Background on the Science,
Journalism Workshop Series

The senior journalists and scientists, representing some of the leading news organizations and most highly accomplished climate science programs, met under the auspices of the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting, housed at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography. The Berkeley workshop had financial support provided by the Paleoclimate Program, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, National Science Foundation. The workshop was conducted in cooperation with the Knight Program for Science and Environmental Journalism at the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

The workshop series is designed to lay a foundation for improving journalists' and scientists' understanding and appreciation of both disciplines' working culture and "modus operandi." The goal of the workshops is to provide a forum by which journalists and scientists can openly and candidly explore ways to improve science communications with the broad public through the mass media, doing so in ways consistent with the needs of both robust and independent journalism and science. The workshops seek to identify ways to strengthen reporting on science-based issues while also engendering fuller appreciation of the importance of communications among scientists. One final product resulting from the workshop series is to be a new report on science communications and the mass media.