1. +
Lecture 4
Science Journalism

2. +
Outline
 Homework Review
 Review of Science Journalism
 Review of Readings
 Science Journalism Activity
 Homework

3. +
PLOS
 SURVEY: How many students, BEFORE ALES204, had read
PLoS Blogs? (on class blog)
 Write a Twitter Headline summarising your thoughts of PLoS
Blogs
 Remember to send to me (@JessL) and use #ALES204
 REPLY to a fellow student’s headline (and send to me)

4. +
Scientopia Blogs
 In groups:
 Note how many blogs are on Scientopia
 Which blog articles caught your attention
 Which article (or articles) did you read for homework
 Note one interesting thing about that article you read and share with
your group
 I will come around and listen to your discussions (5-10 min)

5. +
Not Exactly Rocket Science
 Tweet me (@JessL) the name of the author
 Tweet me one thing you learnt from the article your read while
perusing this blog
 5 min.

6. +
Review
 Science communication: explaining the science
 Science popularization: making science popular, promoting
science
 Science journalism: critically assessing science and its claim
 Your role: ALL THREE

7. +
Is Journalism *Just* Writing?
 Science writing NOT the same as science journalism
 It is a subset of science communication or popularization
 Journalists should be watchdogs not cheerleaders for science -
working for the public’s interest not the researchers

8. +
Carl Zimmer & Science Journalism

9. +
Things to Keep in Mind
 Know your Audience
 Who is the intended audience of a particular news outlet? Are they
reading about science regularly? Or is this just one among many
other topics? Are they only half interested (as is often the case with
radio) and do they need to be convinced to follow your stories?
 Try to imagine that you are the reader's friend or advocate, not
her/his teacher. How can you inform, entertain or help her/him?
Then decide which aspects of the topic you need to look into and
which are less important.

10. + Digital Media: Use of Digital Media
Tools for Science Journalism

11. +
Science Journalism Gone Awry
 Via Ed Wong on Not Exactly Rocket Science:
 “The Atlantic publishes a terrible piece linking miRNAs
(something found in all plants) to GM crops and their “very real
dangers.” Nonsense. Emily Willingham takes down the poor
science; Keith Kloor sorts out the poor journalism.”
 Update 1/12: Thanks to science and biology bloggers, Christie
Wilcox and Emily Willingham at the Scientific American blog
network and The Biology Files, respectively, we've learned of
the scientific inconsistencies made in Ari LeVaux's most recent
Flash in the Pan column, which is syndicated by a number of
newspapers and magazine websites. This column has been
expanded and updated for AlterNet, with LeVaux discussing
specific improvements in the comments.

12. +
Knowing Your Audience and PLoS
Blogs
 Choose one of the blog posts at PLoS that you read for
homework:
 Think about the blogger’s writing style, which is most related:
Science communication: explaining the science, Science
popularization: making science popular, promoting science, or
Science journalism: critically assessing science and its claim
 Who do you think is the intended audience? How does the blogger
convey her/his information?
 In groups of 5-6, answer these questions in a comment on today’s
lecture post (Lecture 5) on the class blog (note all group members
in the comment).

13. +
Homework
 Read for Wed. one recent article from EACH blog:
 @carlzimmer, The Loom:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/
 @stevesilberman, NeuroTribes:
http://blogs.plos.org/neurotribes/2011/01/10/why-cant-the-
heroic-intern-who-saved-giffords-life-get-married-in-arizona/