Alan Alda wants scientists to cut out the jargon

Read the full story in R&D Magazine.

Among the procedures Army surgeon Hawkeye Pierce performed on “M.A.S.H.” was an end-to-end anastomosis.

Most of the viewers, actor Alan Alda concedes, had no idea he was talking about removing a damaged piece of intestine and reconnecting the healthy pieces.

Today, the award-winning film and television star is on a mission to teach physicians, physicists and scientists of all types to ditch the jargon and get their points across in clear, simple language.

The former host of the long-running PBS series “Scientific American Frontiers” is a founder and visiting professor of journalism at the Stony Brook University Center for Communicating Science, which has just been named in his honor.

 

Society of Environmental Journalists Awards for Reporting on the Environment now accepting entries

SEJ’s awards honor the best environmental journalism in seven categories, bringing recognition to the most important stories on the planet. Journalism broadcast or published in print or online is eligible. Deadline to apply is April 1, 2013. Photos published, or stories published or broadcast from March 1, 2012 – Feb. 28, 2013 are eligible. Books published in 2012 are eligible for the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award.

SEJ’s 2013 Awards will be presented on Wednesday, October 2, 2013, at SEJ’s 23rd Annual Conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

Questions: Contact SEJ Awards Director Christine Bruggers at chrisbruggers@icloud.com or (502) 641-1844. See links to instructions and entry forms below.

Click here to see 2012 winning stories.

HOW TO ENTER

FAQs

2013 RULES

CLICK TO ENTER: Kevin Carmody Award for Outstanding In-depth Reporting, Large Market: An investigative or explanatory feature or series on a single environmental topic, published between March 1, 2012, and February 28, 2013. Related stories published on the same day count as one part. TV & Radio stories must not exceed 60 minutes; Print and Online series must not exceed five parts. Multimedia links may be included in the cover letter. Eligibility: Print media: circulation of 200,000 or more; TV & Radio: national networks in the U.S. and elsewhere and top 10 markets in the U.S. as determined by Nielsen; Online: sites with 1 million or more monthly unique visitors. Cover letters must include a description of the reporting’s impact and must not exceed 1,000 words. Form accepts PDF or MP3 files, 20MB max, or links.

CLICK TO ENTER: Kevin Carmody Award for Outstanding In-depth Reporting, Small Market: An investigative or explanatory feature or series on a single environmental topic, published between March 1, 2012, and February 28, 2013. Related stories published on the same day count as one part. TV & Radio stories must not exceed 60 minutes; Print and Online series must not exceed five parts. Multimedia links may be included in the cover letter. Eligibility: All outlets and publications falling outside the large-market definition. Cover letters must include a description of the reporting’s impact and must not exceed 1,000 words. Form accepts PDF or MP3 files, 20MB max, or links.

CLICK TO ENTER: Outstanding Beat Reporting, Large Market: Up to five broadcast or published news reports and/or commentary on a broad range of environmental topics published between March 1, 2012, and February 28, 2013. Entry must be the work of an individual, either alone or with a small supporting team. Related stories published or aired on the same day count as one story. Broadcast entries must have a combined total running time of no more than 60 minutes. Eligibility: Print media: circulation of 200,000 or more; TV & Radio: national networks in the U.S. and elsewhere and top 10 markets in the U.S. as determined by Nielsen; Online: sites with 1 million or more monthly unique visitors. Cover letters must not exceed 1,000 words. Form accepts PDF or MP3 files, 20MB max, or links.

CLICK TO ENTER: Outstanding Beat Reporting, Small Market: Up to five broadcast or published news reports and/or commentary on a broad range of environmental topics published between March 1, 2012, and February 28, 2013. Entry must be the work of an individual, either alone or with a small supporting team. Related stories published or aired on the same day count as one story. TV & Radio entries must have a combined total running time of no more than 60 minutes. Eligibility: All TV, Radio, Print and Online publications falling outside the large-market definition. Cover letters must not exceed 1,000 words. Form accepts PDF or MP3 files, 20MB max, or links.

CLICK TO ENTER: Rachel Carson Environment Book Award: A nonfiction book, published between January 1 and December 31, 2012, covering an environmental topic. Memoirs and picture books are not eligible. Cover letters must not exceed 1,000 words.

CLICK TO ENTER: Outstanding Feature Story: One environmental feature or commentary published between March 1, 2012,  and February 28, 2013. Multi-part stories, sidebars and other supplemental material are prohibited.  Eligibility: All TV, Radio, Print and Online entities. Cover letters must not exceed 1,000 words. Form accepts PDF or MP3 files, 20MB max, or links.

CLICK TO ENTER: Outstanding Photography: Up to five photographs on one or more environmental topics, published between March 1, 2012 and February 28, 2013. Only photos published as photojournalism will be accepted. Entered photos must not be manipulated or digitally enhanced in a way that changes the content and/or context of the image. A caption that describes the event or situation captured in the photograph must be included for each photo entered. Photos must be submitted as JPEG files, maximum 2MB. Cover letters must not exceed 1,000 words.

 

Science writing: how do you make complex issues accessible and readable?

Read the full interview at Our Daily Read.

As London’s Royal Society prepared to award its annual book prize, we asked five top writers to debate what makes good science writing in a technically minded age.

 

New York Times Dismantles Its Environment Desk

Read the full story at Inside Climate News.

The New York Times will close its environment desk in the next few weeks and assign its seven reporters and two editors to other departments. The positions of environment editor and deputy environment editor are being eliminated. No decision has been made about the fate of the Green Blog, which is edited from the environment desk.

 

Fund for Environmental Journalism: 2012 Request for Proposals

Thanks to generous support of the Fund for Environmental Journalism (FEJ) by the Cornelius King Foundation, the Heinz Endowments, and many individuals, the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) is able to offer a third year of mini-grant opportunities for reporting projects and entrepreneurial journalism ventures related to the environment. In 2012 the deadlines for proposals will be July 15^th and November 15^th. Decisions are announced approximately 60 days after the deadline. Winning projects receive grants of $350 to $3,500.

These are challenging times for professional journalists and for communities that need and deserve great coverage of environmental issues. In response to these challenges, SEJ launched the Fund for Environmental Journalism in 2010 and began awarding small grants to both staff and freelance journalists, to cover costs of travel, lab testing, graphics development, website costs, and other budget items without which journalists might have been unable to produce and distribute specific timely stories about important environmental issues. Over the past two years, SEJ provided essential support for 31 projects in various media.

To learn more about the FEJ awards program, including applicant eligibility and submission guidelines, or to see information and links about past awards, please go to the Fund for Environmental Journalism web page.

 

Society of Environmental Journalists 2012 Awards for Reporting on the Environment — Call for Entries

DEADLINE TO ENTER:
April 2, 2012

SEJ has added a category for Photojournalism. Up to five photographs on one or more environmental topics, published between March 1, 2011 and Feb. 29, 2012. See Rules or How to Enter for details.

Cash prizes available in each of seven categories.

HOW TO ENTER
FAQs
2012 RULES

SEJ’s 10th annual journalism contest recognized outstanding environmental coverage in six categories, each with cash prizes. The winners were honored Saturday, October 22, 2011, in Miami, FL, at SEJ’s 21st Annual Conference.

See the 2011 winners.

 

 

Knight Digital Media Center: Maps Tutorials

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2011.

The Knight Digital Media Center produces a range of media tools designed to assist journalists and other storytellers with their work and projects. This site of tools is designed to help people get started with using maps in their various publications and presentations. The presentations here include “Map Mashup Resources”, “Google Map Basics”, “Embedding Map Mashups” and “Map Mashups: Collaboration”. Each of these presentations includes a video orientation that will help users get started quickly with their own work. A particularly useful resource is the “Embedding Map Mashups” tutorial, which will teach interested parties how to quickly embed their newly created maps into their own sites. The last section of the site is titled “Maps Links and Resources”, and here visitors can learn about how maps are being used online to share information and also find a list of “100 Things to Do With Mashups”.

 

Fund for Environmental Journalism: Request for Proposals in the Winter 2011 Cycle

In response to the challenges that professional journalists are currently facing even as communities’ need for excellent coverage of environmental issues grows, the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) through its Fund for Environmental Journalism (FEJ) extends a second request in 2011 for proposals to support reporting projects and entrepreneurial journalism ventures related to the environment.

Last year for the first time SEJ began awarding small grants to both staff and freelance journalists, to cover costs of travel, lab testing, graphics development, website costs, and other budget items without which journalists might have been unable to produce and distribute specific timely stories about important environmental issues. In two rounds of FEJ grants, SEJ was able to provide essential support for 14 projects in various media.

Thanks to a grant of $25,000 from the Grantham Foundation and generous donations from individual members and friends, SEJ has been able to announce two more mini-grant opportunities in 2011. In the Summer Cycle, FEJ awarded $14,886 to 10 journalism projects. The application deadline for the Winter Cycle is November 15^th, 2011. Decisions are announced approximately 60 days after the deadline. Winning projects typically receive grants of $350 to $3,500.

To learn more about the FEJ awards program, including applicant eligibility and submission guidelines, or to see information and links about past awards, please go to the Fund for Environmental Journalism web page.

 

Fund for Environmental Journalism Announces Summer 2011 Winners

The Society of Environmental Journalists announces 10 grants totaling $14,886 for winning journalism projects in the Summer 2011 cycle of SEJ’s Fund for Environmental Journalism. Congratulations to:

Adrianne Appel
West Medford, MA, USA
$1,336 for travel costs to produce a story in multimedia on the environmental impact of the fish industry in Florida

Kiera Butler
San Francisco, CA, USA
$2,500 for travel costs to conduct a comprehensive journalistic investigation into environmental and health implications of global mining of rare earths, resulting in print and online news series

Watchdog Institute at San Diego State University, School of Journalism and Media Studies
Project Contact: Lorie Hearn, Executive Director
San Diego, CA, USA
$1,000 towards travel and web development costs to produce public broadcasting and online journalism on water scarcity and the impact on water quality of pollution, sewage and land development in the U.S. and Mexico

Colleen Kimmett
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
$850 for travel costs to produce published articles for Pacific Northwest print journals and websites on the topic of hydroelectric development in British Columbia, currently 95% of electricity source, as glaciers melt

James F. Robbins
Helena, MT, USA
$2,000 for travel costs to produce print and online journalism on the ecology of emerging infectious disease around the world

Steven Douglas Rubin
University Park, PA, USA
$1,700 for travel costs to produce a documentary for print and online media on the topic of wind, land and power transformation in the Heartland

Molly Samuel
San Francisco, CA, USA
$1,000 for editing and audio engineering costs to produce a radio documentary and blog on species endangerment due to habitat destruction in California

Center for Investigative Reporting
Project Contact: Sarah Terry-Cobo
Oakland, CA, USA
$1,500 for editing and animation costs to produce a video series on environmental-news websites about externalized costs of everyday objects used by people around the world

Stefano Valentino, Rome, Italy
$2,000 for travel costs to conduct investigative reporting on the Kyoto Protocol and scandal in the global carbon market, resulting in a multimedia story for print and online news sources

LVDV Enterprises, Inc.
Project Contact: Lee van der Voo
Portland, OR, USA
$1,000 for travel and information-access costs to produce a magazine story on the topic of grassroots activism around herbicides in Oregon

These grants, and funds for the Winter 2011 round have been made possible by scores of gifts from individual members and friends of SEJ and by generous underwriting of $25,000 provided by the Grantham Foundation. SEJ planners are reaching out to new donors all the time so that future rounds of the FEJ can support more winning projects and at higher grant levels. Donor inquiries are welcome. Contact Beth Parke, SEJ executive director, at bparke@sej.org, 215-884-8174.

The Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) launched the FEJ in 2010, to support reporting projects and entrepreneurial journalism ventures related to the environment. Small grants have gone to both staff and freelance journalists, to cover costs of travel, lab testing, graphics development, website costs, and other budget items without which journalists might have been unable to produce and distribute specific timely stories about important environmental issues.

SEJ’s application deadline for the Winter 2011 cycle is November 15, 2011. Decisions will be announced approximately 60 days after the deadline. Winning projects receive grants of $350 to $3,500. To learn more about the FEJ awards program, including applicant eligibility and submission guidelines, or to see information and links about past awards, please go to the Fund for Environmental Journalism web page.

Please consider making your own donation today, to help SEJ build the Fund for Environmental Journalism and support new work. Many in this field are adapting to disruptions in their employment and new methods in media; yet they remain steadfast in their goal of providing our communities every day with information that enables understanding and stewardship of the planet’s precious environmental resources. If you would like to help experienced environmental journalists to continue producing rich, rigorously investigated and unbiased content, please make a gift on SEJ’s secure website.

 

Mainstream Media Mostly Miss Climate Connection in Their Extreme Weather Reporting

Read the full post at Treehugger.

Here at TreeHugger while we’re well aware that in the moment it’s difficult to ascribe how much climate change is influencing any single extreme weather event, we’re also confident in making the climate connection. Not so much with mainstream media, as a new article by Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) in Think Progress details.

In covering the multiple, back to back, extreme weather events, ranging from blizzards to fires to floods, droughts, and record-breaking heat waves, the US has seen in 2011, most mainstream media outlets have often missed the big picture. Instead they’ve focused on the immediate damage or the easy contrast of flooding in the northern Great Plains juxtaposed against nearly unprecedented drought in Texas.