✍️Science Writing News Roundup #144
How to interview scientists and researchers for science stories + International opportunities for Latin American Science Journalists.
Covering LGBTQ+ health and health care: Reporting tips and story ideas. To help inform your news coverage about LGBTQ+ health, The Journalist’s Resource has collected resources and style guides, advice from experts and journalists, and eight great story ideas. (Photo by Tim Bieler on Unsplash)
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🎨Resources
How to interview scientists and researchers for science stories. From reporting on Covid-19 to climate change, journalists are often required to turn around science stories quickly and without much specialist knowledge. As a result, it’s vital to know how to navigate interviews with scientists and researchers.
Learn how to elevate your reporting with solutions journalism: Sign up for a new free online course. Solutions journalism can help to deepen news coverage and engage audiences, but many journalists haven’t yet learned how to integrate it into their reporting.
SciCheck: Posts exaggerate lab findings about COVID-19’s impact on immune system. Outside of long COVID or very severe cases, most research suggests COVID-19 doesn’t cause lasting damage to the immune system. A few studies have found evidence of some possible damage, but nothing as severe as an immunodeficiency. People on social media, however, are misinterpreting a recent study to incorrectly claim COVID-19 is HIV-like.
Resources for writers interested in covering climate change. 👉Bonus content for monthly supporters.
🔬Articles
Three Years Later, Covid-19 Is Still a Health Threat. Journalism Needs to Reflect That. Too much coverage minimizes the health risks researchers attribute to the virus
Mathematics Reporting: An Uncrowded Niche for Writers. Erica Klarreich explores the ins and outs of covering math. “Many journalists who fearlessly wade into complicated areas like climate change or astrophysics may shrink from covering pure mathematics with its reputation for arcane abstraction,” Erica writes. Yet as she and other math writers have found, “writing about math isn’t that different from writing about any complex topic.”
How indoor air quality in schools affects student learning and health. Some U.S. schools are using federal relief funds to improve indoor air quality amid the COVID-19 pandemic. If you’re covering the issue, it’s important to know what the research says about how air quality can affect student health and achievement.
ChatGPT for climate reporting: What journalists should keep in mind. While AI tools can generate information that may speed up the reporting process for journalists on tight deadlines, they also have a tendency to miss important details that contribute to deeper understanding and agency on climate issues.
🛤️Videos
The A.I. Dilemma: Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin discuss how existing A.I. capabilities already pose catastrophic risks to a functional society, how A.I. companies are caught in a race to deploy as quickly as possible without adequate safety measures, and what it would mean to upgrade our institutions to a post-A.I. world. Read this Twitter thread.
SAPeCCT2023: International Opportunities for Latin American Science Journalists
🔊Opportunities
Submissions Now Accepted for The 2023 National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications. These awards, given by the National Academies in partnership with Schmidt Futures, recognize excellent science communicators, science journalists, and research scientists. Submissions will be accepted from April 4 until May 5, 2023.
Calls for pitches to write about science and technology, mathematics, climate change, and more + Awards and fellowships for writers👉Bonus content for monthly supporters.
🎟️Events
Understanding and Addressing Misinformation About Science: A Public Workshop (April 19, 2023)
More events 👉Bonus content for monthly supporters.
🔭News
How the Uproot Project is spotlighting diverse voices in environmental journalism. “Environmental journalism has long upheld incomplete and white-dominated narratives about your planet. We want to change that and invite a generation of new voices to make the beat their own,” the Uproot Project explains on its website.
Grants awarded to teams of freelance journalists for cross-border investigations. The IJ4EU Freelancer Support Scheme will support fourteen freelance teams in its second round with €236,000.
⏰Jobs
Check out science writing jobs and internships👉Bonus content for monthly supporters.
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