✍️Science Writing News Roundup #33 (March 2, 2021)
How do people get started in science writing? + Writing real books for fact-loving kids!
How do people get started in science writing? This is one of the most common questions that science writers get asked, and there are as many answers as there are science writers. The Open Notebook collected dozens of those answers from some of the best in the business, each of whom also offers one pithy nugget of advice for newcomers. (Image by The Open Notebook)
🪁 Opportunities
Nominations are now open for the American Geophysical Union journalism awards, which recognize excellence in science journalism for news, features and sustained achievement in science journalism.
Applications are open for the Ida B. Wells Fellowship. The yearlong fellowship provides emerging and mid-career investigative journalists with $20,000, research resources, legal assistance, professional mentors and assistance with story placement and publicity.
Apply for the Georg von Holtzbrinck Prize for Science Journalism. The award pays tribute to outstanding articles in the field of science journalism in Germany and recognizes three categories: print, electronic media and young talents.
Media research opportunity: Plastics in Southeast Asia. Through a framing analysis and industry interviews, this project will aim to investigate how Southeast Asia’s media’s coverage of ‘plastics’ has changed over the last 2 years.
The NASW Grants Committee is now accepting applications for a new round of Peggy Girshman Idea Grants. They are offering grants of up to $15,000 to support projects and programs that will help science writers in their professional lives and/or benefit the field of science writing. Applications are due on Wednesday, March 31, 2021.
What is the role of scientists in advocating for the public good? Share your story. The Union of Concerned Scientists invites scientists and experts to join their growing list of guest bloggers writing about science as a solution to the world's most pressing problems.
Extension to closing deadline: 2021 Voyager Media Awards. If you are in New Zealand, apply now for the Science Journalist of the Year sponsored by the Science Media Centre.
Science Media Centre (SMC) Malaysia, in collaboration with British High Commission Kuala Lumpur and EcoKnights, invites Malaysian journalists, writers and content creators to produce local Malaysian stories on climate change in the ‘PANAS! Climate Change Stories in Malaysia’ project.
📌 Tips
Making it as freelance science journalists in Southeast Asia: Three journalists chat about the joys and pains of their careers.
👧 Writing for kids
Writing the -TEM in STEM: “Whatever topic you choose, you can’t go wrong with a -TEM book. They are fun to write, amazing to research, and just might be the one thing that inspires a young reader to pursue a career in STEM,” writes Jennifer Swanson, author of more than 40 books for children.
Tell a Science Story Two Ways: Prose and Verse. “Scientists rely on logic and intuition to make breakthroughs. As writers, we can play with prose and poetry to access our logical and intuitive brains and create a story that sings. Try telling your science story in both poetry and prose and see what you can discover,” writes Susannah Buhrman-Deever, children's author.
Writing real books for fact-loving kids: “While many teachers and librarians think of nonfiction, especially expository nonfiction, as broccoli, about 40 percent of children think differently. To these Info Kids, expository text on topics they find fascinating is like chocolate cake,” writes Melissa Stewart, author of more than 190 nonfiction books for children.
🗺️ News
Covid-19 spurs the launch of a science journalism platform in Egypt. Ola Al-Ghazawy studied pharmacy but found her ideal career in science journalism. Misinformation about Covid-19 led her to start Planet X, a digital platform for training young journalists in the basics of science reporting.
Long Island University (LIU) has announced the winners of the 73rd annual George Polk Awards in Journalism, honoring journalists in 18 categories for their reporting in 2020. Ed Yong of the Atlantic has won the Science Reporting award for his insightful analysis of factors behind the spread of Covid-19, and Helen Branswell of STAT has won the award for Public Service for relentless coverage of all aspects of the pandemic. The award for Health Reporting went to ProPublica for two series examining the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on Black Americans and meatpacking workers.
🎬 Videos
CITY OF SCIENCE Truth and Lies: Covering COVID-19. In this era of polarization and soundbites, how do journalists cover a crucial and complex topic like COVID-19?
How Has the Pandemic Influenced Public Attitudes Toward Science?
Science Fiction as Science Writing: Kim Stanley Robinson on the Future of Science and Society
🗓️ Events
Breaking with traditions: Communicating science is more than writing a paper (March 2, 2021)
Diving into COVID-19 data: Communicating COVID-19 data (March 3, 2021)
An Evening with Investigative Journalist Katherine Eban. From Hydroxychloroquine to Convalescent Plasma: How the Trump White House Nearly Ruined the FDA Through Magical Thinking About Science and Therapeutics to “Cure” COVID-19 (March 3, 2021)
Hey, policy stories don’t have to be boring! (it just feels that way sometimes) (March 4, 2021)
So you want to be a science writer? (March 6, 2021)
Introductory storytelling workshop (The Story Collider, March 8, 2021)
Advanced storytelling workshop (The Story Collider, March 8, 2021)
Building Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccination: A Toolbox of Talks From Leaders in the Field (March 9, 2021)
Using Twitter to Find Work (March 9, 2021)
Celebrating science with the Young People's Book Prize (March 12, 2021)
SCIENCE TALK '21 (March 24-26, 2021)
🪂 Internships
Science Writing Internship (Summer), AGU (American Geophysical Union), Washington, DC
Student Science Writer Intern, Wisconsin Energy Institute, Remote, US-based
🏞️ Jobs
Communications Specialist, New York Sea Grant, Stony Brook University, NY
Content Manager, SciShow, US-based
Science Editor, The Conversation U.S.
Science Writer, The Guardian Australia
Science Communication and Media Relations Specialist, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA
More jobs 👉Science Writing News Roundup #32
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