✍️Science Writing News Roundup #31

Tips for covering COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy + Three easy ways to find diverse sources for your stories

Feb 16, 2021

Meet award-winning science writer Isabel Thomas: She has written over 150 children’s books! “I have just written the foreword to a big and beautiful collection of science biographies, which publishes later this year with DK. It’s a very special book, which avoids the Western-centric view of science history that creeps into so many texts and instead introduces readers to astonishing stories and incredible science from around the world,” she said in an interview for Time Out.

📡 Opportunities

Book proposal development grants: Apply now for the Supporting Diverse Voices Grants. In this inaugural application cycle, Princeton University Press is seeking non-fiction work by women, transgender, and gender-expansive authors in science and mathematics, including scholars and journalists.
Connected Coastlines Grants: The Pulitzer Center is seeking applications from journalists who want to report stories as part of Connected Coastlines, a nationwide climate reporting initiative in U.S. coastal states.
Global Science Journalism Survey 2021: This survey aims to examine science journalism around the world, considering journalists' background, workload, and opinions on science journalism and work environment.
The Royal Statistical Society is now accepting entries for the Statistical Excellence in Journalism Awards 2021. The awards are open to all journalists, including those based outside the UK and are for work completed in 2020.

Rasmus Kleis Nielsen @rasmus_kleis

Come join @risj_oxford and our Misinformation, Science, and Media project, focused on interplay btw misinformation, news, and social media with an emphasis on public understanding of science, health, and public affairs. Post-doc job, apply by March 15

politics.ox.ac.ukPost-Doctoral Research Fellow in Misinformation, Science and Media (149419) | Vacancy | AboutDepartment of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford

📨 Tips

Tips for covering COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: “People who are vaccine-hesitant are a very heterogenous group,” says Maryn McKenna, an independent journalist and author. “Try to make it clear to the reader or the viewer that vaccine hesitancy is not one thing, but it’s a spectrum. People have come to it with degrees of belief or disbelief for a variety of reasons.”

NPR Training @nprtraining

Editors, here are some things you might be doing that will make a writer loathe you — and ways you can earn their lifelong devotion and respect instead.

training.npr.orgEditors, keep your writers happyEarn their love and respect, not their loathing and resentment.

📢 Resources

Three easy ways to find diverse sources for your stories: SANDSWA’s Social Justice in Science Writing club recently read The Open Notebook piece “Finding Diverse Sources for Science Stories” and brainstormed ways to incorporate these ideas into their daily work.

🎞️ Videos

Journalism, Science, and Policy: Communicating Risk and Relevance. Science journalists and book authors share insights with scientists and engineers about how to communicate risk and relevance from research findings on water safety and health.
Science + Science Writing: Communicating about climate across political divides (The Council for the Advancement of Science Writing)
Reporting on the Pandemic: A Virtual Conversation with Apoorva Mandavilli, a reporter for The New York Times
The award ceremony honoring the 2020 winners of the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards took place on February 9 in conjunction with the 2021 AAAS Annual Meeting.

🎟️ Events

Creating Your Journalism Back-Up Plan (February 17, 2021)
Diving into COVID-19 data: Analyzing COVID-19 data sources (February 17, 2021)
Media Briefing: Emerging COVID-19 Challenges, Long-COVID and Viral Variants (February 17, 2021)
Online SciComm Coworking Session (February 18, 2021)
A Virtual Conversation with Dr. Muge Cevik, Infectious Diseases Researcher and Science Communicator (Science Writers in New York, February 18, 2021)
Arab Forum of Science Media and Communication (February 21-24, 2021)
How Has the Pandemic Influenced Public Attitudes Toward Science? (Knowable Magazine, February 23, 2021)
CITY OF SCIENCE: Truth and Lies - Covering COVID-19 (February 24, 2021)

Andy Extance @andyextance

Looking forward to hearing from top #forensics scientist Angela Gallop on March 2 for the @absw Don't Be Fooled lecture series. There will be some great tips and possibly even story ideas. *Anyone* can sign up here, it's free for @absw members: bit.ly/2N23yV4

🚀 Jobs and internships

Associate News Editor, EHP News, US-based
Internship/Fellowship, Hakai Magazine, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Curator, Medium, US-based
Sci & Tell Storytelling Intern, AGU, Washington, DC
Fall Writing Intern, Quanta Magazine, US-based
Content Editor, Nesta, UK
Science Communication and Education Intern (New York Sea Grant); Remote: Bronx, Queens, or Long Island, New York
Assistant Editor, American Society for Engineering Education, US-based
Science Writing Internship, Fermilab, US-based
Physics Content Creator/Reviewer, Khan Academy, Remote
Chemistry Content Creator/Reviewer, Khan Academy, Remote
Middle School Earth/Space Science Content Creator/Reviewer, Khan Academy, Remote
More jobs 👉Science Writing News Roundup #30

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