Videos of sessions from the recent World Conference of Science Journalists in Lausanne, Switzerland – held in July – are now available online for anyone to watch. Sessions include investigative methods for science journalists, escaping the ‘balance trap’, and reporting…
What is journalism? And why should we care?
In light of the recent AFP raids on Australian journalists, this article by journalism academic Glynn Greensmith in WA Today is a timely read to remind us about what journalism, why we need it, and why we should care about…
Fairfax releases guidelines on reporting medical research
Fairfax newspapers The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have published their guidelines for reporting on medical research, which includes a focus on human trials published in reputable, peer-reviewed journals. Other principles include examining conflicts of interest disclosures, seeking independent…
2019 AP Stylebook now includes chapters on health and science journalism
The latest edition of the iconic Associated Press Stylebook has been updated to include a new chapter on health and science journalism. The AP Stylebook offers “fundamental guidelines for spelling, language, punctuation, usage and journalistic style”, and can be purchased…
How to pitch to editors
Pitching is one of the hardest parts of being a freelance writer, because it takes a lot of effort to craft a good pitch but you have no idea if it will succeed (and more often than not, it doesn’t).…
New book on investigative science writing
Science writers aren’t stenographers; an important part of their job in reporting science is also to scrutinise it. To advance that, US science journalist Liza Gross has published The Science Writing Investigative Reporting Handbook: A Beginner’s Guide To Investigations, aided…
Do scientists have the right to review stories about their work?
It’s an ongoing source of tension between scientists and the science journalists reporting on them: many scientists believe they have the right to review any reporting of their work, while many science journalists and science outlets argue they don’t. In…
Going digital: inside science journalism’s newest online outlets
The Open Notebook (which is a brilliant resource for science journalists, in case you haven’t already discovered it) has just featured a Q&A with the editors of some of the newer digital science journalism outlets, and online publications that include…
World Conference of Science Journalists 2017 session videos available online
The recent World Conference of Science Journalists featured some stand-out presentations, and some of those are now available as online videos on the WCSJ2017 website. These include Dr Jennifer Doudna’s illuminating talk about CRISPR, Dr Alberto Cairo’s brilliant presentation on…
Fantastic guide to freelance science writing
Whether you’re an aspiring science writer or somebody already established in the field, The Science Writers’ Handbook has something for everyone. The book was put together by a group of US-based freelance science writers and editors, with support from the…