✍️Science Writing News Roundup #236
Science Friday and The Future of Science Reporting + What Is Pre-Reporting—and Do You Really Need to Do It?
AAAS Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellowship Announces its 2025 Fellows: Seventeen early-career scientists will translate complex research into compelling stories for the public as 2025 AAAS Mass Media Fellows this summer.
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✏️Articles
Will US science survive Trump 2.0? President Donald Trump and his administration have gutted science agencies, terminated research programmes and cancelled billions of dollars in grants to universities. What are the long-term impacts for the United States and the world?
People who fear the Trump administration are asking editors to remove their names from old news stories. Here are some questions to ask while managing these requests.
How journalists can cover science at a time when readers sometimes don't trust the experts. At a time when research is subject to funding cuts and mistrust for institutions and experts abound, journalists and science communicators are tackling difficult editorial decisions.
Warning signs realised: Trump’s war on science and the fight to save American academia. In early March, Christina Pagel warned of authoritarian like attacks on science and universities. Six weeks later and the Trump administration has gone even further than feared.
Freelance Journalist Sofia Quaglia Tells Nature’s Untold Stories. Sofia Quaglia is an award-winning freelance journalist writing about all things science and nature and how we talk about them. She’s on a mission to visit the entire planet by spending each month in a different country, so she has been living on the road since 2021.
More articles 👉Bonus content for monthly supporters.
💡Resources
AI and Responsible Journalism Toolkit. The Toolkit aims to empower journalists, PR specialists, and researchers to communicate the risks and benefits of AI more responsibly: to avoid perpetuating problematic AI narratives, to foster inclusivity and diversity in discussions about AI, and to promote critical AI literacy. It also guides practitioners through responsibly adopting AI in their work.
What Is Pre-Reporting—and Do You Really Need to Do It? A well-planned pre-reporting process helps journalists stress-test story ideas, solidify communication with sources, build confidence in a beat, nail pitches, and ultimately develop richer stories. Pre-reporting, when done well, may even boost your efficiency and save you time in the long run.
What I wish I’d known when I started reporting on mental health. A year ago, Taylor Blatchford dove into mental health reporting and felt overwhelmed. The systems seemed convoluted — and that’s not just a feeling, it’s fact.
📌Opportunities
The ABSW is providing diversity scholarships to cover the full cost of attending the Science & Technology Journalism Summer School; registration fee, travel and any necessary accommodation. The Summer School is a full day's event in London for those starting out in their career as science & technology journalists, for those who may be thinking of moving to this beat, for those returning from a career break, or those who just want to brush up on their skills.
More opportunities and calls for pitches 👉 Bonus content for monthly supporters.
🧪News
ScienceWriters2025 to be held in Chicago November 7-9. The virtual portion of the conference will take place online October 22-24.
Grist announces its 2025 fellows class: The three journalists, based in Pennsylvania, Utah, and New York, will spend a year reporting for Grist.
🗺Videos & Podcasts
How Jennifer Frazer got a Sloan grant to write "The Slime Mold's Guide to World Domination."
Wudan Yan on offering new services in your freelance business.
🖼Events
Submit a proposal for the World Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ) 2025, scheduled to take place in Pretoria, South Africa, from 1–5 December 2025. The submission deadline is extended to 5 May 2025 (24:00 SAST).
Science Under Siege | by Professor Michael E. Mann (University of Southampton, UK - May 7, 2025)
Panel discussion: How to be a freelance science writer (May 29, 2025 - Golden, CO)
Science Writers & Communicators of Canada Conference Conference (June 12-13, 2025)
EMBL Science and Society Conference: In science we trust? EMBL Heidelberg, Germany (June 16 - 17, 2025)
More events 👉Bonus content for monthly supporters.
🔎Jobs
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