Back to work

My blog is looking pretty sparse as of late, especially after removing the post with the first draft of my story. My research since that deleted post has also slowed due to a busy schedule but will resume in full force tomorrow at 2 p.m. when I will speak with Penelope Morgan, professor of forest resources at the University of Idaho.

After reading the Seattle Times series "Failing Our Sound by Warren Cornwall I was reinvigorated (a word?) with a desire to continue work on my story after the one week hiatus. The series provided me with some new ideas for structure and also led me to a few questions for Cornwall. In the series I perceived a bias toward environmentalism and against those who stand in the way of environmental reform.

When I asked Cornwall this in class during the audio conference he explained. He said he doesn't like to use the word objectivity because journalists can rarely be objective. He prefers to explain it as fair reporting looking at the facts and reporting the truth. A reporter does not always have to give equal time to both sides, he said, if one of those sides is clearly a minority and likely or provably wrong. He gave an example of how global warming doubters were given equal time and it only emboldened them and painted an unfair picture of the real situation. I had been struggling with a similar issue, whether or not to give lines to one scientist who believed increasing wildfire was not due to climate change when all others I had talked to did not share that opinion. To solve this issue I plan on continuing to interview experts on the subject and ask all of them where they stand. I will present both ideas but likely focus on the one that seems to be proven true based on interviews and data research. I will not discount the idea of the lone researcher though just because, at present, others do not share his opinion.

In my interview with Morgan I plan on asking her where she falls on this issue a well as speaking to her about regional data and the effects of climate change on wildfire in Idaho, if she believes there are any. I also hope to find out a nearby location of a wildfire that I can visit.