The Observatory
NSF invests in literary science journalism
Creative nonfiction program seeks emerging writers
By Curtis Brainard Jun 8, 2012 at 03:00 PM
The National Science Foundation (NSF) doubled down on literary science journalism this year. Actually, it quintupled down. In 2010, NSF... More
An eye on environmental justice
EHN series focuses on an under-covered angle on toxics
By Curtis Brainard Jun 7, 2012 at 11:00 AM
A number of media reports in last year have examined the impacts of toxic pollution on communities, but few have... More
Salt Lake Tribune takes Grantham Prize
$75,000 award goes to series about threatened forests for second year in a row
By Curtis Brainard Jun 6, 2012 at 03:10 PM
For the second year in a row “the world’s richest journalism prize” went to a series of articles about threatened... More
How to improve environmental coverage?
Project sets broad goals, learns to adapt
By Curtis Brainard Jun 4, 2012 at 06:50 AM
Fixing the news is a tall order, or so the Project for Improved Environmental Coverage is learning. The effort launched... More
CBS News hires M. Sanjayan
Lead scientist at The Nature Conservancy to cover science, environment
By Curtis Brainard Jun 1, 2012 at 06:50 AM
Network news got a little better this month. CBS News announced in early May that it had hired M. Sanjayan,... More
From SOS to SMS
Mobile journalism service aims to protect Indonesian forests, connect villages
By James Fahn May 29, 2012 at 01:25 PM
WEST KALIMANTAN PROVINCE, INDONESIA—Alim, the chief of news for Ruai TV, remembers when the area didn’t have a privately operated... More
Evolved for exhibitionism?
Wired column makes weak claims about human behavior, psychology
By Curtis Brainard May 25, 2012 at 02:21 PM
“Sound the evo-psych bullshit klaxon!” British science journalist Ed Yong tweeted on Thursday. He was right to be concerned. Yong’s... More
Reparative journalism
Reporter sinks a controversial paper on “ex-gay” therapy
By Curtis Brainard May 23, 2012 at 05:20 PM
It’s not often that a journalist convinces a prominent scientist to recant a controversial study that he has tenaciously defended... More
The western frontier
KQED Quest, Pacific Standard keep their eyes on the other coast
By Curtis Brainard May 21, 2012 at 11:00 AM
American media may cluster in the east, but the west is still the land of pioneers, even in the domains... More
USA Today’s oily, gassy rainbow
Detailed cover story a bit too rosy about ‘energy independence’
By Curtis Brainard May 17, 2012 at 06:50 AM
USA Today sees an oily, gassy rainbow on America’s energy horizon. “Energy independence isn’t just a pipe dream,” read a... More
Attachment parenting, detached debate
Time’s titillating cover overshadows article’s substance
By Curtis Brainard May 15, 2012 at 02:15 PM
Time touched a nerve this week with its provocative cover photo of 26-year-old Jamie Lynne Grumet and her 3-year-old son... More
The ice melt cometh
But flawless coverage about happenings in Antarctica has been rare
By Curtis Brainard May 11, 2012 at 03:45 PM
A variety of news outlets has covered two papers published this week indicating that the Weddell Sea area of Antarctica... More
Biotech bogeymen
The San Francisco Chronicle’s muddled swipe at GE crops
By Curtis Brainard May 9, 2012 at 02:30 PM
If you’re worried about pesticides, then the San Francisco Chronicle has a sweeping indictment of genetically engineered (GE) crops to... More
Mad cow, sane coverage
Most media treat BSE discovery with appropriate concern
By Curtis Brainard May 3, 2012 at 12:35 PM
A few days after the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) announcement last month that it had discovered a case of... More
Brain waves
Articles about neuroscience push ideology, inflame divisions, study says
By Curtis Brainard May 1, 2012 at 12:13 PM
From advice about “exercising your mind” to treatises on “the gay brain,” media coverage of neuroscience in the UK often... More
‘See you on the other side’ - Meet Jessica Lum, a terminally ill 25-year-old who chose to spend what little time she had practicing journalism
#Realtalk: This is the best moment to be in journalism - The old stuff isn’t coming back, but that’s okay
Streams of consciousness - Millennials expect a steady diet of quick-hit, social-media-mediated bits and bytes. What does that mean for journalism?
Sticking with the truth - How ‘balanced’ coverage helped sustain the bogus claim that childhood vaccines can cause autism
An ink-stained stretch - Can Aaron Kushner save the Orange County Register—and the newspaper industry?
This is the best moment to be in journalism (25)
The WSJ editorial page hits rock bottom (19)
Public television’s attempts to placate David Koch
One journalist took matters into his own hands when a fellow audience member wouldn’t stop using her smartphone during a theater performance
Purchasing Tumblr is Yahoo’s flashy bet on a shift in social media
The shift from Facebook to more creative social networks
Gay Talese’s outline for ‘Frank Sinatra Has a Cold,’ 1966
Handwritten on a shirt board
CJR's Guide to Online News Startups
Uptown Messenger – Hyperlocal news for a neighborhood in New Orleans
Who Owns What
The Business of Digital Journalism
A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Questions and exercises for journalism students.
