The Observatory
Ask Obama and Romney this: What about climate change?
Schieffer misses media’s last chance to pop the question on a big stage
By Curtis Brainard Oct 24, 2012 at 11:00 AM
Over the final days of the campaign, CJR is running a series of pieces under the headline “Ask Obama This”... More
Debunking the ‘war on coal,’ take two
The AP gets it right the second time around
By Curtis Brainard Oct 23, 2012 at 11:00 AM
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Such was The Associated Press’s approach this month to explaining the... More
Turner’s turnaround
LA Times columnist learns that evaluating electric vehicles is harder than it seems
By Curtis Brainard Oct 19, 2012 at 11:00 AM
Twice in the past six months, the media have gotten carried away with stories portraying electric vehicles as unreservedly bad... More
The vilification of electric vehicles
Media botch full explanation of the latest research
By Curtis Brainard Oct 18, 2012 at 11:00 AM
When comparing electric vehicles (EVs) to gas-powered vehicles, most studies have focused on the electricity or fuel consumed while driving,... More
The good news about organics
And why the media tend to ignore it
By Curtis Brainard Oct 16, 2012 at 04:00 PM
In the long-running debate about whether organic food is more healthy and nutritious than the conventional variety, the press has... More
TNR causes trouble for coal baron
Exposé on pressuring employees to make campaign contributions stirs inquiry
By Curtis Brainard Oct 12, 2012 at 03:00 PM
The New Republic stirred up a bit of trouble for coal baron Robert Murray by revealing the aggressiveness with which... More
Jackpot lost
Is a $75K prize or better training more likely to improve environmental coverage?
By Curtis Brainard Oct 11, 2012 at 03:00 PM
The backers of one of journalism’s richest awards are bringing the prize to an end, betting that professional development, rather... More
The value of skepticism
Why science reporters should question research
By Curtis Brainard Oct 9, 2012 at 11:00 AM
Skepticism has earned a bad name in recent years thanks to those who doubt the consensus that human industry is... More
No debate about environment
Hopes for questions about climate, public lands fall flat
By Curtis Brainard Oct 4, 2012 at 04:00 PM
The presidential candidates didn’t talk about the environment during their first debate on Wednesday. Nobody really expected them to; they... More
BPI’s beef with ABC News
‘Pink slime’ defamation suit a long shot, media report
By Curtis Brainard Oct 3, 2012 at 12:00 PM
The maker of “lean, finely textured beef,” which critics call “pink slime,” is unlikely to prevail in a defamation lawsuit... More
Press digs into anti-GMO study
Reporters thwart scientists’ attempt to prevent scrutiny
By Curtis Brainard Oct 1, 2012 at 11:00 AM
A paper claiming that a diet of genetically modified corn and/or a widely used weed killer increased the likelihood of... More
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
‘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?
Stop with the Jew-ranking already!
“There are some lists that have helped Jews in the past, including, most notably, Schindler’s, but…”
Please continue pronouncing ‘gif’ any way you please
We are all correct
The New York Times told me to take this down
“If you wouldn’t mind using another publication to advertise your infringement tool, we’d appreciate it”
In AP, Rosen investigations, government makes criminals of reporters
“[A]s flagrant an assault on civil liberties as anything done by George W. Bush’s administration”
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.
