Journalism Watch: American University

The American University School of Communication has  an online magazine that really has to be seen.  Its contributors have done wonders, IMHO, in illuminating complex subjects through intelligent use of technology.

Given my jaundiced view of contemporary journalism, it’s a more than pleasant surprise to see such  professionalism in this site.

Here’s a link to a time lapse map if the United States, showing county-by-county unemployment from January, 2007 to September 2009.

Want a show-and-tell for a country in crisis?  This is it.

For all you climate change deniers out there:

From NASA:

Nuff said?

Ethics Watch: Medicine

From the Columbia Journalism Review, we get a reminder that Doctors don’t always disclose conflicts of interest:

Kudos to the (Milwaukee) Journal Sentinel and reporter John Fauber for digging up the difference between fact and fiction when it comes to medical researchers at the University of Wisconsin medical school. At least nine doctors there told the medical journals which published their research findings that they had no conflicts of interest with companies that figured into their work. After digging into university records, the Journal Sentinel uncovered a different story.

In Boston, according to the New England Journal of Medicine, similar problems exist with disclosure of interest.

It would be absurd to consider this problem as limited to medicine.

Perhaps professionals of all sort should consider the implications of the corporate conquest of their fields…