Science writing news

Joel Achenbach writes that he felt a bit guilty recently when interviewing a scientist on deadline: "Here I am calling up and saying: 'Give me the fruit of your mental labors.' Asking for the ripest fruit, as it were. Asking not just for information but for wisdom. Give it to me! For free. And they did, because they always do, because we have a system of sorts." Does that make him an aggregator, a journalist, or both? More from Joshua Benton.

Maria Popova quotes Mary Gaitskill on the sources of the writer's muse, including this vivid passage: "It's why children like to draw pictures of houses, animals, and Mom; it's an affirmation of their presence in the corporeal world … For years, everything just pours into you, and all you can do is gurgle or scream until finally one day you can sit up and hold your crayon and draw your picture and thus shout back, Yes! I hear! I see! I feel! This is what it's like!"

Tabitha M. Powledge reviews coverage of the big data release detailing Medicare payments to doctors and find some things to like behind the headlines: "Most writers focused, not surprisingly, on the most eye-popping payments. Heaven knows there were great riches to choose from. But many writers also dove a little deeper." Some big recipients had innocent explanations — including reimbursements for expensive drugs — but even those raised some questions, Powledge says.

Maybe not, Kent Anderson writes writes on the Scholarly Kitchen. Anderson argues that Creative Commons licenses, at least as currently used, are just a confusing and ineffective layer on top of existing copyright law: "Unfortunately, Creative Commons licenses are relatively opaque and difficult to differentiate for the average user. Ask a researcher their initial reaction to a CC BY vs. a CC BY-SA vs. a CC BY-NC-SA license, and you're going to be met with blank stares."

It's not the social media site that gets the most attention, but Kevan Lee writes that LinkedIn may trump the others in one respect: "Twitter and Facebook may reign when it comes to social sharing of stories, blog posts, and visual media, but when it comes to direct traffic to your main site, LinkedIn is far and away the No. 1 social referral source." Lee's post includes tips for making the most of your LinkedIn presence, and for monitoring your "engagement percentage."

From the Association of Health Care Journalists conference in Denver, Lisa Krieger reports on a panel featuring editors from the New York Times, Family Circle, Men's Health, and AARP Media. The four offered tips to freelancers on how to pitch stories to them, such as this from Betsy Agnvall, AARP Media features editor: "Beware of getting on the 'bad' list. Word spreads quickly when a writer is rude or snarky. Even if the editor drives you crazy, it is not worth it."

There's one-third less revenue coming into American journalism than there was eight years ago, according to the latest report from the Pew Research Center: "While audience revenue is becoming more critical to the business, it cannot fully compensate for the loss of ad dollars. That is why most conversations about news sustainability come back to 'all of the above' — cultivating a variety of revenue streams … and experimenting with new ways of paying for journalism."

It's not new at all, Poynter's Roy Peter Clark writes in reaction to some recent calls for more accessible writing. Rather, Clark traces the topic back at least to his days as a "young pup" at the St. Petersburg Times: "I welcome the kind of reforms that may have sparked a new interest in explanatory forms. I just want to remind the newcomers that you don't have to start from scratch. There is a foundation already laid upon which you can build. Now raise the roof."