Journalism
grrlscientist | July 12, 2010tags: Orientation Day in the MSM, journalism, mainstream media, humor, streaming video
This video is a rather .. interesting ... look at the challenges of working as a journalist in the mainstream media in these technologically challenging days.
terrasig | July 10, 2010If you're tired of talking about the debacle that was PepsiCo's paid blog that was sprung on us here at ScienceBlogs earlier this week, please carry on elsewhere.
However, this episode is certainly the talk of both scientists and journalists. I suspect that this case will be discussed and dissected in the coming months at conferences and in journalism classrooms around the world.
Two questions have arisen in the last few days between discussion with my wife and fellow bloggers that have not been answered. One has a true answer while the other is more of a value judgement:
1. PepsiCo's Mehmood…
ddobbs | July 7, 2010Hoo boy. I never thought I'd have to resign a blogging position in protest. But so I find.
I'm dismayed at ScienceBlogs' decision to run material written by PepsiCo as what amounts to editorial content â equivalent, that is, to the dozens of blogs written by scientists, bloggers, and writers who come with a different, more straightforward sort of agenda. This is like having Pfizer run CME; it presents problems I can't overlook. My Sblings should and will do as they see and feel best, and can and will do so without censure or judgment from me. But I cannot help but feel complicit in this if I…
ddobbs | July 5, 2010Â
AÂ Happy 4th from Andrew Sullivan:
The rise of this type of citizen journalism [i.e., journalism via blogs] has, in my view, increasingly exposed some of the laziness and corruption in the professional version - even as there is still a huge amount to treasure and value in the legacy media, and a huge amount of partisan, mendacious claptrap on the blogs.
But what distinguishes the best of the new media is what could still be recaptured by the old: the mischievous spirit of journalism and free, unfettered inquiry. Journalism has gotten too pompous, too affluent, too self-loving, and too…
terrasig | June 30, 2010Yesterday, we wrote and all discussed PalMD's pet peeve about mass media outlets not using journal citations when reporting new science, health, and medicine stories. A lively comment thread ensued here and there.
But, as usual, I am reminded that blogfather, Bora Zivkovic, discussed this issue several times in the past at A Blog Around the Clock:
Ethic of the Link (13 June 2009)
Why it is important for media articles to link to scientific papers (3 March 2010)
Why is some coverage of scientific news in the media very poor? (3 June 2010)
Of these three, I would strongly encourage those in…
terrasig | June 29, 2010To begin, I'm not necessarily saying these are attitudes of journalists but perhaps may be of some editors and media business decision makers.
This post was stimulated by an interesting comment thread is developing over at The White Coat Underground - a fine blog written by practicing internist colleague, PalMD. Pal wrote a short post on one of his pet peeves: the lack of journal citations in mainstream media articles of recent science and medicine stories.
On one hand, the space taken by such a citation in print would be perhaps a line or two more than the text, "Researchers at Highfalutin…
terrasig | June 24, 2010KEY WEST, FL - After a few days of work and research discussions here, it's time for a couple days of true vacation. The Family Pharmboy chose to leave the 101°F of North Carolina for the cooler and breezier climes of the gorgeous and peaceful Florida Keys. We're here to right a wrong and to also dump this year's summer vacation cash with some of our old and new friends who are currently being adversely affected by the terrible news on the northern Gulf Coast.
However. There is no BP Deepwater Horizon oil in the Florida Keys.
Repeat: There is no BP Deepwater Horizon oil in the Florida Keys.…
ddobbs | May 28, 2010
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When Jessica Palmer gave a talk at the "Unruly Democracy" conference last month, she gave what appears, from her after-the-fact blog post excerpted here, to have been a semi-contrarian take on blogospheric civiility:
What I did endeavor to convey in my brief talk was the difficulty of blogging on interdisciplinary borders, where science meets art and the humanities. My big concern? While individual blogs often have communities who are internally civil and share norms and history, when you move from blog to blog, those norms and history break down. There are no universal norms in the…
grrlscientist | May 26, 2010tags: Hazmat Dive into the Middle of the Gulf Oil Spill, Corexit, environment, Gulf oil spill, BP, British Petroleum, chemical dispersants, Philippe Cousteau Jr., Sam Champion, television, streaming video
What is the chemical dispersant, Corexit, doing to the oil in the Gulf? This video follows Philippe Cousteau Jr. and Sam Champion as they dive into Gulf's oily waters wearing hazmat uniforms. Their video shows that the oil is being broken up into tiny droplets that coat everything in their path ... birds, fish, whales, boats, the bottom of the sea and people in hazmat suits ... these small…
grrlscientist | May 22, 2010tags: Scientology, SeaOrg, cults, religion, mind control, offbeat, weird, L Ron Hubbard, Scarlett Hanna, Australian Broadcasting Company, streaming video
Scarlett Hanna, the daughter of the president of the Church of Scientology in Australia, speaks out against the organization in this eye-opening interview with the Australian Broadcasting Company.
drorzel | May 21, 2010I didn't see it live, but thanks to the wonders of the Internet, you can see Tom O'Brian of NIST talking about measurement on the Rachel Maddow show last night:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Tom used to have an office not far from the lab I worked in at NIST, and has a background in laser stuff, so he's got to be a good guy for this. This was in honor of World Metrology Day, celebrating the hundred-and-mumbleth anniversary of the signing of the Convention on the Meter yesterday. Ironically, all the numbers Tom cites are given in English units.
So,…
illconsidered | May 20, 2010Love the title of that post! Keith Kloor tries to defend journalism's role in fiascos like "Swifthack" (aka Climategate) and climate science in general but really ends up simply providing a perfect example of the problem.
I urge any and all to read the comment thread, it is an excellent and fascinating one, though I am only about a third of the way through. Great contributions from Things Break and Michael Tobis, appearnces by Andrew Revkin and Judith Curry.
It is still going on though I would wager it's utility has diminished to near zero (I could be wrong).
I would like very much to…
ddobbs | May 11, 2010
I've been deemed a pusher, and that's a good thing.
The accuser is Colin Schultz, a busy, curious, and inquisitive young journalist who awarded a story of mine his first annual prize for "push" science journalism. First of all let me say I'm pleased, mainly because the story, " A Depression Switch?", about neurologist Helen Mayberg's experiment using deep brain stimulation to treat depression, is one of the most fascinating, enthralling, and rewarding I've ever worked on.
But what is this push journalism business? Push science journalism, says Colin, is science writing that…
bioephemera | May 6, 2010Civility: wow, everybody's concerned about it now! Here's our president a couple of days ago:
The problem is that this kind of vilification and over-the-top rhetoric closes the door to the possibility of compromise. It undermines democratic deliberation. It prevents learning -- since, after all, why should we listen to a "fascist," or a "socialist," or a "right-wing nut," or a left-wing nut"? It makes it nearly impossible for people who have legitimate but bridgeable differences to sit down at the same table and hash things out. It robs us of a rational and serious debate, the one we need…
bioephemera | April 23, 2010
FYI: I'll be appearing next Friday on a panel as part of the "Unruly Democracy: Science Blogs and the Public Sphere" workshop sponsored by the Program on Science, Technology and Society at the Harvard Kennedy School, the Shorenstein Center at the Harvard Kennedy School, and the Knight Science Journalism program at MIT. I'll be appearing with Chris Mooney of the Intersection/Discover on a panel called "Science and the Web."
Now, if you've read the blog for a while, you'll know I'm not a new media cheerleader. I do love new media, but I also have many concerns about its evolving mores. So in…
ddobbs | April 19, 2010A few calendar notes: I've got a three-day run starting next Sunday in which I'll be talking to authors and journalists about book proposals; NY science writers about the future of social media; and to genomic geeks about genes and temperament. If you've questions you'd like raised at any of these, please shoot me a note in the comments or privately at david.a.dobbs [at] gmail.com.
This Sunday morning, April 25, I'll be on a panel at the American Society of Journalists and Authors annual conference in New York discussing, along with agents Michelle Brower and Chris Parris-Lamb and GP Putnam…
bioephemera | April 17, 2010
A recommendation from reader Calle: a time-lapse view of a Rocky Mountains park over a year, accompanied by sound bytes from the news. Occasionally pretty eerie.
News, Weather & Sports - a year long time-lapse documents the seasonal changes and the recreational activities of visitors to a public park. This is a preview clip of a looping video art project by Dan Hudson (www.danhudson.ca). Location: Canmore, Alberta, Canada. Music: Chris Jennings. Support: Canada Council for the Arts.
bioephemera | April 10, 2010Skeptvet has created a pithy, albeit cynical, table summarizing what scientists write, what it really means, and what the public thinks it means. I've clipped a little bit of it here, but go to Skeptvet for the whole thing. Nice work!
bioephemera | April 10, 2010
I perversely love attending conferences where traditional journalists complain that bloggers are evil. :) Yesterday I heard that line again (in jest, relax) at a great discussion about changing media practices and the legal implications of various forms of content reuse, sponsored by the Online Media Legal Network. But the focus was a little bit different: are "new media" practices really that new? Historians know that almost two centuries ago, rival newspapers reprinted one another's content freely - often with snarky commentary, and nary a licensing fee or permission. Fact-checking fell by…
bioephemera | March 30, 2010Slate asks,
"You rarely see women holding management positions in terrorist groups. Is there a glass ceiling for female Islamist terrorists?"
Um. . .
A. Did you just seriously ask that question?
B. Are we supposed to be surprised that Islamist terrorists don't respect women?
C. Are we supposed to be outraged by this blantant gender discrimination?
Ummm. . . . I'm totally okay with it if my gender precludes me from becoming a terrorist mastermind. I'll just be on this other [rational, nonviolent] career path over here. Cheerio.