The Observatory
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February 05, 2010 02:59 PM
“Waves in a Shallow Pan”
Has climate coverage in the MSM lost its authority?
CAMBRIDGE—Like doctors gathered around the operating table in mid-surgery, a group of media experts at Harvard yesterday offered their diagnoses of the ailing body of journalism. The symptom: a surprising decline in public belief that climate change is real or important.
Around the time that Barack Obama was elected president, Americans’ support for addressing global warming and energy issues was...
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February 05, 2010 11:59 AM
Dumb Blonde Story
Sunday Times botches the science in piece on the “princess effect”
Dr. Aaron Sell, a researcher at the Center for Evolutionary Psychology at the University of California, has been hearing from a lot of old friends and colleagues over the past couple of weeks—and he’s not happy about it.
The calls and e-mails are flowing in thanks to a January 17 article published in London’s Sunday Times that prominently featured...
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February 04, 2010 07:00 PM
USA Today Wins Oakes Award
“Smokestack Effect” garners another prize for outstanding reporting
A USA Today investigation which found that the air outside thousands of schools across the country could be at least twice as toxic as the air in nearby neighborhoods—and sometimes ten times higher—has won the 2009 John B. Oakes Award for excellence in environmental journalism.
The special report, “The Smokestack Effect: Toxic Air and...
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February 03, 2010 03:55 PM
WSJ Cancels Energy/Environment Blog
Two years after launch, popular site mysteriously dumped
After a mere two-year run, The Wall Street Journal has, for some inexplicable reason—or, rather, for some reason it refuses to explain—canceled its highly regarded energy blog, Environmental Capital.
Three weeks ago, the blog’s lead author, Keith Johnson, unexpectedly posted a short entry announcing that Environmental Capital was “closing its virtual doors” after more than 2,000 posts. The...
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February 02, 2010 07:08 PM
Criticism of IPCC Continues
American media still missing in action
American media are still missing in action on the controversy currently embroiling the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In addition to the criticisms related to glaciers and natural disasters, the IPCC came under fire last week for a statement in its 2007 report that said 40 percent of the Amazon is vulnerable to even a small change in...
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January 29, 2010 12:26 PM
MIA on the IPCC
American press largely ignores latest controversies
Almost two weeks ago, the Sunday Times, a British newspaper, “broke” the story that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had made significant errors in its 2007 report on the impacts of global warming. (Indian journalist Pallava Bagla actually reported this story for the BBC back in December without creating much of a stir.)
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January 26, 2010 10:51 AM
Looking for Haiti’s Lost, Online
How information technology can streamline Web searches
As the dust was settling over Haiti, journalists were boarding planes, a response center at the State Department was manning the phones, and humanitarian organizations were swinging into action. The new media community also sprung into action, notably around the issue of connecting people in Haiti with their families abroad, and also developing emergency dispatch via SMS.
Phone systems in...
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January 20, 2010 05:15 PM
Reporters Doubling as Docs in Haiti
Dual roles raise concerns about journalistic ethics
Prominent television journalists who are also certified doctors have been treating injured patients amidst the recovery and relief efforts in Haiti, sparking debate about journalistic ethics and the role of M.D. medical correspondents in crisis situations.
The trend has emerged as a significant storyline this week. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that:
For the first time, all of...
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January 19, 2010 11:29 AM
Repairing Haitian Radio
Internews sends team of specialists, technicians to restore local broadcasting
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 broadcasters back up and running. The team began to arrive on Friday, and over the weekend I sent a list...
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January 14, 2010 02:25 PM
BBC Trust to Review Science Coverage
Outlet's “accuracy and impartiality” to be scrutinized following criticism
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 reaction and covers some of the most sensitive editorial issues the BBC faces,” Richard Tait, chair of the Trust's Editorial...
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January 13, 2010 12:22 PM
“New” Media Crucial in Aftermath of Haitian Earthquake
Newspapers, television scramble to reach the scene
“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 and darkness fell over Haiti, the full impact of today's massive earthquake was difficult to know,” The Sydney Morning Herald...
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January 11, 2010 12:43 PM
Flatlining Despite Healthcare Overhaul
CUNY, Univ. of Minnesota suspend health/medical journalism programs
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 to low student interest.
Students in the eighteen-month program must specialize in one of five disciplines—health/medical, arts/culture, business/economics, international, and...
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January 07, 2010 03:53 PM
Just in Time for Winter
Homans on weathermen as climate skeptics
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, it could not come any sooner.
The Observatory has commented numerous times on the confusion in the media between short-term...
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December 31, 2009 09:10 PM
Best of 2009: The Observatory
Brainard picks The Observatory's top stories from 2009
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 on coverage of the environment. Over the course of the year, the team would report a diverse array of notable...
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Science Picture of the Day
AP Photo/Terry Renna
Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts-off from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida on Monday Feb. 8, 2010 on what was likely the last nighttime launch for the shuttle program, according to the Associated Press.
Endeavour's six-member crew will deliver a large room with a cupola to the International Space Station. The new room will eventually house life-support equipment, exercise machines and a toilet, as well as a seven-windowed dome. The lookout has the biggest window ever sent into space, a circle 31 inches across.
With only four remaining shuttle flights to the station - in March, May, July and September - the mood at the launch site was “bittersweet,” the AP reported. “The 13-day mission comes at an agonizing time for NASA. Exactly one week ago, the space agency finally got its marching orders from President Barack Obama: Ditch the back-to-the-moon Constellation program and its Ares rockets, and pack on the research for an as-yet-unspecified rocket and destination.” For a good roundup of that news, see the Knight Science Journalism Tracker.
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The Observatory Blogroll
Science & the news
- Knight Science Journalism Tracker
- The Great Beyond
- Sigma Xi's Science in the News
- Yale Climate and Media Forum
- Framing Science
Climate, Energy and Sustainability
Science & Policy
Communities
About The Observatory RSS
The Observatory critiques science, environment, and medical journalism. Our goal is to encourage clarity, accuracy, and accountability in the coverage all things technical and complex.
Desks
The Audit Business
- New Financial Sheriff in Town, Part III Times highlights SEC’s latest crackdown—on an Estonian brokerage
- Audit Notes: Bloomberg Backs the Buck; WSJ on Future State Taxes; Big Money vs. Student Loansharks; Mortgage Banker Schadenfreude, etc.
The Observatory Science
- “Waves in a Shallow Pan” Has climate coverage in the MSM lost its authority?
- Dumb Blonde Story Sunday Times botches the science in piece on the “princess effect”
Campaign Desk Politics & Policy
- Unforced Error at Salon “O’Keefe’s race problem” story goes astray on key detail
- Is Health Reform Dead or Alive? Wanted: a newsmaker to give us the word
