Writing for Nieman Journalism Lab, ProPublica's Scott Klein warns that journalists who shun data and programming can lose out in the chase for stories: "We all know reporters who don't know how to write a FOIA letter and who can't bear the thought of reading the avalanche of documents that, with luck, arrive in response. You can be a good journalist without being able to do lots of things. But every skill you don't have leaves a whole class of stories out of your reach."
Science writing news
Angelina Jolie's well-publicized preventative mastectomy prompts this account from David Kroll on two papers analyzing how the news was covered. The upshot: Neither reporters nor readers placed Jolie's risk in context: "While the researchers addressed other issues, their most striking reminder on the overall impact of any health reporting relates to the inadequate math skills and probability or risk understanding among a large percentage of the U.S. population."
Maria Popova shares advice from authors on her Brain Pickings site. Here's Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball and The Big Short: "Commercial success makes writing books a lot easier to do, and it also creates pressure to be more of a commercial success. If you sold a million books once, your publisher really, really thinks you might sell a million books again. And they really want you to do it. That dynamic has the possibility of constraining the imagination."
Angela Washeck skips the resolutions and goes straight to a list of what she hopes to see in journalism this year: "Hoping that the longform renaissance continues. Whether it means paying $1.99 for one well-reported story, membership drives, monthly subscriptions or purchasing short e-books, let’s keep this going in 2014." Heavy on the digital, her list also includes better methods for dealing with comments and a resurgence in professional (not iPhone) photos.
Suzanne Goldenberg reviews a sociologist's study of the institutions opposing climate change action: "The anti-climate effort has been largely underwritten by conservative billionaires, often working through secretive funding networks. They have displaced corporations as the prime supporters of 91 think tanks, advocacy groups and industry associations which have worked to block action on climate change." Also: Should newspapers ban deniers?
The high-brow host from the golden age of TV talk shows speaks to Joe Berkowitz about the advice he got from his idol and one-time boss Jack Paar, and shares some do-and-don't pointers from his long career: "The fewer questions, the better," Cavett says. "Otherwise, you're David Frost and his clipboard, and 'What's your definition of love?' for God's sake." Also: Harnessing the power of silence, and how to handle a hostile William F. Buckley or a drunken Norman Mailer.
Did you see the recent photos from Egypt of the pyramids blanketed in snow? How about the video of an eagle snatching a child from the ground? Writing in Esquire, Luke O'Neil takes aim at the too-good-to-check new media culture that has led to this proliferation of just-aren't stories: "The media has long had its struggles with the truth — that's nothing new. What is new is that we're barely even apologizing for increasingly considering the truth optional."
The only time most of us think of doing something about our federal income taxes is once a year — the hours we spend actually grappling with Form 1040 or when gathering records to deliver them to a paid preparer. From the Fall 2013 ScienceWriters.
Poynter's Craig Silverman marks the end of the year with his annual roundup of goofs. He awards "Error of the Year" to "60 Minutes" for its Benghazi report. And then there's this: "A Bloody Mary recipe, which accompanied an Off Duty article in some editions on June 8 about the herb lovage, called for 12 ounces of vodka and 36 ounces of tomato juice. The recipe as printed incorrectly reversed the amounts, calling for 36 ounces of vodka and 12 ounces of tomato juice."