Science writing news

In January, the NASW board passed a resolution of appreciation and gratitude marking the retirement of one of the pivotal figures in our organization’s history, Marianne Shock. If you don’t know that name, you’re not alone. Only a handful of NASW members have ever heard of Marianne and her crucial contribution to making NASW the active advocate for science writers it is today. From the Spring 2014 ScienceWriters.

From the Journalist's Resource project at Harvard's Shorenstein Center, Justin Feldman explains how to make sense of scientific research: "Before journalists write about research and speak with authors, they should be able to both interpret a study's results and understand the appropriate degree of skepticism that a given study finding warrants," Feldman writes. He includes, for example, an explanation of the difference between dependent and independent variables.

Erin Biba unloads on media startups and the way they pay writers, and she does it in a post on the media startup Medium: "I'm insulted by how much you're trying to pay me. Or not pay me. Until you guys coming up with newfangled ways to bring journalism online start valuing writers, I'm going to have to keep on dedicating the majority of my time and brainpower to traditional media organizations." Also, why Joe Wegner doesn't write for Medium.

Maya Angelou's death prompted posts on her life and work, such as this from her Paris Review interview: "I'll read something, maybe the Psalms, maybe, again, something from Mr. Dunbar, James Weldon Johnson. And I'll remember how beautiful, how pliable the language is, how it will lend itself. If you pull it, it says, 'OK.'" More from Maria Popova, and Poynter's Roy Peter Clark on what journalists can learn from Angelou.

Tabitha M. Powledge comments on recent news reports about the microbiome, that community of bacteria that lives in and on our bodies. One report suggested showers wash away bacteria that keep us smelling good; the other suggested a link between dental hygiene and bad pregnancy outcomes: "Whether flossing can prevent premature birth … has yet to be demonstrated," Powledge writes. Also, the fatal flaw in a study on the personality traits of "cat people" and "dog people."

SciDev.Net Director Nick Ishmael Perkins observes World Press Freedom Day by reflecting on how science writing is affected by censorship — and self-censorship, a "common practice among science journalists. If you anticipate that your attempts to cover a story might result in alienation, or reprimand, from the expert sources you depend on or the media outlet that pays you, then you may have to make a judgement call about that problem relative to society's need to know."

Later this summer, NASW members will have the opportunity to elect board members for the upcoming two-year term. Candidate statements and voting option details (online or in person) will follow in the summer issue of ScienceWriters as well as right here on nasw.org. Read more to meet the candidates. Congratulations and thank you to all of the candidates, board members cycling off, and the Nominating Committee.