Comments on: How I Started the Iraq War (I Think)

By: Evolutionary War Hero: An Interview with Science Writer Carl Zimmer

Evolutionary War Hero: An Interview with Science Writer Carl Zimmer — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 02:14:13 +0000

[...] Daily Show fanatic, watched in helpless horror. The next morning, he took to his blog, The Loom, to defend his story, and science writing in general. “It doesn’t make sense to claim that a [...]

By: Soft Science | Sci-ence! A Skeptical Comic and Blog.

Soft Science | Sci-ence! A Skeptical Comic and Blog. — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:36:31 +0000

[...] lovers were merely a bad omen—an ill portend. The other day Zimmer was surprised to see he was on the Daily Show. Just not in a fashion that he would have preferred. You can see the clip on The [...]

By: Pascal Lapointe

Pascal Lapointe — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:06:02 +0000

I don’t think you have to take it personnally. As a Canadian, and a science writer myself, I must say, unfortunately, that I feel Jon Stewart was right. Frequently, from Montreal, we are seeing choices of coverages in the American press that give the impression that, for everything international, American medias are acting as if their readers were little children that must be kept far away from perturbations.

And still, every country in the world will put international news after local news. But there is something very strange in the way it is done in the US medias, and this choice of covers by Time illustrates it.

That being said, yours was an excellent article.

By: JL Galache

JL Galache — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:42:11 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I was scheduled for an early morning interview via Skype with a large news network; I was to talk about the close flyby of asteroid Eros and Europe’s NEOShield. On the morning of the interview I received an e-mail cancelling it because instead they were going to run the story of a boy whose parasitic twin brother had been extracted from his abdomen.

That’s how important Science ISN’T in the mainstream news. I’m not surprised with anything that happened to you.

—JL Galache
Minor Planet Center

[CZ: But parasitic twin brothers are science too!]

By: Eskimo

Eskimo — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:07:35 +0000

It’s funny, I was thinking of leaving a comment linking to that piece on Slate (which compares the American cover of TIME to the other covers) under your post about the animal friendship article. But I thought it would be too snarky. As Joe H points out, Stewart’s people probably saw the Slate piece and used it as the basis for his rant.

By: Matthew Hutson

Matthew Hutson — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:26:52 +0000

I’m sure your story is deep and insightful and entertaining. (I don’t have access.)

But, as you surmise, Jon Stewart wasn’t talking about your story. He was talking about the American readership. Your story wasn’t sold (to us) on the basis of its science; it was presented as a light and heart-warming story about cute cuddly pets. On that cover the word “science” is almost invisible. And editors pick their covers based in part on what they know will sell.

So Stewart has a point. The American readership is less interested in the European crisis or the Arab Spring or Islam (or even science) than they are in pets or anxiety or chores.

The point is sad and true, but he made it funny. My advice: laugh along with it. And keep doing what you’re doing.

By: Brian George

Brian George — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:12:57 +0000

Here’s an article from November that addresses this “issue” precisely.
http://madartlab.com/2011/11/29/protecting-u-s-from-ourselves/

By: Jody

Jody — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:26:53 +0000

This feels weird for me to have to write on the Discover Magazine blog, but there are like a dozen magazines DEVOTED to science. Discover, Scientific America, PopSci, NatGeo, Science Quarterly, etc etc. Not on that list: Time. Time is where people go to learn about US and world news. So yes, science should always lose out to financial crisises and war...in Time magazine. Thank goodness science has its own set of publications. [CZ: Jody--Time has had science reporting in their mix for decades, and from time to time they put those science stories on the cover. (I have written a few times for them before, including stories on Darwin's 200th birthday and canine cognition research.) While I'm a big fan of the other magazines you list (and have written for most of them), I also like writing for magazines that are not explicitly known as science magazines. I reach new people that way--people who may think that they don't like science or can't understand it, and who then gain some insight from one of my articles. I've actually had a bunch of emails and conversations around my own town this week along these lines, and they are incredibly satisfying.]

By: Jeanette Garcia

Jeanette Garcia — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 03:52:07 +0000

I don’t normally buy Time magazine but if that is where your article is, it will be worth my while. I am particularly interested in what you had to say about dog relationships that got so many dog lovers in a flap.

By: Avattoir

Avattoir — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 02:23:24 +0000

Wilson: I hope this isn’t too deflating -

http://www.thecomedynetwork.ca/Shows/TheDailyShow