Writers and Editors

Ways to fact-check myths and lies
• Climate action against disinformation: a coalition of over 50 organizations that work to identify, analyze, and counter climate disinformation.
• Natural Resources Defense Council:: a hard look at climate misinformation and ways to combat it, such as pre-bunking.  See Learn About the Climate Crisis
• Environmental Defense Fund: a range of actions, fact sheets, and toolkits for combating climate myths. See Battling climate myths and fighting for the truth
• Science Feedback.org : a worldwide network of scientists who help separate fact from fiction in climate-change media.
• The Fact Checker (Washington Post) A network of scientists who help separate fact from fiction in climate-change media.
• Snopes.com : a popular fact-checking website's entries on climate change
• Cranky Uncle vs Climate Change A game that teaches critical thinking using cartoons, available in the App Store and Google Play and playable online in Firefox and Chrome browsers.

 

Riveting videos:

• Overcoming the Fossil Fuel Playbook – Untangling Obstructionism and Disinformation: sessions from The Climate Reality Project
• Part One: The National Level an inside look by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) into their investigative work, moderated by Al Gore, former US Vice President and founder and chairman of The Climate Reality Project.
• Part Two: The Community Level a discussion with Matt Traldi, President and CEO of Greenlight America, and Katie Worth, author of Miseducation: How Climate Change Is Taught in America moderated by Amy Westervelt, Executive Editor of Drilled
• Combating Climate Disinformation: a recording of the Climate Reality Chicago meeting in June, 2024 (video and transcript). Chapter leaders Tom Coleman and Bruce Mainzer offer a fascinating look at types of climate disinformation, ways to identify and combat it, and the campaigns being funded by fossil fuel companies.

With thanks to

The Climate Reality Project DC

DC Chapter Leadership Team Series contributors:

  DC chapter members: Nicole Elinoff, John Fine, Sarah Gallagher, and Paula Seidel
  DC chapter leadership: Kelsey Brown, Max Mozes, Holly Pollinger, and Marelise Voss

Special thanks to Holly Pollinger for sharing this.

 

See also Climate change: Understanding,covering, and writing or arguing about it and about science denial (in the science section of the Writers and Editors site)

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• Public Opinion Polling Basics (Pew Research) A short course explaining how public opinion polling works

• 5 basic things journalists need to know about polls and surveys (Denise-Marie Ordway, Journalist's Resource, 10-9-24) This useful piece shares insights from a political scientist, a social psychologist, a statistician and an investigative journalist.

Main points (explained):

1. Survey and poll results are estimates, and sometimes rough estimates.

2. The best surveys and polls are transparent about their methodology and results.

3. The margin of error is important.

4. Researchers often use the terms “poll” and “survey” interchangeably, although they are technically different.

5. Knowing why people have a certain opinion can be more useful than knowing the percentage of people who hold that opinion at a single point in time.

• The margin of error: 7 tips for journalists covering polls and surveys (Denise-Marie Ordway, Journalist's Resource,11-5-18) To help journalists understand margin of error and how to correctly interpret data from surveys and polls, JR put together a list of seven tips, including clarifying examples.

   "Let’s say that 44 percent of the 1,200 U.S. adults who responded to a poll about marijuana legalization said they support legalization. Let’s also say the margin of error for the results is +/- 3 percentage points. The margin of error tells us there’s a high probability that nationwide support for marijuana legalization falls between 41 percent and 47 percent."

    And other explanations, such as "Note that there are real trends, and then there are mistaken claims of a trend."

 

• Percent change versus percentage-point change: What’s the difference? 4 tips for avoiding math errors (Denise-Marie Ordway, Tip Sheet, Journalist's Resource, 10-5-22) Many people get 'percent change' and 'percentage-point change' confused. Use this tip sheet, featuring insights from data journalism pioneer Jennifer LaFleur, to get it right.

• Why journalists should look at question order when covering survey and poll results (Denise-Marie Ordway, JR, 9-18-24) How question order bias can affect how people answer questions and five tips to help journalists spot the problem

• What’s a nationally representative sample? 5 things you need to know to report accurately on research (Denise-Marie Ordway, JR, 7-9-24) Knowing what a nationally representative sample is — and isn't — will help you avoid errors in covering clinical trials, opinion polls and other research.To help journalists understand margin of error and how to correctly interpret data from surveys and polls, we’ve put together a list of seven tips, including clarifying examples.

• Covering political polls: A cautionary research roundup (Clark Merrefield, Journalist's Resource, 4-25-19) Journalist's Resource rounds up some of the latest political polling research as Joe Biden jumps into the 2020 presidential race. Fascinating roundup and summary of key articles and warnings.

• ‘Horse race’ coverage of elections: What to avoid and how to get it right (Denise-Marie Ordway, JR, 10-12-23) It’s unlikely journalists will stop covering elections as a competitive game, despite researchers’ warnings that it can harm voters and others. Scholars Thomas E. Patterson and Erik Gahner Larsen offer ideas for at least improving so-called ‘horse race’ reporting, concluding with "What to avoid" and "How to Get It Right."

• Election Beat 2020: Polls, polls and more polls — navigating the numbers (Thomas E. Patterson, Journalist's Resource, 10-13-20) Which of the dozens of polls that cross journalists’ desks are reliable, and which should be ignored?

• How did everyone get it so wrong? (Kenneth P. Vogel and Alex Isenstadt, Politico, 11-9-16) “There was too great a belief that demographics are destiny, and that demographics would lead to a certain outcome,” said veteran pollster Geoff Garin. “The reality turned out to be much different that.” “The very premise of polling is based on the idea that voters will be completely honest with total strangers,” said veteran GOP operative Ned Ryun.

     “Most of the press and folks in DC were science deniers when it came to this election,” said veteran GOP operative Curt Anderson, an adviser to a pro-Trump super PAC. “Even in the face of polls that showed it very close, they all said that Trump had almost no chance. It was because they couldn’t imagine it happening.”

[Back to Top]

• Disney Must Pay Campaign The #DisneyMustPay Task Force’s website.

AND
• The #DisneyMustPay Task Force Calls on Disney–Again–to Pay the Writers (Victoria Strauss, Writer Beware, 4-28-22)

Walt Disney said, “When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way.” We believe all authors must be paid. The #DisneyMustPay campaign started in November 2020 with a press conference and an open letter to Mickey Mouse.
     "You’ve paid some authors what you owed them. But there are other creators that you don’t want to talk about. And, because you did not take our advice, new creators are coming forward who are owed money, too."
     "You still refuse to recognize your obligations to lesser known authors who wrote media tie-in works for Marvel, for Star Wars, for Aliens, for Predator, for Buffy: TVS and more, universes that you’ve bought the rights to, along with the obligations to those creators. You’ve re-published their works but have failed to do even the bare necessities of contract and talent management. You’ve failed to pay these writers royalties they’re legally owed, and have not given them the courtesy of royalty statements and reprint notices."

     "These pandemic years have been hard on creators. Surveys by the Authors Guild and the Society of Authors have shown 71.4% of writers' incomes in the USA and 57% in the UK have declined since it began. Inflation is growing, bills still need to be paid. Honor the contracts."

 

• Disney Must Pay $270 Million in Battle Over ‘Millionaire’ (New York Times Archive, 7-8-10) The Walt Disney Company on Wednesday was ordered to pay almost $270 million in damages to Celador, the British production company that created the hit game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” more than a decade ago.
    Regis Philbin hosted the game show series “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” when it was a hit in the United States in 1999, Brian Stelter and Brooks Barnes reported for The New York Times.
    Celador asserted that Disney cheated it out of revenue owed from “Millionaire,” which became a television sensation in the United States in 1999. The jurors agreed that Disney was guilty of breaching a contract.

 

• #DisneyMustPay: Disney Is Still Not Paying Authors (Reddit) "Disney is taking the position that while they've purchased the rights to those properties, they haven't acquired the corresponding obligations stipulated in the contracts...such as payment and reporting."

• #DisneyMustPay Uncovers Additional Unpaid Writers Owed Royalties by Disney (Authors Guild, 4-29-21) Contract issues with Disney-owned/controlled companies continue to affect multiple authors across different writer organizations. To advocate for these writers, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) formed the #DisneyMustPay Joint Task Force with the Authors Guild, Horror Writers Association, National Writers Union, Novelists, Inc., Romance Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime to identify and guide authors who might be owed money. The task force includes members such as Neil Gaiman, Tess Gerritsen, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Chuck Wendig.

 

  Are You Owed Money?
      Authors may be missing royalty statements or checks across a wide range of properties in prose, comics, or graphic novels. This list is incomplete and based on properties for which we have verified reports of missing statements and royalties:
    LucasFilm (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc.)
    Boom! Comics (licensed comics including Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
    Dark Horse Comics (licensed comics including Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
    20th Century Fox (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Alien, etc.)
    Marvel Worldwide (Spider-Man, Predator)
    Disney Worldwide Publishing (Buffy, Angel)

 

 
• Disney Must Pay Campaign (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association)
• SFWA Publisher Reporting Tool By submitting your information to SFWA, you agree that SFWA will follow up and take appropriate action as needed with the appropriate party/committee within our organization to resolve your issue.
• DisneyMustPay: authors form task force to fight for missing payments (Alison Flood,The Guardian 4-28-21) Coalition of author groups call for Disney to pay outstanding royalties owed to writers of novels and comics including Star Wars, Alien and Buffy the Vampire Slayer series it now owns