The work of science exposition calls for people who make a career of it, Victor McElheny writes. They must have a course of development to follow, as a serial entrepreneur like George Scangos, the CEO of Biogen Idec (to choose an example from the particularly strident atmosphere of biotechnology), could tell us. Careers, accumulations of experience, imply structures with standards. And science journalists have to be more like intellectuals than most journalists. They have to stay at it longer to get good.
Science writing news
According to surveys taken by bar associations, only a third of all persons with property to pass after they die have wills. What happens if you’re too busy or superstitious to write a will that spells out who is to get what upon your death? When you die without a will (intestate, in legalese), your assets pass in accordance with your state’s intestacy laws, Julian Block explains.
Over $11,000 has been awarded to ten recipients in the most recent round of Career Grants offered by the National Association of Science Writers. Open to all established science writers, whether freelancers or employees of publications, universities, or other organizations, the Career Grants award up to $2,500 for projects that aim to increase the overall scope of the person's career opportunities. Read more to see the list of recipients.
Prominent scientists, science communicators, and skeptic activists, including Bill Nye “the Science Guy,” physicist Lawrence Krauss, Cosmos co-creator Ann Druyan, and many others are calling on the news media to stop using the word “skeptic” when referring to those who refuse to accept the reality of climate change, and instead refer to them by what they really are: science deniers.
Brooke Borel’s Infested, a true undercover exposé, may boost your respect for the lowly bed bug.
Trial-court cases do not make new law, but they can act in much the same way as canaries in mines — as sentinels of problems. That’s why every one who writes for a living should know what libel is, and how to avoid it if possible.
The National Association of Science Writers is pleased to announce our fifth round of Career Grants. Since 2009, over $100,000 has been distributed to help established science writers advance their careers. Apply by the end of the day, April 30, 2015.
In March 2011, High Country News was awarded a $2,500 NASW Idea Grant to fund customized, in-depth training in investigative reporting techniques for its editorial staff. In the summer of 2011, Doug Haddix of Investigative Reporters and Editors spent two days at the magazine’s headquarters in Paonia, Colo., and gave a crash course in investigative story planning and execution. For some HCN writers and editors, it was a useful introduction to investigative reporting; for others, a welcome refresher.
Having two children who were picky eaters sparked John McQuaid’s exploration of the history and nature of our gustatory preferences.
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