✍️Science Writing News Roundup #161
How—and why—to write a science news release + 7 tips for covering stories about PFAS.
7 tips for covering stories about PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water (and a list of reporting resources). The "forever chemicals" issue touches many journalistic beats. To help inform news coverage of the topic, The Journalist’s Resource enlisted advice from several researchers and journalists who study and cover PFAS. (Image: Pixabay)
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👨🏿💻Resources
How—and why—to write a science news release. The role of the news release is to get reporters interested in writing about new research findings, with the resulting news stories letting a much broader potential audience know that the related journal article exists.
PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water: An explainer and research roundup. Learn where PFAS are found, health impacts, the efficacy of consumer water filters, new methods of destroying PFAS, and racial disparities in PFAS exposure.
Tip sheet: Covering the ongoing problem of lead contamination. There are about half a million children in the U.S. with high levels of lead in their blood, according to the CDC. Those at highest risk include children in low-income households and those who live in homes built before lead-based paint was banned in 1978.
Seven sources of free images for journalists: Searching for pictures for your next article or blog post? Look no further than these stock image sites and Creative Commons platforms.
🖼️Articles
The argument for sensitivity readers: Sensitivity readers are contracted professional editors, journalists, and producers who represent the lived experience of specific communities or identities in the editorial process, shaping the use of language, images, sounds, and channels to prevent or alleviate the marginalization of those communities and identities in the final output.
Nicolás Achury learns how a dangerous drug cocktail is prepared in Colombia: Humberto Basilio interviews journalist Nicolás Achury about how he and journalist Óscar Güesguán, both reporters at El Espectador, collaborated with scientists to investigate the origins — and ingredients — of a dangerous party drug in Colombia.
Making space for serendipity: A Q&A with Madeline Ostrander. Julia Rosen shares a conversation with her friend Madeline Ostrander about the process of researching her wonderful book, At Home on an Unruly Planet.
Pitching high and tight — an independent journalist finds success. Gloria Dickie spent more than five years freelancing after earning a master’s degree from the University of Colorado. A native of British Columbia, she lived a nomadic life for a few years, sold her first book and wrote for dozens of major outlets.
How a pop-up community newsroom shed light on wildfire health impacts in Boulder, Colorado. These journalists are building a guide to help newsrooms fill voids in deep-dive reporting with their communities.
👩🏽🔬Videos & Podcasts
Reporting on Reproductive Health, Part 2: Combating disinformation on abortion.
Amazon Underworld: A Cross-Border Investigation Into the Criminal Networks That Run the Amazon.
📻News
Helping science journalists and scientists learn from each other: A new project funded by the ERC will establish residencies for science reporters in frontier research institutions.
Sarah Kaplan wins 2023 Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award: Sarah Kaplan at the Washington Post has won the 2023 Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award, CASW’s annual prize for young science journalists.
Why some Americans do not see urgency on climate change: In-depth interviews find some Americans consider crisis language overblown, leading to added skepticism of claims.
🔋Opportunities
Grants available for Rockies-area students to attend the ScienceWriters2023 conference: SWARM announced it will offer grants for science communication students in the Rocky Mountain region to help defray costs to attend the ScienceWriters2023 conference in Colorado, Oct. 6-10, 2023.
Calls for pitches to write about health, science, technology, biotechnology, biology, and more. 👉Bonus content for monthly supporters.
👩💻Events
SANDSWA Tour of Scripps Pier and Oceanographic Collections (August 11, 2023)
More events 👉Bonus content for monthly supporters.
✍️Jobs
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