June 27, 2002
Journalists gather to talk science
As a rule, aspiring journalists spend their time on college campuses studying the split infinitive not the split atom. Highly specialized and technical news topics, then, can be a daunting challenge for news professionals without training in those fields.
The UW’s School of Communications is doing its part to help.
Tony Giffard, director of the school, is hosting a two-day seminar beginning tomorrow for about 30 journalists in the Pacific Northwest who cover issues related to global warming and climate change. Planning committee members Michael Henderson and Keith Stamm, along with graduate student Fiona Clark, like Giffard, share an interest in the environment and accurate reporting of a story that can often be incredibly complex.
“Our concern is how does one bring home to the public the significance of what is happening,” Giffard said. “All the major newspapers have competent environmental reporters, but that’s not enough.”
The seminar will include a host of specialized climate experts from campus — everyone from Ed Miles, a professor in marine affairs, to William Calvin, an affiliate professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences who will pose the question “Why did the abrupt climate change story get buried for a dozen years?”
The event, funded by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, will also include environmental activists, state and federal government experts and industry leaders. It will be run in conjunction with an event at the University of Southern California’s Western Knight Center for Specialized Journalism. Information will be shared through a video feed between the two campuses.
Giffard worries that the significance of the climate change story isn’t making its way to the public.
“One can be informed about these subjects if you read widely enough and read the right kind of publications,” he said. “But the average person is only exposed on a sporadic and superficial basis. You’ll read a story that quotes a recent scientific report then quotes a contrary opinion. The public is left with the impression that the two sides are equally valid and I think that’s a mistake.”
Reporters ought to continue offering divergent opinions, Giffard says, but they should include what the source might have at stake in the debate. Often, he says, those sources have ties to industries that rely on fossil fuel consumption to bolster their bottom line.
Compounding the problem are the challenges facing journalists at midsize and small newspapers. Reporters at those publications often don’t have the luxury of focusing on reporting just one subject area. Rather, Giffard says, they are generalists expected to know a little bit about everything. And the smaller papers usually cannot afford to run specialized training programs for their staff.
Michael Moore is a reporter with the Missoulian in Missoula, Mont. He attended the first mid-career training seminar that Giffard organized a year ago. The topic of that seminar was energy issues, which was perfect for Moore, who was covering the state of Montana’s deregulation of its energy industry.
“A lot of the people we were talking to (locally) were industry people and people involved in the story,” he said. “It was a good opportunity for us to hear from people with no investment in what was going on here. We learned about the technology that was out there and energy issues beyond Montana.”
That’s exactly the kind of experience Giffard is hoping to provide for journalists. Moore is returning for this year’s seminar, which Giffard says is proof the seminars are a worthy outreach effort.
“The kind of thing we’re doing here is important,” he said. “We’re dealing with issues that are significant as well as interesting. It sensitizes journalists to the issues and enables them to learn who the local experts are. It gives them contacts and helps them do follow-up reports.”
Reporters attending this year’s seminar have indicated the event will provide valuable background as they compile future stories about water issues in the West, glacial retreat, and climate change.
Paul Alleva of the Centralia Chronicle turned his experience at last year’s seminar into a series of energy-related stories. Many of his sources came directly from the event at the UW campus.
“I learned a lot and think I was able to present the information in a way most people were able to understand,” Alleva said. “I got some e-mails from people who appreciated the stories and found them useful.”
