Everybody knows there's a "fair use" exception in U.S. copyright law, but how many people know how to apply it? The solution, media lawyer Jonathan Peters writes for PBS Mediashift is a new report from American University: "The report identifies seven principles that represent the shared opinion of journalists in evaluating what is 'fair' in their field, and each principle correlates with a situation commonly encountered by journalists."
Instructional materials
A reminder about an NASW grant program for science writers; a search for potential mentors of AAAS Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellowship winners; plus new web resources for freelancers, instructors, and others interested in the science writing world.
Thinking about teaching science writing to undergrads? Find inspiration in these new syllabi from instructors at Cornell, Mount Holyoke, UC Santa Cruz, and elsewhere, collected by the NASW Education Committee.
Are you a current or prospective teacher of science writing? The NASW education committee is here to help — and we also welcome your help. If you need to prepare a new syllabus or polish an existing one, browse the posted examples for ideas. We also invite you to share your syllabus or textbook list with fellow NASW members via this site. Please send it as a Microsoft Word file to Czerne Reid at czreid@nasw.org.