Science Without Borders and Media Unbounded: What Comes Next?

Friday, February 18, 2011: 10:00 AM-11:30 AM
156 (Washington Convention Center )
Climate science and “mainstream” journalism interests are undergoing what some call, in the case of journalism, an “epochal transformation.” The communications challenges facing climate science -- manifested in part by widespread misunderstanding on the part of many in the public and their policy-makers -- will play out against fundamental changes, shaking the very nature of journalism, communications, and science education communities, with blogs, list serves, and “tweets” increasingly complementing (or are they?) conventional journalism. Climate science and climate journalism in the end need each other if we’re to have a more informed and more engaged citizenry. Steps each sector takes during the coming months and years will help shape public and policy-makers’ understanding of the climate changes we all will face. In this session, one of the nation’s most respected students of modern journalism pairs with two journalism practitioners whose reporting frequently puts them in the public spotlight in responsibly informing the public about climate science and policy. The three share critical insights into navigating climate science communications in this “perfect storm” of an economic, geopolitical, scientific, and environmental issue. They serve up a feast for the climate science expert discussant to kick off an exchange with the audience.
Organizer:
Bud Ward, Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media
Moderator:
Bud Ward, Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media
Discussant:
Kerry Emanuel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Speakers:
Tom Rosensteil, Project for Excellence in Journalism
The Quickly Changing State of the News Media
Seth Borenstein, Associated Press
Reporting on Climate Change for a Wire Service
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