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I finally started digging into Nature's special issue on the future of science journalism. The most interesting passage thus far (and the one that also rings most true to me, as a former-would-be-scientist/current-aspiring-journalist/lifetime-reader-of-science):

"But there is a problem: the online world, both in its bloggier reaches and elsewhere, is polarized; people go to places they feel comfortable. Many of the people that Timmer originally hoped to reach when writing about intelligent design and the Dover trial probably go elsewhere for their news, he says, because 'it's easy for somebody to pick their news sources based on their politics, and get that version of scientific issues'. Dykstra worries that in a more fragmented media world, 'environmental news will be available to environmentalists and science news will be available to scientists. Few beyond that will pay attention.'

"Others worry about the less questioning approach that comes with a stress on communication rather than journalism. 'Science is like any other enterprise,' says Blum. 'It's human, it's flawed, it's filled with politics and ego. You need journalists, theoretically, to check those kinds of things,' she says. In the United States, at least, the newspaper, the traditional home of investigations and critical reporting, is on its way out, says Hotz. 'What we need is to invent new sources of independently certified fact.'"

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Wow, something I actually REALLY care about came in this edition of the MIT alumni newsletter! I swear I will watch this video of a conference at MIT on the future of science journalism ... as soon as I finish the first season of The O.C. (It is summer, after all!)

journalism science media MIT andrew revkin

The Columbia Journalism Review asks why, with all the media attention California's struggling economy and climate change have been getting recently, few people have put two and two together and written about what climate change means for California's major industry: agriculture.

This is timely for me, personally, because I just finished summarizing a paper on how agricultural land-use in California influences local climate and air quality. Oh, feedbacks are fun, and it's clear that this is an important -- and complex -- issue.

From CJR:

"This dearth in coverage is partly understandable. The potential effects of heightened atmospheric CO2 on the efficacy of the herbicide glyphosate don’t necessarily make for sexy reading. Moreover, while a great deal of research has been conducted on ways the greenhouse effect may alter the production of global cereal crops (rice, wheat, corn), the same is not true for horticulture (fruit, vegetables, nuts, and flowers), which, along with livestock and dairy, comprises the bulk of California’s agricultural output. And then there’s the fact that California is home to many distinct microclimates, and that shifting weather patterns and increased CO2 concentration may harm some crops while benefiting others."

California economy agriculture climate change media journalism columbia journalism review CJR crops drought water Central Valley

Here's an editorial from Cristine Russell (of Harvard) about the future of science journalism: not a crisis, she says, but an opportunity.

"Hopefully, the recent crisis in science journalism in Western countries will be tempered by optimism about the overall future of international science journalism and the importance of reaching a global public in dire need of the best science and technology information."

One way she mentions that veteran science journalists (who she presents as an invaluable resource -- she doesn't really mention us noobs) can improve their ability to cover complex issues is to participate in fellowship programs:

"Opportunities for professional development of international journalists are expanding. Mid-career journalism programs at places such as Harvard, the University of California, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology seek fellows from around the world."

Of course, she *forgot* to mention the Scripps Fellowship for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado's Center for Environmental Journalism!

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Saw this article (via the Nieman Journalism Lab Twitter feed) by Jeff Bercovici at Daily Finance. It says that people leaving journalism grad programs in New York (Columbia, CUNY) are actually finding jobs at newspapers, magazines, etc.

And just as I was thinking to myself "duh, that's because media companies are laying off the old work force and hiring cheap, web-savvy youngsters" I got to the last graph of the article:

"My guess is at least some of it is a direct result of the massive staff cutbacks just about every media organization has enacted in the past couple years. It's a corporate cliche to lay people off and euphemize it as 'restructuring,' but you can be sure that some of the companies that are letting go well-paid editors and writers in their 40s and 50s are quietly stocking up on fresh j-school grads whose lack of real-word experience is at least partly made up for by their effortless fluency in the ways of the web -- and their willingness to work for $35,000 a year."

journalism jschool grad program grad school workforce media jobs employment

I'm excited that The New York Times wants to experiment with using the new Kindle DX as part of its business model. That shows that they are acknowledging that readers' habits for consuming the news have changed.

BUT...

They aren't going far enough. They are only acknowledging the physical differences in the way people read news, not the more complex psychological ones. People aren't just reading static, stand alone stories anymore. They rely on links, context, and interactivity.

People aren't eschewing papers because they are, well, made of paper. It's because they can't archive them, share them, and search through them with the ease that they can digital news. Unless the Kindle DX varies greatly from the Kindle 2, forming this kind of partnership is still ignoring that people interact with news differently than they did before. It's all about sharing, bookmarking and linking -- regardless of what physical device you are using.

poynter kindle kindle DX nytimes journalism news media

An interview with Jacek Utko on the, yes, death of newspapers:

"Newspapers, just before death -- since we agree that, sooner or later, they will die -- just before death, they blossom, design-wise. Never in history has design and visual journalism been as good as it is now. This happens not only in Western Europe and America, but even more in countries in Latin America. Asia is waking up; they will do beautiful stuff in the near future.

"People perceive newspapers as boring pages with letters, but I can find so many examples around the world of sophisticated, artistic, beautiful work. They're not dying because they're not good. They're dying because of more general reasons connected with technology and behavior.

"Just before newspapers die, they come to highest possible level of development."

jacek utko TED newspapers media journalism

A blog post on the "death of journalism" with a science spin. I really like how he divides journalism up into different categories and defines them. I totally agree that there are different types of journalism, and we need different people to do them.

Have only gotten about half way through it but...can't wait to finish it. Zooming ahead, I can see that he only devotes a short amount of time to "Opinion, Entertainment, Storytelling, etc." which is my favorite kind.

Now wait a minute...isn't STORYTELLING the most important thing for a science journalists, since scientists tend to neglect the STORIES behind the science?

I'll at least wait until I finish reading to pass judgment...

science reporting blogging journalism media scienceblogs

When local papers cut back on national coverage, what are the consequences? This article in the Times implies that more may be lost than jobs. We can't all relay on the WSJ or the NYT to add a local spin to news that is happening far away. Sigh.

nytimes journalism newspapers washington coverage

Suggested by my dad, and for once I'm actually really glad he pointed me to a site. (Just kidding! Dad, your suggestions are always great.)

And to embarrass my dad even more, here's what he had to say:

He is arguably the "inventor" of blogging. He's a "techie" but one of the topics he likes to talk about is how the internet is "amateurizing" journalism and that that is probably a good thing.

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"...of environmental journalism", from the Columbia Journalism Review

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