Dina Spector posts some amusing graphs by Tyler Vigen, who drives home — in comedic style — the often-discussed difference between correlation and causation. For example, did you know that there is a strong correlation between "Total revenue generated by U.S. ski facilities" and "Number of people who died by becoming tangled in their bedsheets?" Or that the "Marriage rate in Kentucky" closely tracks "People who drowned after falling out of a fishing boat?"
Science writing news
From the companion web site for the NASW Idea Grant-funded Science Writers' Handbook, Michelle Nijhuis shares what she learned from doing more than 20 radio interviews in two days for her recent National Geographic feature. "Writers tend to think of interviews as raw material, but on the radio — especially live radio — an interview is a performance. So while you do want to 'be yourself,' be mindful of how you're presenting that self."
Paige Williams lists 21 stories that mention music, from Hunter S. Thompson and The Fifth Dimension to Joan Didion and Herman’s Hermits: "Mere mention of the songs and their artists enhances scene and helps establish setting, character and mood. Good journalists, as they report, notice what is playing during the road trip or the ocean cruise or the juke-joint visit or the hospital stay. The songs signal something different each time: optimism, grief, mystery, terror."
This week's release of the National Climate Assessment prompts Tabitha M. Powledge to propose a new Koch-style ad campaign bankrolled by a couple of rich people: "The Gates-Adelson Foundation could give grants for regular coverage of the Whole Foods parking lot, perhaps featuring monthly measurements of how much higher the flooding gets each time. How long would complacency persist if local media kept harping on local flooding? If TV commercials kept making the point?"
Scott Rodd had hopes for a media internship as he neared graduation from Susquehanna University: "At the top of my list were publications like the New Yorker, Time, Esquire, the New York Times, and Harper’s, among others. Harper’s may have been the place I was most interested in." Several months later, he began washing dishes at a French bakery in his hometown. He writes about his experience in Salon, and gets lots of advice (and criticism) in the comments.
On June 14 and 15, members of the science writing community will convene at MIT for the Women in Science Writing: Solutions Summit, a continuation of The XX Question plenary session from the ScienceWriters2013 workshops, in Gainesville, Fla. From the Spring 2014 ScienceWriters.
Most journalists have heard of the Freedom of Information Act and know at least a smattering of copyright law, but how many know that a social media promotion could run afoul of laws governing sweepstakes? Sara Hawkins discusses that and other laws that matter to people working in the online media world: "Knowing the laws that affect you is the first step to making sure you raise the bar, not only for yourself and your business, but for your competition as well."
Two conferences recently funded by NASW Idea Grants are open for registration. Read more for info on the Women in Science Solutions Summit 2014, June 13-15 in Cambridge, Mass., and the regional workshop Sharing Science: Writing and Communications Skills in the 21st Century, June 26-27 in Madison, Wisc.
Dueling views on the social-media giant's future. Adrienne Lafrance and Robinson Meyer write in Atlantic that "the platform's place in Internet culture is changing in a way that feels irreversible." And John McDuling on Quartz says Twitter's slowing growth is a concern on Wall Street. But on Slate, Will Oremus predicts it will thrive by "turning its home page into a real-time news platform accessible to anyone."