Author Archive
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The Observatory
The Volatile Coverage of Phthalates
June 16, 2008 09:37 AMAnybody that has bought one of the cheap, PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastic shower curtains, which are nearly ubiquitous in American houseware stores, knows they stink. And most of those people probably know what they stink like—chemicals. Consumers have complained that... Continue reading
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The Observatory
Reuters connects mortgage crisis to environment
June 13, 2008 04:16 PMThe U.S. mortgage crisis has been a staple of American news budgets since it began last fall and reporters have covered it from almost every conceivable angle. Reuters is the first, to my knowledge, to connect it to environmental science.... Continue reading
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The Observatory
Covering Candidates’ Medical Records
June 12, 2008 01:18 PMThree weeks ago, John McCain, who would be the oldest president in history if elected, released 1,173 pages of his medical records to the press. He did so only after a series of delays, however, and then granted a pool... Continue reading
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The Observatory
Turning Point: Energy
June 10, 2008 10:50 AMThis is part four of a series on the start of the 2008 presidential election’s general campaign. Links to the rest of the series can be found at the bottom of the article. A month ago, the Republicans’ presumptive nominee... Continue reading
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The Kicker
Environmental Photographer of the Year
June 9, 2008 04:53 PMThe Times of London has an intriguing photo slideshow on its Web site right now headlined, "Environmental Photographer of the Year." Despite the singular tense, it's actually a collection of fourteen photographs from various artists. Some are beautiful,... Continue reading
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The Observatory
Credit Where Credit is Due
June 6, 2008 04:12 PMYesterday, The Scientific Activist blog (part of the ScienceBlogs.com community) carried a keen-eyed piece of media criticism, turning the rating scheme of The Washington Post's "Fact Checker" blog back on the paper itself. The blog's editor, Nick Anthis, a... Continue reading
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The Observatory
Climate, Ethics, and the News
June 5, 2008 11:01 AMLast week, I attended a dinner with twenty-eight other reporters where the evening's speaker argued that the media have inadequately covered the ethical issues surrounding climate change, its impacts, and humanity's response. "Are you saying that I should tell... Continue reading
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Video
Covering Climate
May 19, 2008 10:37 AMEarlier this month, I moderated a panel at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism about the press coverage of climate change issues. Two intrepid student journalists, Rachel Cernansky and Laura Shin, organized the event and put together what some... Continue reading
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The Kicker
Defining Green Jobs
May 19, 2008 10:28 AMA couple weeks ago, Observatory freelancer Russ Juskalian wrote an excellent column about the proliferation of the term "green-collar jobs" on the presidential campaign trail and in the media. This weekend, he appeared on National Public Radio's On... Continue reading
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The Observatory
Daylight on Climate
May 13, 2008 02:30 PMIt's nice how the situation changes so quickly. Well, maybe not changes, but at least presents the opportunity for change. We've spent most of the primary season griping about reporters' inability to open up the candidates' positions on global... Continue reading
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The Observatory
Covering Climate
May 10, 2008 10:37 AMEarlier this month, I moderated a panel at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism about the press coverage of climate change issues. Two intrepid student journalists, Rachel Cernansky and Laura Shin, organized the event and put together what some... Continue reading
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The Observatory
From Gas Tax to Safety Valve
May 7, 2008 12:49 PMSince Hillary Clinton announced her support last week for suspending the federal gas tax between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the press has marshaled economists and environmentalists from around the country to wholeheartedly denounce the idea. Of course, it's... Continue reading
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The Observatory
What’s New at Science News…
May 2, 2008 12:43 PMScience News, the eighty-seven-year-old weekly staple of dedicated science news enthusiasts is making a few changes this month. Or rather, it's making "Change Without Change," according to an editor's note by Tom Siegfried, the publication's captain of... Continue reading
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The Observatory
Oops! About that Journal Report….
April 29, 2008 07:30 AMLast week, a report from the venerable Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) created something of a stir with a quantitative analysis of how The Wall Street Journal's front-page coverage has changed by topic since Rupert Murdoch took over... Continue reading
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The Observatory
The Big Coal Question
April 25, 2008 11:40 AMMost journalists covering the environmental side of the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have come to the same conclusion: that either of them (and John McCain, too) will be better than George W. Bush. Yet despite... Continue reading
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The Observatory
2008 Green Issues Guide
April 24, 2008 12:54 PMInstead of switching to fluorescent light bulbs, urging my congressional representative to support climate legislation, or attending one of Manhattan's green consumer extravaganzas, I spent Earth Day reading through the now regular spring tide of magazine Green Issues. ... Continue reading
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The Observatory
Annotating Bush’s Climate Speech
April 17, 2008 03:03 PMYesterday, President Bush called for the United States to halt the growth of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, and urged other countries to enact similar national targets. Most of the print press covered the event's four key... Continue reading
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The Observatory
Global Warming’s Rainmakers
April 16, 2008 12:47 PMNews outlets large and small, in the U.S. and overseas have, for years now, talked about a coming energy "revolution" akin to the Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth century. The belief that wind, wave, solar,... Continue reading
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Short Takes
Science in Arabic
April 15, 2008 09:00 AMLast fall, CJR’s Curtis Brainard discussed the state of science journalism in the Arab world with Nadia El-Awady and Zainab Ghosn, the president and a board member, respectively, of the nascent Arab Science Journalists Association (ASJA). What kind of... Continue reading
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The Observatory
BP Logo Pulled from TNR’s New Blog
April 11, 2008 01:01 PMA strange thing happened Tuesday. The New Republic had just launched a new “Environment & Energy” blog on Sunday, and it had already hit a bump in the road. Just below the blog’s masthead was a small, green logo... Continue reading
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Desks
The Audit Business
- Audit Notes: pyramid people, Disney and ABC, no USA Today paywall Roddy Boyd digs into a diet-shake pyramid scheme
- Hot air Rises Above on CNBC An anchor pins a minor dip in stocks on the TV appearance of a minor politician
The Observatory Science
- Dull news from Doha UN climate summit a ho-hum affair for the press
- Highway to the danger zone Following Sandy, HuffPo and NYT dig into the folly of coastal development
Campaign Desk Politics & Policy
- NBC News sets good example for Medicare reporting People perspective leads to clear explanation of impact of proposed changes
- In Pennsylvania, a niche site with wide reach PoliticsPA drives political conversation in Keystone State
Behind the News The Media
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The Kicker last updated: Fri 3:00 PM
- Must-reads of the week
- The media news cycle is bananas
- Pass the #popcorn
- Must-reads of the week
- Tom Rosenstiel leaving Pew
The Future of Media
News Startups Guide last updated: Thu 10:24 AM
- TRVL A free iPad travel magazine
- TheDigitel A small chain of local news sites/ aggregators in South Carolina
