✍️Science Writing News Roundup #8 (September 26, 2020)
Shortlist for 2020 Royal Society Science Book Prize revealed + 585 science stories in the Solutions Story Tracker + NPR Scicommers community +Including diverse voices in your stories.
From a fresh look at the story of humanity to the world according to physics, discover the six popular science books that have been shortlisted for this year's Royal Society Science Book Prize.
🎁 Resources
10,000 ways the world is getting better: Meet the Solutions Story Tracker, a curated repository of solutions journalism (rigorous reporting on responses to social problems). It has over 585 stories related to science, including “The mosquito strategy that could eliminate dengue” by Ewen Callaway, “A secret hidden in centuries-old mud reveals a new way to save polluted rivers” by Paul Voosen, and “Microbe Mappers Are Tracking Covid-19's Invisible Traces” by Megan Molteni.
Have you been including diverse voices in your stories? Need some tips? Check out this new list with 100 inspiring Hispanic/Latinx scientists in the United States, and a guide to finding diverse sources for science stories, including Twitter lists, diverse sourcing databases, and tips for editors supporting inclusion efforts.
Making your writing and reporting transgender-inclusive. In the push for diversity, transgender people are often left out. Tara Santora has tips on how to write with trans-inclusive language, respect trans sources, and make newsrooms safe for trans journalists.
What's newsworthy science? How do I find story ideas? Will anyone pay me? Join this Science Talk course to learn the business of freelance science writing.
How do I engage through science writing? Check out this guide from Imperial College London with tips on how to structure your writing, storytelling techniques, and more.
🔑 Opportunities
If you are a science writer from an under-represented background, apply to be considered for a Diversity Scholarship to attend the UK Conference of Science Journalists, taking place October 13-15, online. Confirmed sessions include: “Writing a killer newsletter,” “How to survive as a freelance science journalist,” “Mental well-being for science journalists,” and “Quiz the finalists: how did they write a winning feature?”
If you are a scientist or an engineer looking to improve your science communication skills, join the NPR Scicommers community on Slack (email nprscicommers@gmail.com to get involved) and join the #mentor_chat channel to learn from the experts. The chats are recorded and are usually accompanied by resources following the chat.
News organizations can apply to join the Business & Sustainability Initiative at the Solutions Journalism Network. This two-year initiative supports news organizations’ coverage of businesses’ role in solutions related to sustainability, with funding (up to $5,000), training, and ongoing support.
The Canadian University Press, the oldest student newswire service in the world, is accepting nominations for the JHM Awards, which recognize the very best in student journalism in Canada. Submit your entries for the Science Reporting Award by October 24, 2020.
📝 Ideas
Three interviews on the future of science journalism and the role of environmental reporting, with Alok Jha, science and technology correspondent at The Economist; Fiona Harvey, environmental correspondent for The Guardian; and Luca De Biase, Journalist, Innovation Editor at Il Sole 24 Ore and Editor-in-Chief at Nova24.
The media’s climate coverage is improving, but time is very short. Covering Climate Now’s week of coverage, which runs September 21 through 28, aims to give climate change the attention it deserves.
Why AI writing assistants are the next generation of style guides. “The next-generation style guide is here now. Grammarly and Writer, formerly Qordoba, have the best of everything that came before in one place, plus AI,” writes Jennifer Schmich.
“How being human led me to better science outcomes”. Blake Chapman, a grant writer and science communicator, learned that for science to make real waves within the broader community, we need to be prepared to invite in the ‘human-factor’.
✏️ Internships and jobs
News Writer Intern, Science, Washington, DC
Communications Associate, Seeding Labs, Boston, MA
Science Journalism Internship, The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO), Garching, Germany
Senior Staff Editor, Health & Science (Opinion), the New York Times, NY
Assistant Professor in Journalism and Creative Nonfiction, NC State University, Raleigh, NC
Staff Writer, BBC Science Focus. Bristol, UK
Communications Manager (50%), Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland
Managing Editor, NASA Earth Science Data Systems Communications Team, Greenbelt, MD
🔍 News
Meet the winners of the 2020 Science in Society Journalism Awards, and the winners of the 2020 Excellence in Institutional Writing Awards, sponsored by the National Association of Science Writers.
🗓️ Events
Corona: Is misinformation more contagious than the virus? A virtual event for science journalists (September 28, 2020)
#BlackInSciCommWeek (October 4-10, 2020): A week of workshops, panels, talks and fun events, dedicated to building and uplifting Black science communicators. Check out the schedule (there is a panel on science writing) and join the lightning talks competition by October 7, 2020.
#FancyScienceShared will unite scicommers, journalists, scientists, writers, and others interested in science (October 5-12, 2020)
Reporting on the pandemic will offer science writers and the public an analysis of COVID-19 coverage thus far (October 7, 2020)
Deconstructing pandemic news, with award-winning science journalist Ed Yong (October 13, 2020)
Kavli workshop to discuss challenges of covering emerging science. Science journalists, scientists, and ethicists will discuss gene editing, solar geoengineering, predictive technologies using artificial intelligence and face recognition, and brain-machine interfaces (October 15, 2020)
NEA Big Read Writing Workshop: Storytelling techniques in nature and science writing with Amy Stewart (October 17, 2020)
In the lead-up to their session at this year's virtual NASW annual meeting (October 19-23), Kelly Tyrrell and Sara Zaske are surveying journalists and PIOs to better understand what works, and perhaps what doesn't, when it comes to institutional scicomm, please take the survey here.
Learn the many ways that Google Tools can make your stories stronger. Learn how to build interactive charts, maps, visualizations, and more. (October 29, 2020)
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