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Reporting Live from the End of the World
When frontline BBC news reporter David Shukman switched beat from world affairs to environment in 2003, he feared he might be in for a dull life. He couldn't have been more wrong. His new job has taken him to every corner of the earth: journeying up the fabled North West Passage in the Arctic, chasing after loggers in the Amazon and battling through plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean, getting trapped in Siberian blizzards along the way.
Reporting Live from the End of the World charts Shukman's extraordinary adventures, in the process providing a fascinating eye-witness account of the state of the planet. Wonderfully written and often very funny, the book will be loved by travel, science or environment readers alike.
Reporting Live from the End of the World charts Shukman's extraordinary adventures, in the process providing a fascinating eye-witness account of the state of the planet. Wonderfully written and often very funny, the book will be loved by travel, science or environment readers alike.
- GenresNonfiction
320 pages, Paperback
First published June 21, 2011
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6 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 23, 2012
In the very first chapter of this book Shukman professes to be "confused" about the fact that under his feet in the Arctic there are soot particles flecking the ice. This is after it has been explained to him... Not a good start. Woefully unqualified for environment and science journalism perchance? Yes. Throughout the book there are sentences even a few paragraphs that somewhat redeem his integrity but quite frankly this book solidified why much science and environmental journalism is deficient in so many ways.
I cringed at his view of a Norwegian whaler's use of the words "organic", "free-range" and "natural" as being "clever" in terms of exploiting green campaigning buzz words. Shuckman was continually surprised by the fact that highly respected scientists would cook a meal in a tent and actually get on all fours to measure sand movement. Did he expect an entourage of slaves to accompany every scientist wherever they went? The fact that he got a firsthand view of climate science and yet is still reluctant to be part of the anthropogenic climate change camp is troubling. Nor is there any evidence to suggest that Shukman endeavours to do much additional reading around what he reports on.
I'm not saying that every science and environment correspondent should be academically qualified to the hilt for such positions but for good reporting they need to be able to have a better understanding of science as a whole. None of this "confusion" when the answer to a question has been handed to you on a platter by a specialist of the field. Furthermore, this guy drank wine containing lead and cadmium concentrations above and beyond WHO guidelines to be polite to his hosts and yet refused to wear a garland for the happy, smiley, friendly people of Tuvalu. I just don't get it!
If you know anything about environmental issues there is little in this book for you. If you are clueless about the environment give it ago but PLEASE do additional reading to supplement the information in the text. Shukman barely grazes the surface.
I cringed at his view of a Norwegian whaler's use of the words "organic", "free-range" and "natural" as being "clever" in terms of exploiting green campaigning buzz words. Shuckman was continually surprised by the fact that highly respected scientists would cook a meal in a tent and actually get on all fours to measure sand movement. Did he expect an entourage of slaves to accompany every scientist wherever they went? The fact that he got a firsthand view of climate science and yet is still reluctant to be part of the anthropogenic climate change camp is troubling. Nor is there any evidence to suggest that Shukman endeavours to do much additional reading around what he reports on.
I'm not saying that every science and environment correspondent should be academically qualified to the hilt for such positions but for good reporting they need to be able to have a better understanding of science as a whole. None of this "confusion" when the answer to a question has been handed to you on a platter by a specialist of the field. Furthermore, this guy drank wine containing lead and cadmium concentrations above and beyond WHO guidelines to be polite to his hosts and yet refused to wear a garland for the happy, smiley, friendly people of Tuvalu. I just don't get it!
If you know anything about environmental issues there is little in this book for you. If you are clueless about the environment give it ago but PLEASE do additional reading to supplement the information in the text. Shukman barely grazes the surface.
March 5, 2020
Too "me me me" for my lik2
June 28, 2024
Review
July 16, 2013
In 2003, Shukman somewhat reluctantly switched from a decades-long role as foreign affairs correspondent with the BBC to the role of the BBC Environment and Science Correspondent. This book, written in 2010, covers the first seven years of his experiences reporting on... well, the environment and its science.
As one can expect from a BBC-associated writer, Shukman works hard to remain impartial, and actively seeks out the hard science that underlies claims of climate change (whether anthropogenic or not). Self-admittedly somewhat hypocritically, he travels to far reaches of the globe - Antarctica, Tuvalu, the Northwest Passage, the Midway Atoll - and talks with the scientists who have been working, often for decades, to capture the data from which conclusions about the reality or unreality of climate change can be formed. The book does not preach; Shukman simply presents his interviews and notes his own thoughts and feelings.
One of the most effective sections, in my opinion, was an interview with Pieter Tans, a researcher on CO2 at Mauna Loa in Hawai'i. Tans, when asked why the hard data of rising CO2 levels this last half-century should be attributed to man-made climate change, presents a short set of simple, persuasive arguments. These arguments, while not absolute proof, are certainly highly credible in their simplicity and individually-limited scope.
In short, this is a well-written book that presents a set of interviews and observations that are evocative and persuasive without haranguing. And it also gives an interesting insight into the life of a traveling news correspondent, incidentally.
As one can expect from a BBC-associated writer, Shukman works hard to remain impartial, and actively seeks out the hard science that underlies claims of climate change (whether anthropogenic or not). Self-admittedly somewhat hypocritically, he travels to far reaches of the globe - Antarctica, Tuvalu, the Northwest Passage, the Midway Atoll - and talks with the scientists who have been working, often for decades, to capture the data from which conclusions about the reality or unreality of climate change can be formed. The book does not preach; Shukman simply presents his interviews and notes his own thoughts and feelings.
One of the most effective sections, in my opinion, was an interview with Pieter Tans, a researcher on CO2 at Mauna Loa in Hawai'i. Tans, when asked why the hard data of rising CO2 levels this last half-century should be attributed to man-made climate change, presents a short set of simple, persuasive arguments. These arguments, while not absolute proof, are certainly highly credible in their simplicity and individually-limited scope.
In short, this is a well-written book that presents a set of interviews and observations that are evocative and persuasive without haranguing. And it also gives an interesting insight into the life of a traveling news correspondent, incidentally.
February 22, 2011
As an aspiring journalist, the very idea of this book to detail a reporter's adventures had me hooked immediately. Initially I thought it may be slightly boring as Sukhman covers the environment and science beat but I must say, after reading about the first few legs of his adventure to exotic places with some of the most extreme weather conditions, one moment from freezing in the arctic and the next to the tropics of the Amazon, I was sold.
Wonderful insights which make you feel like you are travelling together with him to places one would ordinarily never think of going unless you're seeking some exotic adventure in places where few men walk.
Have gone to the Arctic, the Amazon, to Brazil, still reading and LOVING IT.
Wonderful insights which make you feel like you are travelling together with him to places one would ordinarily never think of going unless you're seeking some exotic adventure in places where few men walk.
Have gone to the Arctic, the Amazon, to Brazil, still reading and LOVING IT.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews