Last Friday, NYTimes.com announced: “The Times is discontinuing the Green blog, which was created to track environmental and energy news and to foster lively discussion of developments in both areas.” The reality must be that people don't read it, and people simply don't find global warming a scintillating subject. So much for the notion it's the "story of the century."
Over on Andrew Revkin's "Dot Earth [1]" blog, now an Opinion section project, he argued, "From a logistical standpoint, the shutdown of Green was probably inevitable once the environment desk was closed in January."
Revkin's blog may survive now due to financing through the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Revkin did attack the Times for preferring blogs about sports and fashion:
Curtis Brainard, who writes about science journalism for the Columbia Journalism Review, harshly criticized Times management for the move and posted an apologetic e-mail message sent by Nancy Kenney, the former deputy environment editor, to the blog’s contributors.
The news side of The Times has nine sports blogs; nine spanning fashion, lifestyles, health, dining and the like; four business blogs; four technology blogs (five if you include automobiles as a technology)....
I would like to have thought there was space for the environment in that mix, even though these issues are still often seen by journalists weaned on politics as a sidenote (remember Candy Crowley‘s post-debate comment about “all you climate change people”?).
Crowley outraged the Green Left by failing to ask about climate change in the "town hall" presidential debate.