Earth & Environmental Science Journalism
Learning Objectives
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Learning Objectives for "Case Studies in E&ESJ"
- Students will become knowledgeable about a dozen "cases" in
Earth and Environmental Science, where each "case" covers a controversy,
discovery or insight. Students will understand the underlying science,
be familiar with the seminal scientific papers, recognize the key players,
and, where applicable, understand the historical, political, and economic
aspects of the case. Students will analyze the strategies that journalists
have used to explain the topic and to attract popular attention to the
issue.
- Students will develop the skill and habit of efficiently finding and
reading the necessary background material in order to grasp the essence
of issues outside their area of expertise. Students will develop
a personal library of books, articles and Web resources within which to
find this background information on a moment's notice.
- Students will become adept at extracting information from the scientific
literature, finding the pertinent tidbits of information amid a mass of
verbiage, most of which is outside their field of expertise.
- Students will develop the skill and habit of approaching each contact
with a scientist--be it a seminar, lunch, class, or interview --with an
eye toward unearthing ideas for stories which could be written for a popular
audience.
- Students will be able to articulate an idea for a popular article succinctly
and persuasively.
- Students will become skilled interviewers of scientists.
- Students will become familiar with the broad range of media outlets
that cover science for a non-specialist audience, and will be able to predict
which would be interested in a given story.
- Students will understand the forces and motivations (such as the peer
review system, the funding system) that influence the behavior of scientists,
and will be able to anticipate how these forces and motivations might come
into play in a given situation.
- Students will be able to distinguish between excellent, workmanlike,
and poor science journalism, and be able to articulate the reasons for
their choice.
- Students will be able to distinguish between competent science and science
of dubious quality, and between run-of-the-mill science and highly-significant
science.
- Students will develop a portfolio of devices or strategies (e.g. analogy,
threat to human life, mystery, etc.) which a science writer can use to
catch the attention of a lay reader, or to explain a complex scientific
idea.
- Students will develop a philosophy about the role of the science journalist
in society.
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Learning Objectives for science coursework other than "Case Studies"
- By taking a wide range of intermediate-level courses about the Earth
and Environment, concentrating on topics they did not already study as
undergraduates:
- Students will fill out their breadth of knowledge sufficiently that
they will be ready to write a short, accurate, clear, newspaper-style
article, on a tight deadline, on almost any earth or environmental topic,
with minimal additional background reading or research.
- Students will acquire sufficient understanding of basic science and
of the Earth that they will be able and willing to self-educate themselves
to substantial depth on any science topic by reading scientific literature
and interviewing experts.
- By taking one or two advanced courses or seminars in their area of expertise:
- Students will participate in substantive discussions of new discoveries,
outstanding unsolved problems, and major controversies about the Earth
or Environment.
- Students will become familiar with a portion of the boundary between
the known and the unknown, and will get a sense of where next major breakthroughs
in the field may come.
- Students will gain confidence in their ability to hold their own in
the community of scientists.
- By participating in the Lamont-Doherty Earth Science Colloquium, and
watching both speaker and audience:
- Students will practice extracting the salient observations and innovative
insights from orally presented research results on a wide range of topics.
- Students will see what newly-created research looks like, before it
is written down or published, and will practice spotting which new results
are sufficiently interesting and important to be suitable for a popular
article.
- Students will observe the informal peer review process in action,
as leading scientists from around the world present their latest research
results to a knowledgeable, critical audience.
- Students will observe what kinds of research results are met with
acclaim and which are met with skepticism by the scientific community.
- From all coursework, plus daily immersion in the Lamont/DEES community:
- Students will make the acquaintance of leaders and future leaders
of Earth Science and Environmental Science--who will become contacts
and sources when the students become journalists.
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Learning Objectives for the research component of the E&ESJ program
- Students will experience the process of finding a research question
which is (a) unanswered, but (b) answerable. In other words, they will
map out a portion of the boundary between the known and the unknown.
- Students will experience the process of writing a research proposal,
especially the most difficult step of explaining how the proposed work
will answer or constrain the posed question.
- Students will experience the process of budgeting a research project,
and thus internalize the lesson that science costs money.
- Students will master skills of a subdiscipline of earth
or environmental science, thus gaining an appreciation of research as a
craft.
- Students will generate original data about the Earth or Environment,
thus gaining some understanding of the ambiguities and complexities inherent
in real data.
- Students will generate logically-defensible interpretations from their
data, and thus strengthen their ability to build a chain of logic from
observation to interpretation, and from cause to effect.
- Students will experience the state of mind that comes with total immersion
in research, and thus come to recognize science as a creative endeavor.
- Students will experience the thrill of seeing or understanding something
about the Earth that no one ever saw or understood before.
- Students will experience the process of writing a research paper in
the scientific vernacular, in a form suitable for publication.
- Students will experience the process of orally defending their research
before a knowledgeable and critical audience.
- Students will become a member of an active research group, and will
feel the human dynamics of such a group. In particular, students will participate
in discussions of ongoing research in the role of scientist.
- Students will gain confidence in their ability to hold their own in
the community of scientists.
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Learning Objectives for the Journalism component of the E&ESJ program
- Students will develop the ability to write quickly, accurately, clearly,
and grammatically, on deadline, on any topic (non-science as well as science).
- Students will learn and practice the techniques of reporting, including
how to gather and verify material. They will draw on both traditional sources
such as interviews, and modern sources such as electronic databases.
- Students will develop an instinct for what makes a good story, what
will be of interest to the public. They will develop the skill and habit
of "finding the story" amid a seemingly formless mass of information,
documents, ideas, statistics, quotes.
- Students will master the basic techniques of each of the media (newspaper,
magazine, radio, television, "new media") and the advanced techniques
of one. They will understand the strengths and weaknesses of each media
type, and the storytelling tools inherent in each.
- Students will become adept at computer aided reporting, including the
use of online-resources, databases, and spreadsheets.
- Students will gain an understanding of the sociology, traditions and
ethics of the journalism community, legal issues surrounding journalism,
and an appreciation of the role of the media in a free society.
- Students will become self-aware of their own biases and pre-conceptions,
and will develop the ability to control the flow of opinion out of their
brains into their work. They will be able to report controversial topics
in a fair and balanced manner. In a different context, when appropriate,
they will be able to write compelling, persuasive opinion pieces that will
sway the minds and actions of their readers.
- Students will learn to identify, research and report on the full suite
of issues surrounding a story -- economic issues, fairness issues, legal
and regulatory issues, public relations issues -- as well as science
or environmental issues.
- Students will develop the skill and habit of thinking logically and
analytically, building chains of reasoning from cause to effect, from observation
to inference, separating causation from association.
- Students will become familiar with U.S. and international environmental
policy, and with the agencies and organizations involved in shaping and
enforcing environmental policy.
- Students will experience the process of creating a major piece of science
journalism (print, broadcast, or new media), including selecting the topic,
conducting background research, doing the reporting and interviewing, organizing,
writing, rewriting, and polishing.
- Students will become accustomed to working with journalists who come
from many countries, who have prior experience in many professions, and
who specialize in every aspect of journalism.
- Students will come to think of themselves as journalists.
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