Program note: Today at 11 a.m. Eastern, join me live with several of the dozens of scientists participating in a 50-Hour livestream to sustain federal support for weather & climate science: YouTube, LinkedIn, Substack, Facebook, and X. The webcast is under way through June 3:
My conversation with Chris Mooney
Here’s the post-webcast post of my conversation with Chris Mooney. In 20 years, Mooney has gone from progressive blogger and author of the prescient bestselling 2005 book The Republican War on Science (yes, 2005, yes, prescient) to Pulitzer-winning Washington Post climate reporter to the new holder of an endowed chair at the Univeristy of Tennessee, Knoxville, created to “advance public understanding of complex scientific, technological, environmental, and medical issues by fostering excellence in teaching, research, and outreach.”
The curtain-raiser post has lots of background:
Here’s one nugget in which Mooney examines the early roots of the divide that has grown between Republicans and science:
I can say for sure that the rift that I was detecting between scientists and one side of the political spectrum has worsened since that time. I think that’s pretty objectively true. And you can actually look at the polling data, for instance. Something happens during COVID that really politicizes science in the minds of the electorate in a way that it wasn’t before.
You can see the trust divide widen between Democrats and Republicans much more than it was caused by something like climate change…. And one thing about the climate issue is that not everyone is really that engaged with it. It’s always seen as something in the future or what have you. But COVID was not. It was in the present. You had to have a view about it.
There is much, much more. Here’s Gemini’s answer when I asked it to summarize key ideas that emerged (using the YouTube video; if more subscribers chip in I might be able to hire an intern to do this work, but that’s up to you):
This conversation explores the evolving landscape of climate journalism, the role of data in storytelling, and the impact of new technologies on the media industry.
* Data-Driven Narrative Structure: Mooney discusses his experimental approach to writing, which involves treating stories as data sets to better understand and map narrative structures. He argues that applying data-driven thinking to journalism can help writers craft more cohesive stories. (4:24 - 9:09)
* The Evolution of Science Communication: The speakers reflect on the importance of “framing” in science communication—choosing which aspects of a complex topic to emphasize based on the intended audience and context. (21:04 - 23:48)
* The Challenge of ‘Single Study Syndrome’: A major concern highlighted is the tendency for media outlets to treat individual scientific studies as sensational “Eureka” moments, which can lead to reader disengagement and a lack of context. They advocate for a broader, trend-based approach to science reporting. (38:09 - 42:01)
* The Future of Journalism and AI: The conversation touches upon the integration of AI in newsrooms and the potential risks of automated, traffic-driven reporting models versus human-produced, verified journalism. (34:33 - 35:12)
* Climate Journalism in Practice: Mooney recounts his work on a Pulitzer-winning project at The Washington Post, which utilized data visualization to identify regional climate trends that were previously overlooked. (57:29 - 1:03:24)
Sustain What is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revkin.substack.com/subscribe
