The philosophy behind The Open Notebook web site: Despite the shifting marketplace for science journalism, expert craftsmanship still matters. The ability to recognize and sell important stories, ask incisive questions about complex subjects, and tell accurate, compelling stories — on shorter deadlines and with fewer reporting and editorial resources than ever before — is more vital than ever to success.
ScienceWriters magazine
About four and a half years ago I became a different kind of science writer. My beat went from writing about science to writing about other science writers. Monday through Friday I’m up before dawn, blogging by about 7 a.m., and at around noon I send off from my home in California a compilation of impressions of what I’ve found in breaking news and occasionally in feature writing.
Reviews of seven new books have been posted in the ScienceWriters Bookstore, including a medical review of the House, M.D., television show and the story of an eagle who became an inspiration to Union soldiers in the Civil War. Use the search box on the Bookstore page to buy anything sold at Amazon.com. Your purchases earn a commission on each sale that helps fund NASW programs and services.
The Winter 2010-11 issue of ScienceWriters is now available for downloading in PDF format in the members area.
It was not Cathy Farrar's goal to transform her high school physics students into science journalists — at least not at first. She just wanted to encourage them to enter a writing contest.
Leaving my last job was easy: I got laid off, along with 104 other Time Inc. employees. My boss called with the news on the morning of my 45th birthday. Like so many other journalists, I had finally acquired enough experience and seniority to make myself unaffordable.
In recognition of NASW's 75th anniversary and CASW's 50th, ScienceWriters is remembering the past. The spring issue revisited events from 1934 to 1959. This one focuses on NASW's next twenty-five years, 1960 to 1984, an era of huge strides in space and innovation. Don't miss the anniversary celebrations for both organizations at this fall's ScienceWriters2010 conference in New Haven, Conn.
Last year, the NASW statistical section geographically analyzed our membership, noting certain preferential parameters. But that was before the Great Recession had sunk its teeth into the economy. 2010 seemed like a good time to repeat the investigation to see what effects the recession has had on NASW members.
"Thank you NASW for believing in me and helping me to make this exciting step in my career." That statement by science writer Erica Gies echoes the sentiments of 16 science writers who received NASW career development grants in 2009.
Beginning this fall, I'll be creating a new graduate program in science writing at Florida Atlantic University, in Jupiter. Fla., just north of West Palm Beach. And although I haven't yet told him this, I owe the job, at least in part, to Dave Perlman.