The Observatory

Another Cozy TV-Hospital Partnership

Will the practice ever end?

By Trudy Lieberman   Apr 1, 2011 at 11:14 AM

Once more, a large hospital system has climbed in bed with a friendly TV station to promote high-end services, using... More

Covering “Crazy”

“Goldwater rule” overlooked in articles about Qaddafi, Sheen, and Loughner

By Curtis Brainard   Mar 30, 2011 at 12:57 PM

The media has a penchant for psychoanalysis that often gets news outlets into trouble. From killers to celebrities to dictators,... More

Misinformation Clouds Much Japan Coverage

International media’s output enters the “Journalistic Hall of Shame”

By Craig Silverman   Mar 25, 2011 at 11:59 AM

Andrew Woolner’s Yokohama residence was left without power shortly after the recent major earthquake struck Japan. But his laptop and... More

Quaking in California

Articles about the “big one” short on science

By Curtis Brainard   Mar 22, 2011 at 02:15 PM

The 9.0 earthquake that struck Japan on March 11 not only sent a tsunami barreling across the Pacific, but also... More

NYT Whitewashes its Japan Error

By Clint Hendler   Mar 17, 2011 at 01:11 PM

If you’re having trouble tracking the twists and turns as Japanese workers struggle at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, you’re... More

Crisis Juggling in Japan

Reporters struggle to balance quake, tsunami, nuclear coverage

By Curtis Brainard   Mar 16, 2011 at 02:00 PM

The triple disaster. The triple whammy. Both terms are now common in media accounts of the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear-plant disaster that has... More

Japan’s Quake and Political Fallout

Notes on nuclear renaissance

By Joel Meares   Mar 16, 2011 at 01:01 PM

The ongoing struggle to bring four reactors at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station under control has understandably shaken the... More

Political Aftershocks

Reactions to a disaster abroad, at home

By Joel Meares   Mar 15, 2011 at 11:56 AM

The news cycle being what it is, it’s not surprising that we’ve taken to navel-gazing just days after the Japanese... More

Risk Reporting 101

What journalists should know about hazards and exposure

By David Ropeik   Mar 11, 2011 at 04:12 PM

During my years as a daily TV journalist in Boston, I covered a seemingly endless string of risks: from the... More

Las Vegas Sun Shines Light on Nevada Health Care

Multimedia investigation of hospital injuries wins 2011 Goldsmith Prize

By Cristine Russell   Mar 9, 2011 at 04:30 PM

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—“Where do you go for great health care in Las Vegas?” Answer: “The airport.” That local joke set Las... More

Microbes and the Media

Burned in the past, journalists wary of astrobiology hype

By Curtis Brainard   Mar 8, 2011 at 10:58 AM

Claims about extraterrestrial life are once again making headlines. Unlike a December incident involving an assertion about the discovery of... More

“Frack”-tious Reactions

Skirmishes follow recent coverage of shale-gas drilling

By Curtis Brainard   Mar 3, 2011 at 01:45 PM

The former head of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection is not happy with The New York Times’s Ian Urbina and... More

Has ‘Climate’ Become a Dirty Word?

Despite audience fatigue, interest remains stronger than ever in the most vulnerable countries

By James Fahn   Mar 1, 2011 at 10:45 AM

When President Obama gave his State of the Union address in January, there seemed to be more commentary among environmentalists... More

Alternating Currents

Why reporters struggle to find the right angle for clean energy stories

By Hillary Rosner   Feb 28, 2011 at 03:00 PM

Is today’s media up to the task of covering renewable energy issues? That was the broad topic explored during two... More

The Times, It Is A Changin’

New editors to lead science, environment coverage

By Curtis Brainard and Cristine Russell   Feb 25, 2011 at 02:38 PM

“The world turns. The universe expands. The stethoscope passes. And we have a new Science editor,” Bill Keller, the executive... More