✍️Science Writing News Roundup #20 (December 3, 2020)
The KSJ Science Editing Handbook is now available! + Creating effective data visualization + TLDR sums up research papers in a sentence
In this blog post, Alice Fleerackers reviews tips on creating effective visual aids and data visualization that can help people understand risk, and the importance of knowing your audience and tailoring your visual aids to meet your communication goals. Image by Ian M. Mackay (The Swiss Cheese Respiratory Virus Defence)
🧰 Resources
The KSJ Science Editing Handbook is now available! The handbook addresses topics ranging from covering health care and the environment to understanding and using statistics and being able to hold science accountable, to fact-checking and the use of social media, among other topics. They also updated their website, and added web-based resources for budding journalists, free fact-checking resources, and tips and tools for reporting on COVID-19.
TL;DR: this AI sums up research papers in a sentence. The creators of a scientific search engine have unveiled software that automatically generates one-sentence summaries of research papers. The researchers also plan to expand their service to provide personalized research briefings that summarize key papers in a field.
🤹 Ideas
Science storytelling in scholarly work and in song. Saurja DasGupta, a Harvard Medical School postdoctoral researcher and amateur songwriter, thinks scientists can hone their writing skills through song. To prevent writer’s block, write everything down that comes to mind—a technique DasGupta uses in songwriting. “It doesn’t matter if it’s in order or not; keep it somewhere, and then you can go back and sort them out and get to something that’s more structured.”
The CASW board and staff are working to develop programs that improve the quality and sustainability of science journalism. Your ideas could inspire new program development!
🚵 Opportunities
The Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT is now accepting submissions for the 2021 Victor K. McElheny Award for local and regional science journalism. The award will recognize one outstanding work of journalism — print, digital, or broadcast — with a $5,000 prize.
You can now enter your work for the NASW Science in Society Journalism Awards. With cash prizes, no entry fees for members, and submissions open to members and non-members alike, they seek to recognize science writing that is shaped by a variety of perspectives.
The Leon Levy Center for Biography offers several fellowships annually to fund the research and writing of outstanding biographies, including the Sloan Fellowship to fund biographies of scientists. The fellowship offers writing space, full access to research facilities, research assistance and a stipend of $72,000.
Online course on science communication: In this course by Cornell University, students will learn how to write concisely and accurately, translating dense scientific language into simpler concepts for the public. They will discuss good writing examples and will constantly receive feedback from their peers and their instructors.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation, in collaboration with the European Climate Foundation/TARA, is organizing the workshop ‘Reporting on Climate Change and Energy Transition’ for journalists across Southeast Asia.
🥁 News
Nieman Foundation announces the 2021 Nieman Visiting Fellows. In the coming months, 12 journalists will work on important projects that address racial injustice and public health coverage in the U.S.
📼 Videos
Conversations in science communication: What does it take to be a successful science communicator? A conversation with Siri Carpenter, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Open Notebook, Matt Shipman, research communications lead at NC State University, Lylla Younes, adjunct professor at Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, and Lisa Palmer, National Geographic Visiting Professor of Science Communication.
Big Pharma & COVID-19 Vaccines: A Virtual Conversation with Gerald Posner (Science Writers in New York)
Covering climate change in 2021 and beyond. What will be the key issues for reporters to cover in 2021? Journalists from Brazil, the Philippines and the U.S. offer their unique insights and advice for reporters on the climate beat.
📣 Events
Media Briefing, COVID-19 Vaccines: Regulation, Allocation, & Hesitancy (SciLine, December 3, 2020)
Life sciences in a post-truth world – A COVID-19 case study (December 3, 2020)
Decolonizing Science Writing (San Diego Science Writers Association, December 3, 2020)
Coronavirus, Statistical Chaos and the News: Preliminary Reflections (December 4, 2020)
Introductory Storytelling Workshop: Learn both the science behind storytelling as well as how to integrate science into your stories (The Story Collider, December 7, 2020)
What Does It Take to Create a Safe and Effective Vaccine? A Virtual Conversation with Dr. Amit Kumar, Anixa Biosciences (Science Writers in New York, December 8, 2020)
Online SciComm Coworking Session (December 10, 2020)
Reporting on the COVID-19 Vaccines: This webinar, featuring the president of the American Medical Association, will help local journalists understand the science, logistics and potential concerns of a COVID-19 vaccine. (December 14, 2020)
🔭 Career opportunities
Climate Justice Fellow, High Country News, Remote, US-based
Card Story Editor, Inverse, New York, NY/Remote, US-based
Locum Bureau Chief, Asia Pacific, Nature (Sydney preferred; Melbourne, Washington DC, and London considered)
Communications Specialist and Writer, Fusion and Fission Energy and Science, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, US
More jobs 👉Science Writing News Roundup #19
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