Space Beat Getting Smaller

March 25, 2009

Anyone who tells you they’re not worried about losing their job either works for the government or lives in the land of Denial.

So while it was a surprise, it certainly wasn’t totally unexpected to learn of the departure of a 23-year colleague and friend on the space beat, Mark Carreau, from the Houston Chronicle.

This cut bleeds deeply, as Carreau is one of the top journalists on a beat that needs as many inquiring minds and serious voices as possible in the ongoing battle for technical accuracy and government accountability, both attributes that are quickly losing cache in the bottom-dollar mentality and fear gripping our society.

So, I hope my editors will be patient with me if my reporting isn’t as sharp as it once was. It’s not that I’m losing my edge. If it takes a village to raise a child, covering the space beat -- not to mention all the other issues facing our world -- takes a press corps. We’ve lost one of our few leaders.

 

Comments

[Keith Cowing]

Craig, then Miles, now Mark. Why are only the good ones getting canned?

[Dan Bolcher]

The fear is space news will become twitter style coverage, which would be a disaster, but to be honest the guys mentioned above don't really break news.

Their use is more about making it slightly more understandable to the local catchment area of their newspaper or magazine.

So long as we never lose Bill Harwood at CBS News and Chris Bergin at NASASpaceFlight.com then we'll be more than ok as space flight fans.

However, general public who don't know the first thing about space flight will be having to rely on the wire services more, and that'd be a disaster.

[Dan Billow]

Irene has it right: Mark makes everyone else better. Everyone loses in this.

[Dave Mosher]

Whoa... thanks for the words Irene. HC letting go of Mark is a damned shame, that's for sure. But I do see him landing on his feet, just like Miles and others seem to be doing.

[Todd Halvorson]

It's a sad day for Houston and in particular, NASA's Johnson Space Center. They've lost an important member of their community.

Jeff Carr of USA put it best after AvWeek closed its Cape Canaveral Bureau and laid off Craig Covault after 36 years of exceptional service:

Space Reporters are the latest add to the endangered species list.....

[Gerhard Daum]

I was schocked this morning here at JSC when I heard that HC layed off Marc. He was a long time colleague I always appreciated talking to him when I met him. He is a big loss for covering the space program. In this world novadays a few make big profits and a lot of people loose a lot it doesn`t matter on which continent you live! This is very sad!

[Warren Leary]

The loss of Mark Carreau is a big loss for space journalism. Mark was always a wonderful, congenial colleague who helped all of us covering space do our jobs a little better. Irene, as always, makes a good point. Space coverage is better with a good, knowledgeable press corps. Not only do we compete with one another, but we also keep one another focused, accurate and honest. As space exploration moves ahead, perhaps with Constellation or other programs for human space flight, and with numerous unmanned missions in the pipeline, who will be left to really explain all of this to the general public in a meaningful way? We'll miss Mark and we'll miss the kind of journalism he represents.

[Old Bob]

Here we are in the "Technology Age" and those who report on the most technically challenging endeavour mankind has ever embarked on are dropping like flies. It's beginning to look like technology will soon be just an instrument of the powerful for political and monetary gain.

Good luck Mark.

[Old Bob]

With the launch of the Soyuz, I'm guessing there are now more people in space than there are reporters in the JSC newsroom. Sad.

[Mark Carreau]

Irene, thanks for the generous comments and to the others who offered their thoughts. Sorry to go, but I had a long leash, the trust of my employer and a fascinating topic to write about. The Chronicle was a good place to push a pencil. Ad astra

[Frank Sietzen, Jr.]

Two years ago, as I lay in Intensive Care on a lovely fall night fighting for my life (life won!)I had the chance to review my life's work. I have spent my entire life-child and adult-communicating the value of science, especially aerospace topics. Since then, I have been particularly sensitive to the need for good, high quality coverage of the space program, aviation, and health. In all of these areas, the printed newspaper is slashing its resources. Abolishing Mark's job is just the latest step in that contraction. The irony is now, more than ever, we need the Mark Carreau's of this world explaining these topics-to young adults and their parents. Let us hope that publishers will eventually realize that this need grows with every passing day, and that there is a responsibility to journalism that goes beyond just the bottom line.

[Ray Gedaly]

Makes no sense in a city where space is local news. As I said in another column, the Chronicle just ate its seed corn!

[Matthew Travis]

Sitting in the KSC news center to cover the landing yesterday, it felt really empty and quiet... sad even. It's a sad time for the news industry, and space is no exception apparently. Considering the amount of information exchange that takes place, it to hurts all of us. and the public, when our most experienced and capable veterans are pushed out. Those of us left will have to step to the plate and try to fill very big shoes, but it's not going to be the same. Nothing can take the place of 20 or 30 years of experience and connections. Nothing can take the place of some genuinely good people who are wonderful to work around.

I'll stage a protest if Fla Today ever tries to get rid of Todd.

[Roger Guillemette]

Mark Carreau is one of the best of the best ... not only a fine journalist but a fine person as well. To lose expertise of this caliber, first Craig and now Mark, does not bode well for the future of space journalism.

Thank heavens that Todd & John, Justin & Steven, Bill H, Marcia, Tariq and you, Irene, are still on the beat (along with Craig's re-emergence)... but as revenues continue to shrink, the future of reporting real space news with 'boots on the ground' at KSC & JSC seems as doomed as the Hummer. It's now much too easy for a budget-constrained editor to say 'just turn on NASA TV' ... which is the beginning of the end.

Good luck, Mark and Godspeed ... and I hope our paths cross again soon.

[John Schwartz]

This is truly awful news. It's short sighted for the Chron, which like all papers is fighting for its life. NASA is part of the Lone Star State's DNA, and Mark represents the no-shortcuts, thoughtful approach to journalism that is disappearing before our eyes.

[Earl Lane]

Mark is a true professional -- unflappable, cool on deadline, always with the right question to help cut through the NASA fog. The Chronicle will be the poorer without his sources and institutional memory. For those of us who already had left the space beat, Mark was a comforting constant-- a trusted reporter who could be depended on to get the story right. He also is a genuinely nice guy, and I know he will land on his feet.

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