✍️Science Writing News Roundup #72 (December 4, 2021)

How to cover Omicron and other COVID variants of concern.

NASW Diversity Reporting Grants recipients for 2021 announced. Congratulations to Sayantan Datta, Duy Linh Tu, and Andrew Meissen on being selected as recipients of NASW’s 2021 Diversity Reporting Grants! Image by NASW.

🎨 Tips and resources

• How to cover Omicron and other COVID variants of concern. Journalists should keep in mind that the science of the variant is still evolving and report stories with the caveat that there remain a lot of unknowns, a normal aspect of the scientific process.

• BIPOC? Latinx? Here's how to describe people accurately. Here are five things you can do to reach a good decision on how to identify people.

• Journalism isn’t who you are. It’s what you do. “Making journalism part of our identities justifies the passion and purpose that brought us to the profession. It also makes us supremely exploitable,” writes Wudan Yan.

• Marketing the hell out of solutions journalism. A new revenue playbook will help newsrooms tap the financial potential of solutions journalism.

The Open Notebook @Open_Notebook

Psst! Want to hone your B.S. detector? We have just the thing. It’s free and something you do on your own time. TON’s 3️⃣rd Master Class in Science Journalism has landed! @newmarkjschool’s @elaberwarren leads you through 6 lessons, delivered to your inbox.

theopennotebook.comScience Journalism Master Classes - The Open NotebookMaster your craft with our free Science Journalism Master Classes. These short courses, delivered by email, are made possible by a grant from The Kavli Foundation.

✍️ Opportunities

AAAS Mass Media Fellowship @AAASMassMedia

🚨🚨 You have just under one month left to apply to become a 2022 #MassMediaFellow! Spend next summer practicing your #SciComm skills as a reporter for a major news outlet. 🚨🚨 Submit your application before the end of the day (ET) on January 2nd: fcld.ly/dc02kde

Kara_COVIDisAirborne😷 @kara_ash_

All my science writing peeps be sure to check this out!

The Xylom™ @thexylom

🚨NEW PROMPTS🚨 PAIN: Stories of hurt, setbacks, and heartbreak PLEASURE: Stories of cravings, excursions, and service After #GivingTuesday we are DOUBLING honoraria for this cycle! Pitch us 1500-word personal essays and submit 10-ish-word science stories on a rolling basis!

Jaime Green @jaimealyse

I would love to spend December editing some fun, weird, smart essays for @FutureTenseNow, but I can only do that if you pitch me! Looking for pieces at the intersection of tech/science/policy/the future. 1000-1500 words, $350+. jaime.green@slate.com Threading some faves:

Uproot Project @uproot_project

We're launching our very own bi-monthly newsletter early next year to foster journalists of color covering the environment! We're looking for voices to help bring it to life on a contract basis. Interested? Send in your resume to info@uprootproject.org.

1drv.msNewsletter Writer JD (1).pdfPDF File

Jocelyn Timperley @jloistf

I'm looking for pitches on early warning systems for Future Planet @BBC_Future. I'm interested in solutions stories on the systems that warn us about impending disasters, from earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis to floods, disease, drought and famine. 1/3

Pamela Weintraub @pam3001

looking for writer and expert pitches on animal behavior and consciousness for a project I am working on. Email pam3001@gmail.com

National Association of Science Writers (NASW) @ScienceWriters

NOMINATE: Submit your good work for our 2022 Excellence in Institutional Writing Awards (EIWA), honoring high-caliber, publicly accessible #ScienceWriting produced for non-media orgs. Deadline February 1st—open to non-members also: nasw.org/article/excell… #SciWriAwards

National Association of Science Writers (NASW) @ScienceWriters

NOMINATE: Submit your good work for our 2022 Science in Society #Journalism Awards (SIS), recognizing investigative or interpretive #reporting about the #sciences and their impact on #society. Deadline February 1st—open to non-members also: nasw.org/article/entrie… #SciWriAwards

📅 Events

• Building Trust During Scientific Uncertainty: How Do We Better Respond to Outbreaks? (December 8, 2021)

• Beyond newsstands: how to expand your freelance business through niche publications (December 8, 2021)

• Talking Shop: The Climate Story After Glasgow (December 9, 2021)

✏️ Videos

• What is the media’s role in covering science?

• All News is Local: Reviving specialized coverage where it matters most.

• Sex differences and COVID-19: How journalists can raise awareness.

• Brian Cox presents the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize

• Cosmos Briefing: Science as written. Now in its 11th year, The Best Australian Science Writing is an annual collection of the nation’s best science writing.

🎧 Podcasts

• Environmental Journalism, Part 1: Are we all climate reporters now?

• Environmental Journalism, Part 2: The keys to environmental justice reporting

💡 Jobs and Internships

• Sr. Science Writer/Editor, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA

• Staff Writer (Biology), Quanta Magazine, New York City, NY

• Editor I, Shortwave, NPR, Washington, DC

• Reporter, MIT Technology Review, Remote

• More jobs 👉 Science Writing News Roundup #71

👉 Don’t miss any updates from the Science Writing News Roundup:

Thanks for reading. How about sharing this with a friend? Worried you missed something? See previous newsletters here. What would you like to see in the newsletter? Please send me your suggestions by replying to this email: sciencewriting@substack.com😃

jane c. hu @jane_c_hu

with COVID and climate change looming large lately, quality science journalism has never been more crucial. this #GivingTuesday, consider supporting @Open_Notebook, which provides free resources to science journalists on the craft of writing & reporting:

theopennotebook.comGifts to TON through December 31 Will Be Doubled! - The Open NotebookGifts to The Open Notebook made from now through December 31 will be doubled, up to a total of $8,500.