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There are a lot of interesting things that came out of this Pew survey, but this jumped out at me:
"When asked to evaluate various professions, roughly 70% of Americans answer that scientists "contribute a lot" to society compared to 38% for journalists, 23% for lawyers, 40% for clergy, and 21% for business executives. Only members of the military (84%) and teachers (77%) rate higher in public admiration and esteem."
Wow, right? Didn't mention the stats for doctors, that'd be interesting to include.

nisbett framing science pew pew research center science media public survey

I hope I ultimately become the type of science writer that Young describes:
"To sum up, we have two possible ways of acting as a watchdog - uncovering the hidden stories behind scientific discoveries, and casting a critical eye on those discoveries either visibly through the actual text or invisibly through the process of selecting what to cover."
But I also think I have a (possibly idealistic and flawed) dream of science writing that actually inclues some, well, science. I hope to combine data analysis of my own with story-telling ... is that futile? Or just off-limits for science journalists? If that's the case, then maybe I need to steer more towards investigative journalism, at least in name. And can journalism be both investigative and narrative? I sure hope so... Oh well, I've made kind of a habit of not fitting into intellectual boxes, so I'll just plan on making a career out of doing just that.

ed young science journalism media watchdog

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.'"

science journalism nature media blogging geoff brumfiel

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

Malcom Gladwell's review of Chris Anderson's book, "Free" mentioned in a link I diigo'ed last week.

Gladwell takes issue with Anderson's agrument -- and seems to really have fun dissecting it:

"If you can afford to pay someone to get other people to write, why can’t you pay people to write? It would be nice to know, as well, just how a business goes about reorganizing itself around getting people to work for 'non-monetary rewards.' Does he mean that the New York Times should be staffed by volunteers, like Meals on Wheels? Anderson’s reference to people who 'prefer to buy their music online' carries the faint suggestion that refraining from theft should be considered a mere preference. And then there is his insistence that the relentless downward pressure on prices represents an iron law of the digital economy. Why is it a law? Free is just another price, and prices are set by individual actors, in accordance with the aggregated particulars of marketplace power. 'Information wants to be free,' Anderson tells us, 'in the same way that life wants to spread and water wants to run downhill.' But information can’t actually want anything, can it? "

And later, I can feel Gladwell getting giddy and all riled up:

"For Anderson, YouTube illustrates the principle that Free removes the necessity of aesthetic judgment. (As he puts it, YouTube proves that 'crap is in the eye of the beholder.') But, in order to make money, YouTube has been obliged to pay for programs that aren’t crap. To recap: YouTube is a great example of Free, except that Free technology ends up not being Free because of the way consumers respond to Free, fatally compromising YouTube’s ability to make money around Free, and forcing it to retreat from the 'abundance thinking' that lies at the heart of Free. Credit Suisse estimates that YouTube will lose close to half a billion dollars this year. If it were a bank, it would be eligible for TARP funds."

new yorker chris anderson wired books free digital media communication malcolm gladwell

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!

journalism science science journalism media technology new media AAAS

And here's the article from Seed that spurred the discussion re: communicating climate change.

SEED Climate change communication media framing matt nisbet

Andy Revkin posts Randy Olson's response to Seed's question: "Is there a better word for doom?" (with regard to climate change)

That was a mouthful, but basically, it's a fascinating ongoing discussion about how we are (failing to) communicate the immediacy of the dangers posed by climate change.

nytimes andy revkin randy olson climate change media communication framing

Hmmm, what does "Anderson's Law" -- that in the digital age, the price of nearly everthing approaches free -- mean for journalism? Here's the most useful passage:

"Anderson sees many areas of digital content as obeying this law, including music, video, and video games (the big three 'shiny disc' industries), news, books, and e-mail. Under Anderson’s model, people will continue to pay good money to save time (that is, those who have more money than time will), lower their risk (such as paying to assure that their Second Life land will still be there, or that their operating system will be supported), because they love something (such as buying virtual items in free videogames), or to increase their status in a community."

So people pay for time, security and status -- not quality of information. However, news can perhaps *indirectly* provide users with some of those. That's the power of information, right?

wired chris anderson digital media price markets free economics digital economy

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

The NY Times experiments with integrating technology into the news: barcodes in newspapers? personalizable news? It's coming...

"The paper is just a device." (Nick Bilton, from NY Times R&D)

This is awesome but...should have started happening 10 years ago.

nytimes technology news media customization future of journalism readwriteweb

Could this be it? Finally, the e-reader that actually looks READABLE?

I'll have to wait until I actually hold one in my warm, non-plastic-y hands (I have to admit, using "plastic" as a marketing scheme may not be the best way to appeal to me).

plastic logic e-reader digital media e-book

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.

blogging journalism citizen journalism journalism2.0 web media internet amateur Dave Winer blog

More Surowiecki...need to watch!

media new media social media web2.0 information culture society TED surowiecki

Interesting -- TMI rather than information paralysis.

information information technology media culture technology information sharing networks economy markets signals

A small, digital book startup thinks it has a solution to the age-old student lament: overpriced textbooks that have little value when the course is over. The answer? Make them

opensource textbook media digital download publishing education