In a 2006 NYT op-ed, environment writer Gregg Easterbrook pronounced: based on the data I’m now switching sides regarding global warming, from skeptic to convert. In 2011, in an essay titled, “Confessions of a Climate Change Convert,” conservative blogger D. R. Tucker said: I was defeated by facts. While others have made similar conversions over the last…Continue Reading…
Last week, I noted that the findings of this Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) report were parroted by all mainstream media journalists. Except this one, who actually vetted the report. Well, turns out that Ron Bailey at Reason magazine is the reason why UCS has now issued a clarification about one of its claims. The Guardian (which I…Continue Reading…
On twitter, British science journalist Martin Robbins recently said: Mixing fact and opinion in journalism is inevitable. Anyone who thinks they write pure, unbiased fact is quite deluded. This is true. Newspaper and (especially) magazine stories often have a specific angle or slant. So there is no such thing as pure objectivity. Journalists, like everyone else,…Continue Reading…
There was talk that the much maligned (but heavily trafficked) Huffington Post gained some journalistic cred after it snagged a Pulitzer Prize this year. We should keep in mind what makes the Huffpo engine run. As the LA Time’s Tim Rutten wrote: The bulk of the site’s content is provided by commentators, who work for…Continue Reading…
That’s the title of my latest post at the Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media. It’s about the pendulum swings of public opinion (in recent years), their connection to weather, and why this is problematic for journalists and climate communicators.
A couple of weeks ago, Megan McArdle managed to hit the climate blogogphere jackpot with a post entitled, “Why We Should Act to Stop Global Warming–and Why We Won’t.” Her post triggered simultaneous eruptions at the polar ends of the climate landscape. I was rather jealous. It’s quite a feat when you get the Morano/Romm…Continue Reading…
Last November, somebody who is now at the center of a media storm said this: The way our media is currently constructed, that story isn’t being told in a way that actually reaches and connects with people, and has a consequence. Most of us are very ignorant of what is going on. Who do you…Continue Reading…
In the immediate aftermath of Peter Gleick’s confession, reaction was passionate and wide-ranging. The news dominated the climate blogosphere for weeks, with every climate blog having something to say on the matter (with the conspicuous exception of RealClimate). The story was also dutifully covered in the mainstream media. The first wave focused on Gleick’s admission. The…Continue Reading…
Two recent articles about science journalism carry headlines that reflect a tension between two modes of thinking on climate change reporting. The Guardian piece asserts in its headline: Science journalists should be asking questions and deflating exaggeration Michael Lemonick, a veteran science journalist, asks: Should we tell the whole truth about climate change? The two…Continue Reading…
At the Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media, Michael Svoboda has an excellent deep dive analysis on climate change media coverage. Specifically, he examines the findings behind recent reports that show a decline in climate-related stories the past two years. The decline is real, but also more nuanced than many probably realize.