Abstract

What's Wrong With The New York Times's Science Reporting

When the world was engaged in a cold war and the most challenging issues of the time were overseas, the nation's newspaper of record, the "New York Times," demonstrated an exemplary commitment to foreign coverage. The same assessment could be made over the years of the paper's performance in times of hot war, political scandal or domestic crisis. But there is a problem at the "New York Times," that needs to be corrected if the paper is to attain the same status in science as it has in foreign and domestic coverage. In science, the paper tends to side with power-in this case corporate power. And much of the problem is centered around the work of one very talented and controversial science reporter, Gina Kolata. INSET: Corrections you never read.