✍️Science Writing News Roundup #112 (August 25, 2022)
The best alternatives to Otter (a transcription tool) + Calls for pitches: Write about health, climate, environment, and more.
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Opportunities
Outrider is looking for writers to cover nuclear issues and climate change. They publish everything from investigative articles and expert analyses to interviews and book excerpts, and the standard rate is $1,000 per story.
Calls for pitches: Write about health, climate, environment, and more + Conference grants for science writers👉Bonus content for monthly supporters
Apply for the 2022-23 class of the National Science-Health-Environment Reporting Fellowships. The fellowships are designed to support U.S.-based early-career journalists who are pursuing — or have a strong interest in pursuing — careers in science, health or environmental reporting (or all three).
Mongabay seeks French-language copy editors to scale up reporting in Africa.
Climate Tracker teamed up with Oxfam International to launch the Digital Content Creators Hub for storytellers across the Philippines. The hub will facilitate multimedia training for storytellers to produce more engaging content on the environment and climate change. 🗺️
Are you or do you know a journalist in Asia-Pacific who is curious about product thinking? Apply to the *tuition-free* *remote* Product Immersion for Small Newsrooms training program.
MESHA is offering travel grants for journalists from eastern and southern Africa to cover the 27th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27)
The Masaryk University Science Journalism Fellowship supports one month-long stay of a foreign science journalist at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic. The purpose of this fellowship is to improve mutual understanding between researchers and the science journalism community while respecting journalistic independence. ✍️
Resources
The best alternatives to Otter (a transcription tool) + Google Docs tips 👉Bonus content for monthly supporters
Virtual Workshop Series: The Craft of Science Editing. The Open Notebook is offering a series of virtual, interactive workshops for editors at any career stage, staff or freelance. 👩💻
Tips and resources for learning the basics of data journalism. 📊
Monkeypox: An explainer and research roundup. A handful of researchers tried to notify the international community about a brewing problem with monkeypox, but their reports went mostly unnoticed until an outbreak in the United Kingdom in May. More than 90 countries have now reported outbreaks.
Special Advisory: Covering Monkeypox. Here’s what journalists and newsrooms should keep in mind when covering monkeypox. 👩⚕️
Articles
Rethinking the retraction process: “Journalists and advocates for research integrity (including courageous whistleblowers) are understandably frustrated about how long it takes to retract papers or at least to post editorial expressions of concern. It’s time to devise a more efficient solution,” writes H. Holden Thorp. 👩🔬
Reporting on court cases with a critical eye. “To get the story right, journalists reporting on court cases need to figure out which legal systems are at play, how to find and decipher court documents, and how to make sure they don’t miss key details or biases hiding beneath the surface,” writes Lindsay VanSomeren.
Video
The youth mental health crisis. U.S. children and teens have struggled with increasing rates of depression, anxiety and suicidal behavior for much of the past decade. With the losses and disruptions of COVID-19, the onslaught of social media, and escalating gun violence, the youth mental health crisis has exploded.
News
New network aims to boost media literacy and solutions journalism. The network, launched by constructive journalism advocate Jodie Jackson, aims to teach people how to engage with the news in a way that helps them stay informed without being overwhelmed with negative feelings, with an emphasis on both solutions journalism and media literacy. 🌱
Over 2,200 writers covered science for six of the UK’s most popular news outlets. The data reveals possible differences in hiring practices of the news outlets and tells us how the numbers of science writers in UK mainstream media are changing over time. 🔍
Script Connect app to connect scientists and journalists. Script Connect will be available to journalists in Kenya and Uganda later in the year. 👋
Events
Tips for freelance writers + How to pitch stories + Grow your newsletter 👉Bonus content for monthly supporters
Climate Conversations: Wildfire (August 25, 2022) 🚒
Experts on Camera: Dr. Ziva Cooper on Delta-8 and other cannabinoids (August 25, 2022)
Communicating with Analogies: A How-To Workshop (August 25, 2022) 📞
Covering Environmental Issues: Challenges and Opportunities, by The Arab Forum of Science Media and Communication (August 30, 2022)
Two Viral Zoonotic Diseases Journalists Should Know About: A Webinar on Lassa Fever and Nipah Virus (August 30, 2022) 🦠
Experts on camera: Dr. Nathan Phillips on Health and environmental impacts of natural gas appliances (August 31, 2022)
Jobs
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