Starting a science Web log probably won't finance your retirement, but it could boost your career in other ways, said Chris Mooney, Washington correspondent for Seed magazine and senior correspondent for The American Prospect. Mooney's comments were part of a panel at NASW's "Navigating the New Media" session.
NASW news
Primary tabs
NASW members can read the statements of candidates running for office or a seat on the board of directors of the National Association of Science Writers.
See the statements of candidates running for office or a seat on the board of directors of the National Association of Science Writers; statements also appeared in the summer issue of ScienceWriters. Officers and board members serve a term of two years, starting January 2007. Members should have received the ballots in the mail. Ballots are due to Diane McGurgan, executive director, by Nov. 30.
Thanks to a generous grant from the William T.
The annual Science in Society meeting of the National Association of Science Writers drew more than 400 science writers to Baltimore, Md., Oct. 27-28, 2006.
It all comes down to the pitch. Whether a story idea lives or dies depends on the writer's ability to pitch it to an editor quickly, clearly, and with pizzazz. At the lively "Pitch Slam" session, writers queued up to pitch their ideas to a high-powered panel of editors, who dissected each pitch like doctors in an operating room theater, providing valuable lessons on the anatomy of a successful pitch for all who attended.
"Podcasting is about content," Ivan Semeniuk told the crowd of roughly 100 assembled for the Podcasting 101 session at the 2006 NASW Conference. "But I want to add one more layer to that: it's about identity." Semenuik, the host and producer of New Scientist's "Sci-Pod," and the four other panelists returned repeatedly to the themes of creating identity and grappling with technology as they explained the fundamentals of podcasting — from getting good sound quality for phone-recorded interviews to marketing techniques for recruiting more listeners.
During the first Clinical Trials Basic Training session an Food and Drug Administration official and an academic explained the basic standards and issues involved in properly designing a human clinical trial. The goal was to teach reporters enough about the process to adequately analyze trial data and avoid inaccurate coverage of results. To that end, the speakers pointed out some specific questions for reporters to ask and information to request and scrutinize to properly assess trial results.
The sigh of relief you let loose after the last page of your book is finally done might be a bit premature. Once the writing is finished, much work remains to sell what you have spent so much time and energy on.