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| Volume 46, Number 2, Fall 1998 |
[From testimony cited in Unlocking Our Future: Toward a New National Science Policy. A Report to Congress, delivered by the House Committee on Science, September 24, 1998.]
Most Americans get information
on scientific advances from their local print and broadcast media.
While many major papers do a credible job of covering science,
and some even have science sections, many local news outlets often
do not have the wherewithal to devote precious resources to science
stories that are often difficult to write and may not attract
a wide audience.
Deborah Blum, a Pulitzer prize-winning science journalist formerly with the Sacramento Bee, made the point in her testimony that readers do indeed respond to science articles when they are done well. But she also noted that writing these stories requires mutual trust between the scientist who is the object of the story and the journalist who writes it.
The advice of Blum as to how to improve communication between scientists and the press was representative of the advice of other witnesses before the committee. She said, “I believe that at least an entry level science writing course should be required of journalism school graduates. We also need…training workshops at existing newspapers, magazines, television stations, radio stations…[S]ome programs should also be designed for editors.” She also advocated more training in communications for scientists. “I would argue that we should eventually require every person majoring in science to take a science communication course, to be taught that communicating with the public is part of the job description…[Scientists] know very little about the culture of journalism-what makes a story, how to talk to reporters.”
Clearly, the gap between scientists and journalists threatens to get wider. Closing it will require that scientists and journalists gain a greater appreciation for how the other operates.
Universities should consider offering scientists, as part of their graduate training, the opportunity to take at least one course in journalism or communication. Journalism schools should also encourage journalists to take at least one course in scientific writing.