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A "Media Coverage of Climate Science" public forum is scheduled from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on Tuesday, July 25, in the Sixth Floor Flom Auditorium of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, in Washington, D.C.

The meeting will feature a number of leading climate scientists and journalists who have participated in an ongoing series of workshops managed by the Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting, publisher of Environment Writer. The journalists and scientists will share with the audience "lessons learned" on reporting on climate science news, and insights on whether and how those lessons might apply to science news more broadly. The format calls for substantial interaction among the panelists and between the panelists and the audience.

The goal of the meeting is to share with a broader audience the nature of five workshops that Metcalf Institute has held around the country starting in November 2003 aimed at improving climate science communication via the news media. Those discussions have taken place during a time of profound and ongoing institutional changes in the mainstream news media as a result of strong business and competitive pressures resulting, in significant part, from the "digital revolution." Workshop discussants will explore opportunities and challenges the scientific community and the media face in communicating on important science issues in the "new media environment."

Among the journalists confirmed to participate in the meeting are Len Downie, executive editor of The Washington Post, and Mark Jurkowitz, former Boston Globe and Boston Phoenix media critic and now on the staff of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, in Washington, D.C. Neither Downie nor Jurkowitz had personally participated in a previous workshop, but Downie will provide his views on science news coverage from the perspective of a major national newspaper, and Jurkowitz will provide an overview of the Project for Excellence's three widely cited "State of the News Media" annual reports.

Journalists who have previously been part of the National Science Foundation/Metcalf-managed climate journalism workshops and who are confirmed for July 25 are Jim Detjen of the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University; Peter Dykstra of CNN; Bruce Lieberman of the San Diego Union Tribune; and Andrew C. Revkin of The New York Times.

Scientists participating in the meeting are Anthony Broccoli of Rutgers University; Jerry Mahlman of the National Center for Atmospheric Research; Naomi Oreskes of the University of California, San Diego; Ben Santer of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; and Richard Somerville of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The 9 a.m.-noon meeting is open to the public at no charge, but those attending must RSVP in advance to ecsp@wilsoncenter.org. The session will be webcast and accessible to those with Windows Media Player on their computers at the Wilson Center's website.