✍️Science Writing News Roundup #26 (January 12, 2021)

Jan 12, 2021

Global experts urge everyone to talk about COVID-19 vaccines responsibly: The COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Handbook is for everyone who wants to know more about COVID-19 vaccines, how to talk to others about them and how to challenge misinformation about the vaccines.

🪂 Opportunities

Metcalf Institute is accepting applications for their annual Science Immersion Workshop, a (virtual) two-week program for journalists interested in writing about climate change. Fellows will learn how to recognize and understand the interactions between climate change, the environment, and society, and how climate change disproportionately affects black people and vulnerable communities. Apply by February 14, 2021.
Apply to be a UC Berkeley-11th Hour Food & Farming Journalism Fellow and win $10,000 to report long-form print or audio stories on issues related to food, health, and agriculture. The program was founded by Michael Pollan, the John S. and James L. Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley and Malia Wollan, the fellowship's director. Online applications are due March 15, 2021.
The Council for the Advancement of Science Writing is offering fellowships of $5,000 to US-based working journalists and students who have been accepted for enrollment in graduate-level programs in science writing. Past recipients have used their fellowships to help cover tuition and fees, living expenses, equipment, and travel.

Brazilian tool born out of the pandemic curates scientists’ social media posts for journalists. With the coronavirus pandemic, scientists who were relatively unknown to the general public became stars in the media and social networks, and scientific content gained relevance and visibility. Science Pulse was created in this context. It’s a social listening tool that curates scientific content posted on social media from more than 1,600 scientists and organizations.
New resources for covering the virus that’s changed our world: As you look for sources to expand your coverage in 2021, don’t miss the Association of Health Care Journalists’ updated COVID-19 tip sheet and backgrounder.

$15,000 in Idea Grant funding awarded: Five projects aimed at fostering diversity in science writing and helping science writers navigate complex data on the pandemic were selected to receive Peggy Girshman Idea Grants.
- Nisse Greenberg, Erin Barker, Lily Be and Katherine Wu will receive $7,200 to develop the Story Collider Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Accessibility Scholarship.
- Betsy Ladyzhets, a Senior Research Associate at Stacker Media and freelance writer and data journalist, will receive $2,800 to develop a COVID-19 Data Workshop Series.
- Writer and editor Jenna Jablonski will receive $2,500 for her project, “Expanding Sister as a Low-Barrier Publishing Platform for Women and Non-Binary Science Writers.”
- Journalists Marlee Baldridge and Gabe Schneider of The Objective, an all-volunteer collective that focuses on how journalism has misrepresented or excluded specific communities in coverage, as well as how newsrooms have treated staff from those communities, will receive $2,000 to develop “The Objective Reporting Series.”
- Science communicator Joe Bonner and his co-applicant, science writer and editor David Levine, of Science Writers in New York (SWINY) will receive $500 for “Equipment to Improve Production Value of Zoom Webinars.”

Congratulations to the winners! Read the announcement here.

Covering the UK Coronavirus Variant: How Concerned Should We Be? (International Center for Journalists, January 12, 2021)
Online SciComm Coworking Session (January 13, 2021)
Evolving Entrepreneurial Journalism: New Opportunities for Creators (January 14, 2021)
Webinar: The basics of covering science-related stories (SciLine, January 14, 2021)
Distributing the COVID-19 Vaccine: A Virtual Conversation with Gerald Posner (Science Writers in New York, January 14, 2021)
Preprints in the Public Eye: Challenges and Solutions in an Age of Misinformation (January 14, 2021)
A Year of Errors and Lies – Looking Back on a Year of COVID-19 Misinformation (January 19, 2021)
How to Price Freelance Writing Projects (January 26, 2021)

MCRC Science Writer & Communications Assistant, Manchester Cancer Research Centre, Manchester, UK
Science Writer/Account Manager (Marketing Communications), Alto Marketing, Remote
Freelance Course Writer – Nature Masterclasses, Springer Nature, London, UK
Science Writer, NASA Goddard, Greenbelt, MD, US
Science Writer, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, US
Senior Science Editor, National Geographic, Washington, DC, US
Senior Producer, Science Podcast, Vox Media, DC/ NY
More jobs 👉Science Writing News Roundup #25

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