A long list of left-leaning media outlets pay interns little or nothing, Charles Davis writes, and names some: "The problem with unpaid internships is that interns are people, and in capitalist economies people generally must work for money in order to obtain food and shelter. While I managed to pull it off, a lot of those who want to become journalists aren’t lucky enough to be born white and middle class." Also, Davis talks about his story.
Science writing news
On November 2, 2013, Michael Newman received the Diane McGurgan Service award in recognition of his efforts to contribute to the annual ScienceWriters meeting.
It's not just a matter of rewriting the latest research for non-scientists, Michelle Nijhuis writes in the New York Times. The best science writing connects readers with the humanity of science: "It’s essentially what Dr. Watson does for Sherlock Holmes: By reacquainting the head with the heart, we science writers tell the story of the frustrations, false starts, triumphs and breakthroughs that lead to the solution — or, in many cases, to even more questions."
How often do you read a science story that cites work from a prestigious university? Anders Sandberg and Avi Roy call that one of seven science writing clichés: "Science, unlike religion, doesn’t work based on authority. Don't assume that an experiment is well constructed and executed because it's from an elite university … Would you still read this article if the research was performed at the University of Never-heard-of-them in Where-in-the-world-is-this city?"
Tabitha M. Powledge returns to her weekly science blogs roundup with a piece about a Spanish cave that has yielded the oldest human DNA yet found — along with some thoughts about why the news media keeps treating such discoveries as a big surprise: "These discoveries seem surprising in part because many of us are still in the grip of a now-untenable idea: That human evolution (or, actually, evolution of many organisms) is lineal, a straight line of descent."
Joanna Penn discusses the etiquette of severing your ties with a literary agent, and points out the pitfalls that can arise from a messy breakup: "There are stories of acrimonious break-ups that still involve money many years later. Earlier this year, Harper Lee sued her agent for depriving her of royalties." Penn also links to tips on selecting agents and reviewing their performance, and explains why you may not even need an agent in the age of independent publishing.
She may be the nation's best-known TV newswoman, but Katie Couric's episode Wednesday on the HPV vaccine is being attacked for an anti-vaccine bias. Here's Slate's Amanda Marcotte: "Couric spent a half-hour of her show drumming up fears that the vaccine will make you very ill or even kill you." At Forbes, Matthew Herper dissects the slant. More from Alexandra Sifferlin and Seth Mnookin.
Matthew Bettelheim teamed up with illustrator Nicole M. Wong to write a children’s book about the Lange’s metalmark butterfly, an endangered species found only in one California wildlife refuge. In 1999, the peak butterfly count in a single day totaled 2,342; in 2012, the daily count peaked at 32. Writing the book in verse proved challenging, Bettelheim says, as “not much rhymes with ‘metamorphosis.’”
President Obama's 2009 transparency pledge hasn't translated into better responses to Freedom of Information Act requests. In fact, it's getting worse, writes David Cay Johnston, president of Investigative Reporters and Editors: "Federal agencies routinely flout the 1966 Freedom of Information Act, the so-called Open Government Act of 2007 that strengthens the 1966 law, and Obama's 2009 executive order directing agencies to err on the side of disclosure, not secrecy."