✍️Science Writing News Roundup #17 (November 16, 2020)
Serving diverse audiences with science writing + Mental health and science journalism + The art of the interview + A workshop on business plans for freelancers
Congratulations to the 2020 winners of the international AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards! The awards recognize distinguished science reporting for a general audience. There were entries from 54 countries this year. (Image by AAAS Kavli Awards)
🕯️ Ideas
Science writers urged to tell stories that include Indigenous perspectives. Indigenous scientists and science writers are calling on non-native science writers to amplify Indigenous voices and decolonize science.
“What conversations with voters taught me about science communication.” In mid-September, Karin Kirk set aside her usual science and journalism to focus on what seemed to matter most: talking to voters. In this article, she shares some reliable strategies for having pleasant, productive and persuasive conversations.
Science writing in a time of crisis: Mireille Ghoussoub highlights why the need for honest and effective science communication has never been greater.
🏆 Opportunities
Experienced podcasters and audio journalists: Undark is looking for pitches for The Undark Podcast, their monthly exploration of topics at the intersection of science and society.
Disabled Writers is offering scholarships to Poynter's NewsU courses providing training for journalists at all levels. These are restricted to freelance journalists who are members of the disability community.
If you live in Canada, check out The Hazlitt Editorial Fellowship for Underrepresented Communities, a virtual learning opportunity in the field of long-form narrative nonfiction journalism.
The GIST (Glasgow Insight into Science and Technology), a student-run science media outlet in the UK, is accepting article submissions.
✏️ Tips
Riding the emotional roller coaster of being a science writer: How can we have fewer of those dead-eyed moments and more of the gushing joy? And should we aim for more objective detachment if we are to produce our best work? (Rodrigo Pérez Ortega recently translated the article into Spanish for The Open Notebook)
Taking care of yourself: Mental health and science journalism. Journalists need to remember that in the midst of a pandemic, civil protests, hurricanes, wildfires, and very heavy news reporting, it is important to take care of yourself!
Bringing stories to life through “The Art of the Interview:” Clarify anything you don’t understand during the interview, but resist the temptation to interrupt. Instead, leave an asterisk in your notes: a reminder to return to that point at the next opportunity, said Buzzfeed’s Stephanie Lee at ScienceWriters2020.
Investigating and covering emerging, controversial and contested disease stories. “One thing we have to do as science journalists is listen very carefully to the debate between groups of scientists and try to see where the bulk of the evidence is,” said Apoorva Mandavilli, a reporter at The New York Times, at ScienceWriters2020.
The delicate art of covering sexual harassment in academia. “As journalists, you have tremendous power,” said Ann Olivarius, chair of the law firm McAllister Olivarius, at ScienceWriters2020. “You make institutions accountable. You make people who have been accused of wrongdoing accountable.”
🖍️ Resources
Registration is now open for Level Up, a virtual workshop on business plans for freelancers. This is an intensive, immersive, hands-on master class on business planning for anyone who is self-employed.
Funding for all: The inside scoop on grants and fellowships. What matters most is that your application presents a clear vision of where you and your ideas are going and how the fellowship or grant will help you get there, according to a panel at ScienceWriters2020.
🖼️ News
American Geophysical Union (AGU) honors journalists Maya Wei-Haas and Joshua Sokol for outstanding science reporting in the Earth and space sciences.
📺 Videos
State of science writing 2020: The Association of British Science Writers ran surveys on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on science writers and revealed the latest results.
The crisis within the crisis: Covering the CDC and public health during the pandemic, a conversation with Helen Branswell, Richard Besser and Apoorva Mandavilli.
The art of the interview: A conversation about asking the right questions at the right time with Frank Sesno (DC Science Writers Association)
‘The toughest story I’ve covered’: How COVID-19 changed journalism. Three journalists and a scientist unpack how the coronavirus pandemic changed their jobs and the news landscape.
Signals from the future: Emerging technologies in science journalism. The online workshop takes a close look at how emerging technologies have been presented to date, what new and promising ways to communicate them to broader audiences exist, and what the journalistic barriers are.
Mental health and COVID-19: A virtual conversation with Dr. Robert Klitzman (Science Writers in New York)
Writing stories of science inside and outside the academy, with Professor Brian Greene.
Writing stories of climate change inside and outside the academy, with Professor Marco Tedesco.
🏡 Events
Standing up for Science, a workshop for scientists: Find out how to make your voice heard in public debates about science and evidence. Respected science journalists will talk about how the media works! (November 17, 2020)
Seminars for Underrepresented Science Writers 👉The Science Writer Panel (November 17, 2020)
Belgian SciComm Network Meeting: Sessions include “Perspectives on science journalism in Belgium”, and “Science in the press: Lessons from COVID” (November 17, 2020)
Reporting On and Living With COVID-19. The View of Three European Journalists (Science Writers in New York, November 17, 2020)
MESHA – Fourth African Conference of Science Journalists 2020 (November 17-20, 2020)
Serving Diverse Audiences With Science Writing: This panel will discuss the origins of the lack of racial and ethnic diversity in audiences, and strategies for how newsrooms and individual writers can work to remove barriers and better serve and engage historically marginalized communities. (November 18, 2020)
Covering COVID-19: Verifying facts & reporting on solutions (November 18, 2020)
Navigating Liability and Legal Issues as a Freelance Writer (November 18, 2020)
Online SciComm Coworking Session (November 18, 2020)
SWARM Book Panel: How to Write and Sell a Science Book (November 19, 2020)
Looking for Life as We Don’t Know It: A Conversation about Journalism and Life in the Universe (November 19, 2020)
Because Facts Matter: Fact-Checking in Science Writing (November 19, 2020)
National Undergraduate Conference on Scientific Journalism (NUCSJ) (November 21, 2020)
Science in the Newsroom Global Summit 2020 (November 23-24, 2020)
The UNSW Press Bragg Prize for Science Writing recognizes the best short non-fiction piece on science written for a general audience in Australia (November 25, 2020)
🎓 Career opportunities
Spring 2021 Paid Science Writing Internship, The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, Remote
Energy and Environment Reporter, CQ Roll Call, Washington, DC
Spanish-Language Journalist for a project that aims to counter online health and vaccine misinformation, FactCheck.org, The University of Pennsylvania, PA
Managing Editor, Inverse, Remote
Staff Writer: Live Science, United Kingdom, Remote
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