tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25163458.post1055393577186868516..comments2023-10-31T05:09:58.639-04:00Comments on maribo: George Will and the lessons we can learn from GreenlandUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25163458.post-3260012593691576942009-03-19T18:22:00.000-04:002009-03-19T18:22:00.000-04:00Simon...I don't disagree with your points. In fact...Simon...<BR/><BR/>I don't disagree with your points. In fact, I would go a great deal further and suggest that Will's columns are sacrosanct. I bet that no one at the newspaper would dream of touching a word that he writes — whether he composes a clearly-reasoned essay, or a steaming pile of shit. He's too valuable a commodity in an industry that is dying the death of a thousand cuts. So I doubted everything that the ombudsman said about the process... I think Will wrote his column, the WaPo published it word for word. End of story. <BR/><BR/>I don't think a lot of fact checking goes on at most newspapers anymore. They simply don't have the staff or the finances. The industry is in a tailspin, corners are being cut, and reporters and editors are overworked. Terrific newspapers around the world — with high standards — are failing. News coverage is failing.<BR/><BR/>Do we deserve better? Yes. Do we need better? Absolutely... I think a very strong media is one of the few defenses we have against corporate and bureaucratic malfeasance.<BR/><BR/>But over the last few decades, we've let corporations buy our best media assets (he writes, ounding like a rabid left-winger). It used to be an industry apart, but now it's just about dollars and cents. <BR/><BR/>I'm not sure what the solution is. The NYT might become an endowment so it can stay in business. I hope that becomes a trend because every community will need a good newspaper if we're to have any hope.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25163458.post-58471248108052033002009-03-19T15:00:00.000-04:002009-03-19T15:00:00.000-04:00The problem with Will's column(s) is beyond bad sc...The problem with Will's column(s) is beyond bad science -- the problem is one of process. Op-ed writers (or op-ed writers in many publications) are often given freer reign because they are writing an "opinion" piece rather than reporting the news. That allows well known writers like Will are able to abuse the facts. The Post ombudsman claims otherwise -- but it is quite obvious the Post did not rigorously fact-check either of Will's columns. The same is true for Margaret Wente in the Globe and Mail, an interesting writer that occasionally makes completely incorrect assertions about climate change. And it is what enraged the bloggers about Revkin's article on Will and Gore - it was a "news analysis", some nebulous category in between reporting and opinion piece.Simon Donnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844831377442275615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25163458.post-45457331902933206732009-03-19T14:39:00.000-04:002009-03-19T14:39:00.000-04:00When I was a journalism student at the University ...When I was a journalism student at the University of King's College, I was one of two students — out of 50 — who had a degree in science, and that was the J-school's best ratio in years. <BR/><BR/>The school's director told me something then that I've never forgotten... Out of the more than one thousand applications they get for slots in the journalism school every year, the most common reason given for pursuing a career in journalism was that the applicant wasn't very good at science.<BR/><BR/>I shit you not. Obviously, that was true in George Will's era, too. I gave him my Double Dumb Ass Award a few weeks ago for being so woefully misinformed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25163458.post-85594691962158707772009-03-17T20:03:00.000-04:002009-03-17T20:03:00.000-04:00The leader of the Republican Party repeats the Wil...The leader of the Republican Party repeats the Will argument about Greenland: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/16/steeles-tour-de-force-com_n_175317.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25163458.post-59742748360651543592009-03-17T20:02:00.000-04:002009-03-17T20:02:00.000-04:00Diamond tells the Greenland story very well. I don...Diamond tells the Greenland story very well. I don't know the options in Australia well enough to make any suggestions; I can say there a lot of fine scientists at James Cook and Queensland working on coral reefs and climate change.Simon Donnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844831377442275615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25163458.post-73422028233777831872009-03-16T17:56:00.000-04:002009-03-16T17:56:00.000-04:00Simon,I read Jared Diamond's "Collapse" last year ...Simon,<BR/>I read Jared Diamond's "Collapse" last year - very enlightening.<BR/><BR/>Your course sounds very interesting - I've just started studying science at Newcastle Uni (Australia) - at first glance, it seems there aren't many courses that deal with climate change. Specifically, I would like to go into an area with some crossover with yours: climate change and its ecological/social impacts, also with some focus on land use/agriculture. I'm wondering if you know anyone in Australia who works in a similar field, and could point me in the direction of a Uni with come decent courses?<BR/><BR/>naught101 AT gmailAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com