Science writing news

"I am a great demonstration of what training and practice can do for public speakers with an introverted streak," Denise Graveline writes in a post on her Don't Get Caught blog. Graveline deconstructs five myths about introverts and public speaking: "One of the biggest myths of all in public speaking is that some people are 'natural' or 'born' speakers and that the rest can't learn. In reality, everyone who wishes to be a speaker needs to learn and practice the skill."

Science doesn't stop at the border, and neither should science reporting. Meet fellow science writers April 27 in San Diego for an NASW-funded workshop to create and strengthen cross-border exchanges for journalists reporting on science, environment, agriculture, health, and other issues. Keynote speaker is Exequiel Ezcurra, Ph.D., director of the University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States (UC MEXUS). Space is limited. Register online here.

Dean Starkman at CJR discusses a Columbia University study tracing how newspapers evolved in the last half of the 20th century toward a focus on longer, meatier stories: "In the 1960s, the news business, following society, underwent a shift. It started to produce stories that didn’t necessarily originate from an institution or official, use the pyramid style, or include the word 'yesterday,' and did contain an essential element: context."

Five years after its last review, the Union of Concerned Scientists has just updated its report on media policies for federal scientists and found improvement but lingering issues at some agencies. Among the most improved were the Environmental Protection Agency, from a D to an A-minus, and the Fish and Wildlife Service, from a D to a B. Lower grades went to the Occupation Safety and Health Administration, with a D, and the Department of Agriculture, with a C-minus.

A baby was cured, probably, of HIV infection. But this excellent event is probably not world-changing, despite the hype. Will HIV evolve to become less harmful, like feline immunodeficiency virus? TODAY, live-streaming of an all-day meeting on cloning extinct organisms: Wooly mammoth, passenger pigeon, American chestnut. Please sign the petition against Daylight Saving Time. A new roundup at Cocktail Party Physics. SciO13 videos online!

Shining a bright light on society's problems is a time-honored journalism tradition. But in a Reporting on Health blog post, Ryan White argues that the most effective stories start with the solution instead. White writes, quoting Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist Tina Rosenberg: "It’s obviously not right in a lot of standard beat stories. But on some of the most important larger stories you can integrate a solutions angle successfully and rigorously."

Chip Scanlan writes on Poynter.org about the importance of doing your homework before an interview: "A. J. Liebling, a legendary writer for The New Yorker, landed an interview with notoriously tight-lipped jockey Willie Shoemaker. He opened with a single question: Why do you ride with one stirrup higher than the other? Impressed by Liebling’s knowledge, Shoemaker opened up." Plus the dangers of "double-barreled questions" and why sometimes it's smart to just shut up.

Jodi Helmer says there are five ways freelancers undercut their own incomes, and she lists them in a WordCount post. One of them is focusing too much on a per-word rate: "In most cases, writing for magazines that pay top rates requires a lot more work, including extensive outlines to nab the assignment and multiple rewrites. Accepting an assignment with a lower rate, like 50 to 75 cents per word, not a few pennies per paragraph, often leads to a higher per-hour rate."