The Observatory
Shoddy TV science coverage
CNN’s Gupta promises cancer cure, while PBS’s Michels delivers false balance on climate
By Curtis Brainard Sep 27, 2012 at 03:00 PM
It’s been a bad week and a half for coverage of science on television. Stories about cancer at CNN and... More
Global warming coverage cools in Europe
Fewer European journalists are covering UN climate summits in person
By Caty Arevalo Sep 24, 2012 at 06:50 AM
Had the annual climate change summits sponsored by the United Nations fallen out of favor with Western journalists? That was... More
It’s about the rider
Sports reporters flex their scientific muscle in Armstrong doping coverage
By Declan Fahy Sep 13, 2012 at 03:00 PM
The decision to strip Lance Armstrong of his Tour de France titles after he refused to continue fighting claims he... More
What does ‘healthier’ mean?
Coverage of organic-food study plays loose with the term
By Curtis Brainard Sep 11, 2012 at 11:30 AM
“Healthier” is a word the media often use without enough care, and that shortcoming was on full display during last... More
Yao Ming and the elephant massacre
Recent coverage of the African poaching crisis strikes at supply and demand
By Curtis Brainard Sep 6, 2012 at 04:45 PM
After weeks of the media mostly failing to realize why basketball star Yao Ming’s trip to Kenya was fairly important... More
Conventions create climate coverage
While ScienceDebate.org gets some answers
By Curtis Brainard Sep 5, 2012 at 06:00 PM
The presidential candidates are still treating it like a back-burner issue, but the Republican and Democratic national conventions incited a... More
Water woes
Regional papers turn out series on sea level, drought
By Curtis Brainard Aug 30, 2012 at 04:30 PM
Exposés about the changing climate in the polar north are great, and all the more important in light of reports... More
CBS goofs up the green beat
Network fails to disclose M. Sanjayan’s affiliation and ties to source
By Curtis Brainard Aug 23, 2012 at 11:00 AM
Only two months after hiring him, CBS News has already botched a report from its new science and environment contributor,... More
Candidates clam up on climate
Reporters call out Obama and Romney’s silence
By Curtis Brainard Aug 21, 2012 at 03:00 PM
Nary a word has been spoken about climate change on the presidential campaign trail, and it’s a silence that some... More
UPI shirks responsibility
Raeburn takes wire to task for cribbing from Science News
By Curtis Brainard Aug 17, 2012 at 04:10 PM
The plagiarism, or problematic paraphrasing, parade continued on Thursday as several reporters from Science News complained on Facebook that the... More
Covering Romney in Ohio’s coal country
Visit draws sharp questions from across state line, and solid stories from big-city papers
By T.C. Brown Aug 17, 2012 at 06:50 AM
OHIO — When Mitt Romney’s campaign bus rolled into the tiny Appalachian town of Beallsville in the eastern part of... More
Ryan re-energizes coverage
VP candidate brings fossil fuels, alternatives back into focus
By Curtis Brainard Aug 16, 2012 at 04:30 PM
Paul Ryan’s selection as the GOP’s candidate for vice president has renewed debate about, and coverage of, the stark differences... More
Sex and sensationalism
Researchers accuse press of ‘licentious’ coverage of animal studies
By Curtis Brainard Aug 10, 2012 at 04:30 PM
“The media loves to sensationalize research” on same-sex sexual behavior among animals, according to an analysis published this week in... More
The science of performance
Reuters writer reviews the research amid London Olympics
By Curtis Brainard Aug 8, 2012 at 06:50 AM
Does sex diminish athletic vigor? Does athletic tape enhance it? These are just a few of the questions that one... More
Muller’s media circus
Did the press fall for a climate-change publicity stunt?
By Curtis Brainard Aug 6, 2012 at 12:00 PM
UC Berkeley physicist Richard Muller was all over the media last week talking about his “total turnaround” from global-warming skeptic... More
Woman’s work - The twisted reality of an Italian freelancer in Syria
Sourcing Trayvon Martin ‘photos’ from stormfront - Not a good idea, Business Insider
Elizabeth Warren, the antidote to CNBC - The senator schools the talking heads on bank regulation
Art Laffer + PR blitz = press failure - The media types up the retail lobby’s propaganda
Reuters’s global warming about-face - A survey shows the newswire ran 50 percent fewer stories on climate change after hiring a “skeptic”
In one tweet
Luke Russert is the Golden Boy of DC
And it drives young journalists crazy
It’s official: We never need to worry about the future of journalism again!
The NYT shows us why
Why does Florida produce so much weird news? Experts explain
CJR's Guide to Online News Startups
ACEsTooHigh.com – Reporting on the science, education, and policy surrounding childhood trauma
Who Owns What
The Business of Digital Journalism
A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Questions and exercises for journalism students.
