NASW news

From China to Chile, great science stories happen all over the world. Scientists have long been collaborating with their colleagues across international borders, and the World Federation of Science Journalists is helping science

Nov. 6, 2010

There are many ways to get statistics wrong, and we learned about some of them from the speakers at the 'Get the numbers right: A workshop on reporting statistics' session. They also offered advice on how journalists could avoid the common mistakes and treat statistics right. Clearly this is a topic that many people care about, judging by how packed the room was.

Nov. 6, 2010

If you had $1 to spend on improving science literacy in America, how would you spend it? That was the question posed by Rick Borchelt, an organizer of today's Civics of science session, to panelists Carolyn L. Funk, Jon Miller, and Chris Mooney.

Nov. 6, 2010

As science journalism moves increasingly to the Web, the work often just begins with writing and posting an article. The commentary from readers that follows a post needs focused and immediate attention, especially early in a site’s development. That was the consensus that developed during the discussion at this morning’s ‘Social web and online commenting’ session.

Nov. 6, 2010

“I don’t do ‘Happy Birthday, dear disease' stories.” That’s how Don McNeil, Jr. of the New York Times opened “How to be an effective science PIO in the changing media world.” It was standing room only as three PIOs and two journalists swapped advice at the session.

Nov. 6, 2010

How can I find new assignments? How should I organize my time? Can I earn enough money to make freelancing a worthwhile career choice? These are some of the questions we had when we settled in with our cups of coffee to hear freelance writers Amber Dance, Christopher Mims, John Pavlus, and Jeffrey Perkel talk about their experiences establishing and sustaining freelance businesses with maximal efficiency and minimal fuss.

Nov. 6, 2010

David Berreby here, another of the NASW traveling fellows, and a first-time attendee. I'm the author of Us and Them: The Science of Identity and I write the "Mind Matters" blog at Bigthink.com. Since the late 1980's, I've written about science (mostly as it relates to human behavior) for magazines and newspapers (including The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Nature, The New Republic, Smithsonian, Discover, among many others).

Nov. 6, 2010