✍️Science Writing News Roundup #6 (September 16, 2020)
The Open Notebook email mini-courses: what would you like to learn? + Seminars for underrepresented authors + New book: Communicating Science: A Global Perspective + Science is getting harder to read.
🧪 Resources
The Open Notebook will soon offer free email mini-courses focused on the craft of science writing. What would you like to learn? They would like to know what topics you’re most interested in, please fill out this survey!
Check out this course on Coursera: Scientific Literacy will teach you about the process of science, how to think critically, how to differentiate science from pseudoscience, how to understand and design a scientific study, and how to critically evaluate scientific communication in the media.
📚 Books
Communicating Science: A Global Perspective (2020) is now available for purchase or free download from ANU Press. In celebration of the book’s launch, ScholCommLab spoke with Michelle Riedlinger and Germana Barata about what the book can tell us about the past, present, and future of science communication.
💡 Tips
Weird Science: What Journalists Get Wrong About Scientific Studies…and How to Get it Right. “I think that making sure that the experts have expertise in the area you’re covering is important, not just having a PhD,” says science reporter Karen Weintraub.
SciCommers weigh in on how to write about science in a pandemic. “I think a lot of the time we communicate science, we end up talking ‘at’ people instead of ‘with’ them. So my advice would be to ask, listen, observe, and then respond with relevant, succinct, and actionable information,” says Medical Writer Sheema Ali.
Sheeva Azma shares six tips that can help scientists have the most effective social media presence. An effective social media strategy for scientists can help improve their science communication skills and boost the public’s science literacy — all of which maximizes research impact. It’s a win-win!
🧠 Ideas
Science is getting harder to read. “Science is becoming more difficult to understand due to the sheer number of acronyms, long sentences, and impenetrable jargon in academic writing. Not only does such overcomplicated language alienate non-scientists and the media, it can also make life difficult for junior researchers and those transitioning to new fields,” writes Dalmeet Singh Chawla in an article for Nature Index.
The Covid-19 pandemic has emphasized the importance of science and health fact-checking. The Reporters' Lab's Amelia Goldstein wrote about seven fact-checking projects making a dent in the unprecedented levels of misinformation.
This week at TON, get to know Sabrina Imbler, Brooklyn-based freelance science writer and essayist who loves stories about sea creatures, checking off her to-do list, and the pomodoro technique. “Freelancing really forces you to understand and fight for your worth, and while it’s difficult in a lot of ways, I feel like it’s also taught me that I need to value myself higher and to settle less,” said Sabrina.
In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara Santa Maria is joined by the President and CEO of the Society for Science and the Public, as well as the publisher of Science News, Maya Ajmera. They talk about the Society’s mission to promote the understanding and appreciation of science, the current landscape of fake news, distrust in scientific institutions, anti-vaccine rhetoric, and politicization of scientific principles.
📣 Opportunities
The Falling Walls Foundation is offering up to 10 research grants to support journalists from around the world to report on a scientific topic related to Berlin Science Week 2020. They will receive €500 to cover the cost of staying and reporting in Berlin or for digital research and reporting (remote).
The Pulitzer Center is now accepting applications for three reporting fellowships focused on climate change within the United States. The call is open to students and recent graduates of their Campus Consortium partners.
If you are in Australia, check out the Spark Prize, an opportunity to develop a narrative non-fiction project (including popular science and journalism) from a budding idea to a publishable book with the guidance of Hardie Grant’s professional editorial team.
📜 News
Happy 5th Birthday, MiSciWriters! Since their first blog post by Ada Hagan about how and why scientists should be science communicators, MiSciWriters has only continued to grow and has become a valuable scicomm resource to the University of Michigan community.
The Medical Research Council announced the 10 MRC PhD students shortlisted for the Max Perutz Science Writing Award. The winning article, which will be published in The Observer, will be announced on October 13.
📅 Events
Covering Coronavirus: The Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine (September 16, 2020)
How to Use Solutions Journalism in Your Stories (September 16, 2020)
Seminars for Underrepresented Authors: Presented by a group of science writers called NeuWrite London, this initiative has been developed to address the under-representation within the science writing industry. Check out the events: Writing a Science Book (November 4, 2020), The Science Journalism Panel (November 10, 2020), The Science Writer Panel (November 17, 2020)
Conversations in Science Communication: a discussion focused on the lessons learned from news coverage of the pandemic. (Tip: there’s a blue button at the top, Webex registration) (September 17, 2020)
AAAS Kavli Webinar: Science Journalism During a Pandemic and Beyond (September 24, 2020)
"The politics of the pandemic" is part of COVID-19 Science & Coverage, a free, weekly series for media and the public hosted by the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing and the National Association of Science Writers (September 30, 2020)
UK Conference of Science Journalists (October 13-15, 2020)
ScienceWriters2020 (October 19-23, 2020)
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Note: Illustration by Natasha Remarchuk from Icons8