USA Today on Tuesday, Jonah Goldberg argued that the mainstream press hasn’t given enough attention to thousands of e-mails hacked from a British climate research center two weeks ago and published on the Internet.... Continue reading

9. The Observatory

   Saving Corwin’s Creatures

   November 20, 2009 10:31 AM

   While filming his new documentary, 100 Heartbeats, Jeff Corwin cut off the horn of a black rhino to protect it from poachers, broke four ribs transporting Sumatran orangutans to a wildlife sanctuary, and helped raid a Cambodian restaurant... Continue reading

10. The Observatory

    Trains, Planes, and Carbon Offsets

    November 18, 2009 01:31 PM

    This week, The New York Times published two much-needed articles questioning the value of programs that let consumers pay a small fee to ostensibly reduce their carbon footprints. The first, by Kate Galbraith, focused on... Continue reading

11. The Observatory

    Plimer, “Balance as Bias” Back in Climate Coverage

    November 13, 2009 04:49 PM

    That old nuisance, “balance as bias,” cropped up in the press again on Thursday in an article in the Telegraph about the theories of climate skeptic Ian Plimer, an Australian geologist. There isn’t even the pretense... Continue reading

12. The Observatory

    The Fate of Former P-I Employees

    November 12, 2009 04:31 PM

    Ruth Teichroeb, who worked as an investigative reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer from 1997 until its demise in March, is not done investigating. On Wednesday she published a survey on her ironically titled blog, Safety Net, of what... Continue reading

13. The Observatory

    AMNH Hosts 33rd Annual Margaret Mead Film Festival

    November 11, 2009 04:36 PM

    Science news aficionados that are passing through New York City this week should check out the thirty-third Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival, which kicks off at the American Museum of Natural History Thursday night and runs through... Continue reading

14. The Observatory

    Univ. of Montana Launches Environmental Journalism Program

    November 11, 2009 02:39 PM

    At least somebody gets it. The University of Montana in Missoula announced on Monday that it is accepting applications for a new, two-year graduate program in environmental science and natural resource journalism. The news comes less than a... Continue reading

15. The Observatory

    AAAS Announces 2009 Kavli Science Journalism Awards

    November 10, 2009 12:55 PM

    Recipients of the 2009 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards were announced this morning. “A radio broadcast on probability told through a tale about a drifting balloon, a newspaper series on the impact of a devastating genetic disease on... Continue reading

16. The Observatory

    Unscientific America Meets Denialism

    November 6, 2009 06:36 PM

    Michael Specter and Chris Mooney agree that the United States is full of people who just don’t get science, and that this is a dangerous situation. In fact, they agree about a lot of things. They are the respective authors... Continue reading

17. The Observatory

    “Will Work in Copenhagen”

    November 3, 2009 03:48 PM

    The United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen this December will undoubtedly be an international media circus of the highest order. Many of the journalists there will be wandering bards, however, reciting tales on the spot for anyone willing to... Continue reading

18. The Observatory

    More On Super Freaks and Troubling Temps

    October 30, 2009 01:39 PM

    As I noted in a Wednesday column, a number of reporters have recently had to revisit the most fundamental question about climate change: Is the Earth actually warming up. The book SuperFreakonomics and an article by the BBC... Continue reading

19. The Observatory

    The Trouble with Temperature

    October 28, 2009 12:26 PM

    Articles about climate change legislation quickly piled up on Tuesday morning as the Senate began debating a proposal to cap greenhouse-gas emissions. The bill may be imperfect, and it may fail, but the deliberations are nonetheless... Continue reading

20. The Observatory

    “Fix the Climate, or the Kid Gets It”

    October 23, 2009 04:52 PM

    A Friday morning headline in Politico noted that it’s “crunch time” for the climate bill currently underway in the Senate. By Friday afternoon, stories were rolling in about a speech that President Obama delivered at the... Continue reading

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