Climategate, Where are our Woodwards and Bernsteins Now?
Robert Spahr
Issue date: 12/9/09 Section: Gadget Inspector
Historically, at least for the past couple of hundred years, people have gotten their news from newspapers. The newspapers were the most comprehensive and timely place to get the news. With the proliferation of television news, the timely side of the equation was lost. News outlets could broadcast events in real time, or near enough as made no difference to audiences used to waiting for the morning paper to find out what had happened the day before.
Even without the timeliness on their side though, newspapers offered their readers something that the television news could never really hope to impart - depth of news. The newspaper offers room to spell out the whole story. Feature articles tell stories with more detail than any show short of a mini-series could include. That, until now, has been their edge.
The Internet has taken away that edge in the past couple of years quite handily. With the widespread availability of broadband connectivity, the internet combines the late-breaking impact of the television, with the ability to delve deep into topics that was solely the purview of the paper. The ability to combine these ideas and include links to outside data sources and further information not only allows for greater detail, it lets reader interest control how deep they get into a story.
On November 19, 2009, a person or persons unknown released an enormous cache of emails, source code, and documents from the servers at the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit, one of the four main sources of data regarding the temperature of the globe. The data ignited a virtual firestorm that has swept across the blogosphere, literally overloading the servers on several websites devoted to climate change.
If you get your news from traditional outlets, you may not have heard about the story yet. The story has been ignored and marginalized by many in the traditional arenas, focusing on theft of data and stating that the science of global warming is settled, ignoring the alarming content of the actual data that was released.
Even without the timeliness on their side though, newspapers offered their readers something that the television news could never really hope to impart - depth of news. The newspaper offers room to spell out the whole story. Feature articles tell stories with more detail than any show short of a mini-series could include. That, until now, has been their edge.
The Internet has taken away that edge in the past couple of years quite handily. With the widespread availability of broadband connectivity, the internet combines the late-breaking impact of the television, with the ability to delve deep into topics that was solely the purview of the paper. The ability to combine these ideas and include links to outside data sources and further information not only allows for greater detail, it lets reader interest control how deep they get into a story.
On November 19, 2009, a person or persons unknown released an enormous cache of emails, source code, and documents from the servers at the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit, one of the four main sources of data regarding the temperature of the globe. The data ignited a virtual firestorm that has swept across the blogosphere, literally overloading the servers on several websites devoted to climate change.
If you get your news from traditional outlets, you may not have heard about the story yet. The story has been ignored and marginalized by many in the traditional arenas, focusing on theft of data and stating that the science of global warming is settled, ignoring the alarming content of the actual data that was released.
Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 6
Dave McK
posted 12/09/09 @ 4:25 AM EST
This is the internet age, my friend. You are Woodward & Bernstein or nobody is.
In the climategate (although it might properly be termed a -quiddick) may I propose Jonova for a Pulitzer:
http://joannenova. (Continued…)
Mike Haseler
posted 12/09/09 @ 4:52 AM EST
In part, the demise of the traditional press is largely to blame for the rise of climate hysteria and the internet is in fact responsible! By undercutting the newsmedia, the internet has reduced the scope of the traditional media to investigate the news, and so they don't have much option but to swallow the shite that the climategate community have been pouring down all our throats. (Continued…)
Hoover, J. Edgar
posted 12/09/09 @ 1:52 PM EST
Where are our Woodsteins today? They've moved online because of corrupt newspaper politics. Journalistic integrity is dead, as evidenced by the acts of censorship committed by this very newspaper. (Continued…)
Mark
posted 12/09/09 @ 2:01 PM EST
They are angling for a bailout from Obozo.
Professional resume writing services
posted 12/31/09 @ 12:38 AM EST
I agree atht even without the timeliness on their side though, newspapers offered their readers something that the television news could never really hope to impart - depth of news. (Continued…)
samueljaxon
Writing Papers
posted 2/04/10 @ 5:43 AM EST
I don't think so...
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