✍️Science Writing News Roundup #105 (July 7, 2022)

How to get started in science writing + How to pitch stories and build relationships with editors.

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Resources

• How to get started in science writing (👉Bonus content for monthly supporters)

• How to pitch stories and build relationships with editors. 🤝

• 9 tips for investigative journalists to improve their writing.

• Enjoy work with these sounds: In this post, Jeremy Caplan shares some of his favorite free listening resources. 🎶

• New tip sheet explores health equity in reproductive health care.

• The latest on monkeypox: rates, preparedness.

SciLine @RealSciLine

Hi reporter friends! We want to make more journalists aware of our free services - particularly local/general assignment reporters who might find our expert-matching service especially useful in a pinch. Would welcome tweets + RT's!

sciline.orgI need an expert now - SciLineWe welcome requests from professional journalists reporting for general-interest news outlets that primarily serve a U.S. audience. We especially encourage local, general assignment, and other reporters who do not specialize in scientific topics to make use of our free services.

Alison Flood @alisonflood

The @arvonfoundation is amazing - I used to be a trustee until I got too busy - and I'm super happy to see this upcoming course on popular science writing with Aarathi Prasad and @WanderingGaia. Definitely worth checking out:

arvon.orgOnline Writing Week: Non-FictionScience is full of intriguing ideas, but they are often complex and abstract. Weaving them into a popular science book can be a daunting challenge. On this course with Aarathi Prasad and Gaia Vince you will explore ways to engage readers with science, and give you the opportunity to develop a book i…

anita makri @anita_makri

My online course is open for enrolments again @Cambridge_ICE, starting Sept 5th! It’s for anyone interested in a deep dive into the overlap between #globaldev and #science #journalism Details & to sign up 🔗 + what past students say 🧵 ice.cam.ac.uk/course/develop…

ice.cam.ac.ukDevelopment reporting in science communication | Institute of Continuing Education (ICE)

Opportunities

• Calls for pitches: Write about abortion, the ocean, nature, science, philosophy, health and parenting + Reporting grants for journalists (Bonus content for monthly supporters🚀)

• Earth Investigations Programme: This grant program supports cross-border teams of professional journalists and/or news outlets to conduct investigations into environmental affairs related to Europe. 🌍

• Entries are now open for the 2022 Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award. It has given a boost to some brilliant journalists over the years, each one of them demonstrating a rich tapestry of investigative journalism, exposing social issues and holding power to account.

BOLD @BOLD_insights

Calling science writers around the globe! Would you like to write for BOLD? #ScienceWriting #ScienceJournalism #SciComm #SciWri Find out more: bold.expert

Articles

• How Nature and TBIJ measure the impact of their journalism: The majority of journalists will tell you they got into the profession in order to help people and to make change. How can newsrooms measure if we are achieving this goal? 📏

• Reporting on climate change, a complex task: challenges and solutions. How could journalists get better at covering climate change? 🎤

• Might, maybe, must: The evolution of certainty in COVID-19 reporting. It’s tempting to believe that facts speak for themselves. That, no matter how it is presented, data is data. 🔬

• Ankur Paliwal tells the tale of a rare genetic disorder and people who live with it. Paliwal’s story is a shining example of empathetic writing—in that it spotlights nuances of the patients’ and caregivers’ experiences, as well as those of the researchers tirelessly working on the disease.

Tips

• Loneliness among older people: A research roundup and 5 tips for covering the topic. Questions about the health effects of loneliness have motivated an explosion of new research over the past few years, particularly since social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic has raised new fears about loneliness levels worldwide.

Videos

• Is science really under attack? With Jim Al-Khalili | Ethics & Society

• How Tech Can — and Can’t — Eliminate Barriers to Good Health Care

• A Cochrane conversation on using systematic reviews. Cochrane experts apply a rigorous methodology to their systematic reviews to minimize bias and produce more reliable, higher quality research findings.

• Northwest Science Writers Association: Neuroscience of You with Chantal Prat

• How and why journalists and civil society organizations work together

Events

• Mental health and journalism: How journalists can responsibly report on it and take care of themselves (June 27 - July 31, 2022)

• ECSJ 2022 – European Conference of Science Journalism (July 10-13, 2022)

• So, You Want to Write a Book… (July 12, 2022)

• Introduction to podcasting (July 13, 2022)

• Secure Your Twitter and Facebook Accounts (July 14, 2022)

• Rural Health Journalism Workshop 2022 (July 14, 2022)

• Copywriting for freelance journalists (July 14, 2022)

• Protest Protocol: How journalists can stay safe in times of unrest (July 15, 2022)

• Hands-on Mapping for Journalists: How to use geographical data to improve your stories (July 11 - August 7, 2022)

Sam Jones, PhD @samjscience

Registration is open! @DCSWA professional development day will be in-person on July 23rd at @GWpublichealth. I’ll be moderating panels on podcasting 🎙 and science video production 🎥 featuring SO many talented people🌟 Registration and more details here: dcswa.org/event/professi…

San Diego Science Writers Association @SANDSWA2

On Sunday, July 10 at 12:30 pm, celebrate SANDSWA’s fourth birthday with us with a potluck at Morley Field Park. Bring your favorite summer dish and prepare for a game of science-themed trivia to win a prize! RSVP at bit.ly/3be5Vjv. #scicomm #SANDSWA

Jobs and internships

To view the science writing jobs and internships below, please click here to become a member! 💛

• Internship, US-based

• Communications intern, CA

• Journalism internship, UK

• Editor, DC

• Climate Reporter, DC

• Science Writer, CA

• Writer, MD

• Science Writer, PA

• Communications Specialist, CA

• Editor-in-Chief, US-based  

• Writer/Editor, US-based

• Lecturer, Canada

• Digital Content Manager, UK

• Director of Communication, US-based

• Communications Officer, Finland

• Science Communicator, Sweden

• Social Media Editor, Remote

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