The Observatory
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March 11, 2010 04:44 PM
Reviving Science Coverage in the Carolinas
Weekly newspaper section, community-journalism project deliver fresh content
At a time when weekly newspaper science sections are as rare as a single top quark, two North Carolina newspapers recently teamed up to prove they still have a place in the modern media.
In January, The Charlotte Observer and the Raleigh News & Observer jointly launched SciTech, a two-page, weekly feature focusing on...
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March 09, 2010 10:42 AM
Monitor-ing the Environment
The CSM cancels green blog in favor of a broader approach
In recent years, blogs have become a popular way for newspapers to handle specialized topics like science and the environment. At least one outlet has tried that and decided to go back to a newsroom-wide approach, however.
In mid-February, The Christian Science Monitor decided to cancel its Bright Green blog after twenty-two months in operation and approximately 500...
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March 03, 2010 04:47 PM
Whither the Watershed
A field guide to environmental journalism in the Ohio River Valley
Last weekend, the monstrous snowstorm that walloped the northeast prevented me from attending an event that I’d been looking forward to for months – a conference in Louisville focused on science journalism in the Ohio River Valley.
I’d been invited to speak at the event. My task was to deliver an outsider’s perspective on the science...
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February 25, 2010 12:22 PM
Online and Overseas
Less hand-wringing over state of science journalism
SAN DIEGO—What a difference a year makes. The intense handwringing over the future of science journalism in the wake of job losses in traditional print media seems to be waning, as the focus in this transition era shifts toward how to do more with less, increase global coverage, launch innovative Internet content, and get back to the basics of reporting...
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February 24, 2010 04:52 PM
The Upshot of Embargoes
Oransky launches blog examining controversial publishing standard
A longstanding and controversial topic of conversation within the science journalism community—news embargoes on peer-reviewed research articles—will now receive regular scrutiny at a new blog launched by one of the country’s top medical writers.
On Tuesday, Ivan Oransky, the executive editor of Reuters Health, launched a new site called Embargo Watch that is dedicated...
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February 23, 2010 10:18 AM
Better Communication Begets Trust
Experts press for localizing climate coverage
SAN DIEGO—Amidst growing polarization and public confusion over global climate change, there has been plenty of finger pointing about the shortcomings of scientists, politicians, and the media. Critics charge that all these parties have long failed to plainly and clearly communicate the complex science and policy options for dealing with this international issue.
While acknowledging errors on all sides, leading...
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February 18, 2010 02:14 PM
Meltdown
As the Northeast digs and melts its way out from feet of snow, now seems like a fine time to look at the lamest most shopworn work done by editorial cartoonists during the recent blizzard.
Luckily, the minimalist "If Global Warming Is Real Then Why Is It Cold?" blog has all the Al Gore and snowglobe cartoons you'll...
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February 17, 2010 01:50 PM
Post Capitol-izes on Snow
Traffic is way up at blog focused on local weather
Beneath the snowstorm-induced climate feuding that has pervaded the media for the last few weeks, an interesting thing is happening: The Washington Post, a national newspaper, is distinguishing itself with local weather coverage.
During the first half of February, the Post’s Capital Weather Gang blog has experienced record traffic and comment volume, with at least a...
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February 16, 2010 04:19 PM
Snow Fights
Storm coverage muddles politics and science
Last week, in a front-page story, The New York Times responded to the latest instance of global warming skeptics seizing on big snowstorms in the east to argue that the threat of rising temperatures is all cock and bull.
The piece, by John Broder, was undoubtedly another well-intentioned attempt to explain how people will distort the difference between...
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February 15, 2010 10:04 AM
U.S. Press Digs Into IPCC Story
Articles still fall short of ambitious work in the U.K.
A couple of America’s leading media outlets finally dug into the recent controversy surrounding the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last week. The Observatory first criticized U.S. news outlets two weeks ago for not paying more attention to the issue.
Last Tuesday, The New York Times ran a front-page article by Elisabeth Rosenthal under the headline,...
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February 10, 2010 04:45 PM
The Long View on Green
After 40 years on the job, Joe Hebert reflects on covering energy and environment
From Three Mile Island to the cap-and-trade debates on Capitol Hill, H. Josef Hebert spent over half of his forty-year career at the Associated Press covering energy and the environment. In January, the sixty-five-year-old reporter—who flew to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol negotiations with Al Gore aboard Air Force Two—took his retirement. CJR’s Curtis Brainard recently talked to Hebert about the...
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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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Science Picture of the Day
NASA via National Geographic
National Geographic is currently featuring the first photos taken from the International Space Station’s new observation deck, which features a seven-window cupola offering unparalleled views of the Earth. The image above shows the view from the cupola of the Mediterranean Sea along the Algerian coastline. There is also an amazing shot looking down on the Sahara desert.
A six-member crew aboard the shuttle Endeavor arrived at the ISS on February 10 where they met five astronauts already aboard the station. Over the course of a week, they installed the observation deck and a new room, named Tranquility. The shuttle crew left Friday, but the Associated Press reported that, “each of the astronauts spent a few moments alone in the dome late Thursday, taking in what they described as amazing and stunning views of Earth.”
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The Observatory Blogroll
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- Knight Science Journalism Tracker
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- Yale Climate and Media Forum
- Framing Science
Climate, Energy and Sustainability
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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
The Observatory Science
- Reviving Science Coverage in the Carolinas Weekly newspaper section, community-journalism project deliver fresh content
- Monitor-ing the Environment The CSM cancels green blog in favor of a broader approach
Campaign Desk Politics & Policy
- How to Cover a Non-Story The Globe knew about that Scott Brown lawsuit—and passed
- Medicare Kicks Out Fox Insurance And therein lie some lessons for the press
