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Author Archive

Articles by Curtis Brainard | Email the Author

 

  1. The Observatory

    “Two Stories” of Gulf Seafood

    July 16, 2010 11:40 AM

    BP has apparently stopped the flow of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since the massive spill began in April—but that doesn’t mean all problems are solved. “If you're like us, you're still... Continue reading

  2. The Observatory

    Inside BP’s Media Blockade

    July 14, 2010 03:00 PM

    A former BP contractor who blocked a New Orleans TV news reporter from talking to cleanup crews working on a polluted beach in Grande Isle, Louisiana in June contacted the same reporter last Friday in order to criticize BP’s handling... Continue reading

  3. The Observatory

    I’ll Have the Climate Coverage, Please

    July 13, 2010 10:09 AM

    On Sunday night, CNN’s Howard Kurtz seconded CJR’s call for more coverage of the series of inquiries and investigations rebutting recent controversies stemming from minor errors in an international climate report and e-mails leaked from a... Continue reading

  4. Cover Story

    A Second Chance

    July 13, 2010 06:00 AM

    1 Talk to people who are into mobile reading devices like the Kindle and the iPad, and a scene from the movie Minority Report tends to come up. Tom Cruise, who is on the run from the... Continue reading

  5. The Observatory

    Mediaphobia at the IPCC

    July 12, 2010 03:44 PM

    The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change seems to have caught a touch of mediaphobia from last year’s largely debunked controversies stemming from a couple minor errors in its 2007 report and from a batch of leaked e-mails from... Continue reading

  6. The Observatory

    Meet the AP’s New Oil Spill Editor

    July 9, 2010 10:40 AM

    At the end of June, the Associated Press announced that it had named an oil spill editor, Steve Gutkin, to supervise coverage of the ongoing disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. CJR’s Curtis Brainard sent Gutkin—in the process... Continue reading

  7. The Observatory

    Shameful Obstinacy at The Sunday Times

    July 8, 2010 04:00 PM

    On Wednesday, I argued that the mounting rebuttal of the recent controversies related to the so-called “Climategate” e-mails and alleged errors in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) landmark 2007 report deserves more high-profile coverage. One piece... Continue reading

  8. The Observatory

    Uproar at ScienceBlogs.com

    July 8, 2010 08:00 AM

    At least two well-respected science journalists and a handful of scientists have canceled their blogs at the popular and heretofore highly respected ScienceBlogs.com community, protesting Seed Media Group’s decision to give PepsiCo a nutrition... Continue reading

  9. The Observatory

    Wanted: Climate Front-Pager

    July 7, 2010 04:30 PM

    Over the last two days, two reports have, respectively, reaffirmed the integrity of the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the scientists involved in the so-called “Climategate” affair. Unfortunately, while the reports have received a lot... Continue reading

  10. The Observatory

    Finding the Right Expert

    June 29, 2010 02:15 PM

    A controversial new study that categorizes climate scientists as either “convinced” or “unconvinced” by the basic tenets of manmade global warming generated furious debate in the blogosphere last week, with some calling it a reaffirmation of... Continue reading

  11. The Observatory

    Bringing Energy Home

    June 23, 2010 05:32 PM

    The vast majority of Americans want a “fundamental overhaul” of the country’s energy policies, according to the latest nationwide New York Times/CBS News poll. Most expect that alternative sources of energy will replace oil within the... Continue reading

  12. Behind the News

    The Man Who Imagined Tablets and E-Readers

    June 17, 2010 04:59 PM

    In 1981, Roger Fidler wrote a visionary essay on the emergence of mobile reading devices like the Apple iPad and Amazon Kindle. CJR’s Curtis Brainard talked to Fidler, who now runs the Reynolds Journalism Institute’s Digital Publishing Alliance,... Continue reading

  13. The Observatory

    BP, Government Still Thwarting Press Access

    June 17, 2010 12:38 PM

    Despite repeated promises to improve transparency, BP, the United States government, and their contractors are still inhibiting the media’s ability to cover the largest oil spill in the country’s history, which began April 20 with the explosion of the Deepwater... Continue reading

  14. The Observatory

    The Siphoning Solution

    June 7, 2010 03:34 PM

    On Monday afternoon, BP reported that it was capturing about 11,000 barrels per day of the oil that has been spilling into the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig sank on April 22. The siphon... Continue reading

  15. The Observatory

    Mechanical Band-Aids

    June 3, 2010 03:06 PM

    Thank God or whomever. The nuclear option has never been, and never will be, on the table amongst other options to shutdown the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, The New York Times reported on its... Continue reading

  16. The Observatory

    Go Fish

    May 12, 2010 03:40 PM

    On Tuesday morning, Agence France-Presse reported that “Louisiana's charter fishermen are slamming media coverage of the Gulf oil spill for doing more damage to the tourism industry than the slick itself, with livelihoods at risk.” Waters east of... Continue reading

  17. The Observatory

    EPA Officials Demand Anonymity

    May 7, 2010 02:47 PM

    Twice in the last three months, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ordered reporters not to name the agency officials participating in media conference calls, frustrating a number of the journalists involved. The latest incident happened Tuesday, when the EPA... Continue reading

  18. The Observatory

    Crude Coverage at the Times

    May 4, 2010 03:30 PM

    The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that exploded on April 20, causing the massive oil spill currently unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, sank two days later, on the fortieth anniversary of Earth Day. Given that a 1969 spill from an... Continue reading

  19. The Observatory

    The Voice of the Affected

    April 26, 2010 10:25 AM

    A team of media-development experts that has been working with radio stations in earthquake-damaged Haiti to provide critical information to people in need is, in the process, fundamentally improving the delivery of humanitarian aid, according to officials from the United... Continue reading

  20. The Observatory

    Maternal Mortality Mix-Up

    April 14, 2010 04:07 PM

    A slew of news articles this week have focused on two recent reports about the number of women who die during pregnancy or in childbirth around the world every year. The reports don’t exactly agree, and with public health experts... Continue reading

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