Careers in science: what is science journalism?
Reporting on climate change has become highly politicised, but ethical science journalists report only verified evidence. Photo by Joël de Vriend on Unsplash.
So you want to be a science writer?
I’ve pulled together a series of blog posts to detail the types of work that fall under the broad career umbrella of a science writer. This post focuses on science journalism.
TLDR: snapshot of science journalism
What is the objective? Factual, verified and unbiased analysis of science news and scientific processes
Who pays? Consumers and publishers of news
Science journalism in more detail
Journalism is the activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and information. It is also the product of these activities.
Journalism aims to present non-partisan, verified, appropriately-balanced information that consumers can trust. And so science journalism examines discoveries, research and new products derived from the processes of science and which have interest for the general public.
The best examples of science journalism present a rigorous examination of evidence, ideally backed up by multiple layers of data and expert analysis. Science journalism does not involve reading a press release from a research journal or a university, and taking it on face value. It will always seek at least one external, expert view on information. Please note my deliberate and repeated use of the word expert here. Finding the right experts to comment on and critique science is vital in science journalism. For example, results from a new vaccine clinical trial should be cross-checked and analysed by proven vaccine and medical science academics (not any old person who has an opinion on vaccines or someone who got an engineering degree back in 1967). If you are commissioned as a science journalist, it is your job to get this right — and a good editor will double check to make sure you are doing so.
Science journalism in written form appears in specialist science publications, but also general news platforms, magazines and other websites. Science journalism also appears on radio, television, in podcasts and on social media.
Some science journalists have full or part time employment with news platforms. Others operate as freelancers and work to produce articles across many platforms.
Here are some examples of high-quality science journalism to check out:
Science stories with a strong narrative that are uncovered through in-depth investigations also constitute science journalism. Podcasts RadioLab, Science Friction and Science Vs produce excellent examples.
Many of us have read more than our usual share of science journalism during the years COVID-19 has been around. Unfortunately, some platforms have published non-verified opinions about COVID-19 during that period as well, which has created difficulties, especially when readers can’t identify (or don’t care about) the difference.
I must add here that reporting on the pandemic has even more layers of complexity, as explained by brilliant science writer Ed Yong in his Atlantic article What even counts as science writing anymore? Ed writes:
When done properly, covering science trains a writer to bring clarity to complexity, to embrace nuance, to understand that everything new is built upon old foundations, and to probe the unknown while delimiting the bounds of their own ignorance. The best science writers learn that science is not a procession of facts and breakthroughs, but an erratic stumble toward gradually diminished uncertainty; that peer-reviewed publications are not gospel and even prestigious journals are polluted by nonsense; and that the scientific endeavor is plagued by all-too-human failings such as hubris.
Science journalism is not the same as science communication or science PR and marketing.
This article was triggered by conversations with my IMNIS mentee Monique VanAcquoy, and an associated panel session I participated in recently. Run by Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE), the IMNIS program connects motivated PhD students and postdoctoral fellows in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) with industry leaders in a one-year mentoring and professional development program.