Most American science journalists and others who help in shuttling information and analysis from the realm of science to the public in plain English surely have heard at least vaguely about something called the World Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ). It is coming soon to the USA for the first time. In less than two years, our kind will be in downtown San Francisco for a self-improvement confab among a global bevy of science journalists and their like. Key activities include workshops, mad gossip in the hallways, tours, and lectures from experts on hot science on the horizon.
Science writing news
Most freelancers fear audits, but there are ways to lessen the trauma and expense of encounters with the Internal Revenue Service. Here are some reminders for NASW members on how to cope with audits.
“That’s not fair!” “He started it!” When children behave like — well, children — parents often have to settle disputes. In The Game Theorist’s Guide to Parenting, NASW member Paul Raeburn and Kevin Zollman assert that game theory — the science of strategic thinking — offers parents a wealth of practical and non-punitive ways to reduce squabbling and improve sibling relationships. Use of bargaining, incentives, and other evidence-based tactics, they say, fosters family harmony, and helps children grow into fair-minded adults.
In 1882, Russian zoologist Elie Metchnikoff recognized that white blood cells form the first line of defense against invading bacteria. Initially greeted with skepticism, his insights into the nature of immunity brought him the Nobel Prize in 1908. His belief that sour milk might delay aging sparked a global craze for yogurt. In researching Immunity, her biography of Metchnikkoff, Luba Vikhansky tracked down a secret stash of Metchnikoff’s letters in Paris, and obtained permission to break into safe deposit boxes to gain access to this material.
Want to write a science blog? Learn how to set up your blog, build an audience for it, and cover controversial topics, while dealing with deniers, cynics, and trolls in Science Blogging: The Essential Guide. Editors Christie Wilcox, Bethany Brookshire, and Jason Goldman, along with two dozen other seasoned bloggers, also tell how to blog for science education, use your blog as a springboard for a book, and, yes!, get paid for your work. A NASW Idea grant helped support the book’s production.
Have you ever had trouble getting access to information or sources you need for a story? To help address the problem, the recently reconstituted Information Access Committee has created a database in which NASW members can share experiences trying to gain hard-to-obtain information or speak to scientists to whom access is restricted by institutional media policies.
In Green Transport: Exploring Eco-friendly Travel for a Better Tomorrow, Rani Iyer, writing for young adults, reviews effects of various modes of transportation on the environment. She describes more environmentally-friendly modes of transportation, such as biodiesel-fueled buses and cars and solar-powered boats, and stresses benefits to the environment and health of biking or walking. She also discusses efforts around the world to boost use of these alternatives.
An assignment to write about an imaginary river in the American Southwest, sought for decades by 18th and 19th century explorers, fur trappers, and pioneers, sparked Melissa Sevigny’s interest in modern-day efforts to bring more water to the Colorado River Basin. In Mythical River: Chasing the Mirage of New Water in the American Southwest, Sevigny tells those stories, and explores the challenges of making an ethical home in a desert.
It is with sadness that we share the loss of a very special woman, talented journalist, and active NASW board member, Peggy Girshman. She died suddenly yesterday on March 14, 2016. Peggy had been attacking a diagnosis of amyloidosis for the last several years and, according to her husband Mitch Berger, “Peg went out like a true journalist, at her desk, writing (while also playing Scrabble online with her arch-nemesis, my brother Dan). Let the record show that she was winning.”
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