Category: About Journalism

John Lott often gets trotted out as an expert because he has a degree in economics and is author of several books, including one called More Guns, Less Crime. He is a contributor to The National Review and Fox News. On his blog he expresses a dismissive attitude toward scientists who are concerned about global warming and ozone loss. 

It was painful for me to watch CNN’s Soledad O’Brien flail and appear increasingly distraught as Lott listed questionable factoids suggesting gun laws kill people. See the interview here. Why wasn’t she prepared to challenge his specific statements about guns saving lives and gun-free zones posing a danger? At the very least she should have had another expert guest ready to take on his statements.  

NPR’s...

Matt Shipman, at North Carolina State University, is one of the smartest university science writers that I know. I'm a big fan of his blog, Communication Breakdown, at Scilogs, which consistently takes a thoughtful look at issues in science communication.  But I wanted today to call attention to his latest post:  "How to Pitch a Story to A Reporter (Without Being Annoying)", which offers some valuable perspective to both his fellow public information officers and to reporters as well.

It starts with what may seem like a basic: Do Your Homework. But then he peels that dictate apart in layers. Homework regarding the scientist, the science, and even the science writer. Regarding the latter, he points out that a little studying up on a journalist can make sure that a PIO is...

Two years ago, Florida Atlantic University asked me to launch a graduate program in science writing. I was delighted to have the opportunity to design a program from scratch and to pass along to students much of what I've learned during the years I've been a science writer.

Sadly, the program came to an end just as it was about to begin, the victim of university politics that had nothing to do with me or with the program.

For more on what happened, see my brief account in the current issue of ScienceWriters, the official publication of the National Association of Science Writers.

-Paul Raeburn

While the debate rages over the resignation of General David Petraeus, the book written by his lover, Paula Broadwell, raises serious questions about journalistic ethics. Until now, readers of her book about the general wouldn’t know that the author and subject had been having sex.  

Had the writer of a newspaper or magazine profile failed to disclose such an affair, it would be grounds for getting fired.

And so, while the Petraeus sex scandal isn’t a science story, the existence of this book makes the tale relevant for all journalists. The latest bombshell dropped today in the Washington Post, which ran an unusual conversational first-person story by Vernon Loeb, a staffer there who finds himself in the uncomfortable but possibly lucrative position of being Broadwell’s...

Noteworthy moves:

--Phil Plait is moving his Bad Astronomy blog from Discover to Slate on Nov. 12. "I’ve been writing at Discover Magazine for over four years, and it’s been a great ride," he writes. Laura Helmuth, Slate's science and health editor, says, "We're thrilled to get him." The Bad Astronomer calculates that he has posted some 4,600 items at Discover. He leaves with great praise for Discover and its blog network, but can't resist adding, "I also hope y’all will follow me to Slate as well."

--Science News announces two promotions to fill top spots....

As the  holiday of Halloween arrives in the United States, media outlets far and wide do their best to find spookily related stories, from creepy costumes to the chemistry of mummies. I'm not criticizing. I've written myself about the myths and realities of poisoned Halloween candy.

And this year offers some great examples of smart writers taking on science of Halloween. And some bad ones. But let's start with the good stuff.

At Scientific American, physics blogger and author Jennifer Oullette writes a wonderfully smart (and fun) post called Bad Moon Rising about the science of werewolves, which includes history, mythology and genetics. She...

Here's a perversely satisfying episode in the climate wars that makes one a bit ashamed to find it satisfying at all. It appears that in Australia, which one likes to think is among the more progressive, enlightened, and tolerant nations, there exists an office known as the media regulator. Australia also has on its air waves a talk radio man named Alan Jones who has often declared, colorfully, that global warming is a hoax. So the regulator has ordered Mr. Jones, with his decidedly loose way of making lists of truths, to undergo factual accuracy training. 

   Factual accuracy training for climate change deniers! Woo-hoo, yay, yippeee..hmmmm. Wait a minute, I am so ashamed. One of the prices of a free press is, how could I forget, the persistent encounter with idiots speaking out loud in public including in media. If it's really a mandatory requirement to keeping one's job in media, this codified factual accuracy requirement is sure to...