Writers will soon be facing the deadline of IRS 1040 forms, an annual chore that is one of the few constants in our continually changing society. In recognition of that shared ordeal, here are some quotations (invariably negative; seldom positive) about America's tax system that bring to vibrant life a dry subject that has long been the source of fierce political contention.
Science writing news
An estimated 60,000 or more chemicals on the market have never been safety tested. Many of the roughly 2,000 new chemicals introduced every year are used daily by the general public. New technologies, such as production of nanomaterials, may contaminate the environment in novel and unexpected ways. We often learn about toxicity of various substances only after they cause problems, Richard Crume reports in Environmental Health in the 21st Century: From Air Pollution to Zoonotic Diseases.
About the NASW Peggy Girshman Idea Grants
Since its inception in 2010, almost 600,000 has been awarded by NASW's Peggy Girshman Idea Grants program for projects that benefit science writing and its practitioners. Read more to see a list of all the awardees and their exciting science writing projects.
When the Zika outbreak swept Brazil in 2015, Brazilian journalists were the first to cover the event. But it can be a challenge for them to place stories like that in U.S. and European publications. Editors and freelance writers were asked about the challenges writers face in working across international boundaries.
UC San Diego's Divisions of Biological and Physical Sciences have launched a Research Communications Program designed to help scientists advocate for and communicate the relevance of their work to the public, political representatives and the news media.
The current media landscape is a confusing swirl of reality, misinformation, and so-called fake news. How can science communicators navigate a political climate that's increasingly hostile to both science and journalism? Experts from several related disciplines addressed the situation at a day-long conference hosted by the Rockefeller University.
David Perlman is retiring from journalism. He's been a science writer through it all: The discovery of Lucy, Dolly the Sheep, the identification of exoplanets, the AIDS epidemic. He has a clip of his first story about AIDS on his office wall. It's maybe 12 or 15 inches long and was published in June 1981, around the start of the global scourge.
People with low health literacy are more likely to be hospitalized, have chronic illnesses, and not seek treatment than those who better understand and use health information obtained from health care providers and the media. Health literacy is a relatively new and still evolving focus of scientific study, according to NASW member Robert A. Logan and Elliot R. Siegel, editors of Health Literacy: New Directions in Research, Theory and Practice. Topics of likely interest to NASW members addressed in the book include how people receive health information, use of social media as a tool for health promotion, and communication skills of health professionals.
Allegations of sexual harassment or assault by powerful men generate daily news headlines. In Advance Copy, Mark Pendergrast discusses how he jumps into the fray with his newest book, The Most Hated Man in America: Jerry Sandusky and the Rush to Judgment. Pendergrast asks: Did false memories, uncritical reporting, and the lure of potential large financial settlements contribute to Sandusky’s conviction as a serial child molester? “Weigh the evidence,” Pendergrast urges. “Then form your own conclusions.”
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