Science journalism conveys reporting about

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

to the public. The field typically involves interactions between

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophica ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

s, and the public.

Origins

Modern science journalism dates back to '' Digdarshan'' (means showing the direction) that was an educational monthly magazine started publication in 1818 from Srirampore, Bengal, India. ''Digdarshan'' carried articles on different aspects of science, such as plants, steam boat, etc. It was available in Bengali, Hindi and English languages. One of the occasions an article was attributed to a "scientific correspondent" was "A Gale in the Bay of Biscay" by

William Crookes Sir William Crookes (; 17 June 1832 – 4 April 1919) was a British chemist and physicist who attended the Royal College of Chemistry, now part of Imperial College London, and worked on spectroscopy. He was a pioneer of vacuum tubes, inventing ...

which appeared in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'' on 18 January 1871, page 7.

Thomas Henry Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stor ...

(1825–1895) and

John Tyndall John Tyndall Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (; 2 August 1820 – 4 December 1893) was a prominent 19th-century Irish physicist. His scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he made discoveries in the realms of ...

(1820–1893) were scientists who were greatly involved in journalism and

Peter Chalmers Mitchell Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell (23 November 1864 – 2 July 1945) was a Scottish zoologist who was Secretary of the Zoological Society of London from 1903 to 1935. During this time, he directed the policy of the Zoological Gardens of London and ...

(1864–1945) was Scientific Correspondent for ''The Times'' from 1918 to 1935.Gristock, J. (2006
"J.G. Crowther, Kuhn and Systems of Mediation"
paper presented at the Scientists and Social Commitment Conference, Science Museum, London, 15–17 September. However it was with James Crowther's appointment as the 'scientific correspondent' of The Manchester Guardian by C. P. Scott in 1928 that science journalism really took shape. Crowther related that Scott had declared that there was 'no such thing' as science journalism, at which point Crowther replied that he intended to invent it. Scott was convinced and then employed him.

Aims

The aim of a science journalist is to render very detailed, specific, and often

jargon Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The context is usually a partic ...

-laden information produced by scientists into a form that non-scientists can understand and appreciate while still communicating the information accurately. One way science journalism can achieve that is to avoid an information deficit model of communication, which assumes a top-down, one-way direction of communicating information that limits an open dialogue between knowledge holders and the public. One such way of sparking an inclusive dialogue between science and society that leads to a broader uptake of post-high school science discoveries is science blogs. Science journalists face an increasing need to convey factually correct information through storytelling techniques in order to tap both into the rational and emotional side of their audiences, the latter of which to some extent ensuring that the information uptake persists. Science journalists often have training in the scientific disciplines that they cover. Some have earned a degree in a scientific field before becoming journalists or exhibited talent in writing about science subjects. However, good preparation for interviews and even deceptively simple questions such as "What does this mean to the people on the street?" can often help a science journalist develop material that is useful for the intended audience.

Status

With budget cuts at major newspapers and other media, there are fewer working science journalists working for traditional print and broadcast media than before. Similarly, there are currently very few journalists in traditional media outlets that write multiple articles on emerging science, such as nanotechnology. In 2011, there were 459 journalists who had written a newspaper article covering nanotechnology, of whom 7 wrote about the topic more than 25 times. In January 2012, just a week after ''The Daily Climate'' reported that worldwide coverage of climate change continued a three-year slide in 2012 and that among the five largest US dailies, the ''New York Times'' published the most stories and had the biggest increase in coverage, that newspaper announced that it was dismantling its environmental desk and merging its journalists with other departments. News coverage on science by traditional media outlets, such as newspapers, magazines, radio, and news broadcasts is being replaced by online sources. In April 2012, the ''New York Times'' was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes for content published by Politico and The Huffington Post, both online sources, a sign of the platform shift by the media outlet. Science information continues to be widely available to the public online. The increase in access to scientific studies and findings causes science journalism to adapt. "In many countries the public's main source of information about science and technology is the mass media." Science journalists must compete for attention with other stories that are perceived as more entertaining. Science information cannot always be sensationalized to capture attention and the sheer amount of available information can cause important findings to be buried. The general public doesn't typically search for science information unless it is mentioned or discussed in mainstream media first. However, the

mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit informatio ...

are the most important or only source of scientific information for people after completing their education. A common misconception about public interest surrounds science journalism. Those who choose which news stories are important typically assume the public is not as interested in news written by a scientist and would rather receive news stories that are written by general reporters instead. The results of a study conducted comparing public interest between news stories written by scientists and stories written by reporters concluded there is no significant difference. The public was equally interested in news stories written by a reporter and a scientist. This is a positive finding for science journalism because it shows it is increasingly relevant and is relied upon by the public to make informed decisions. "The vast majority of non-specialists obtain almost all their knowledge about science from journalists, who serve as the primary gatekeepers for scientific information." Ethical and accurate reporting by science journalists is vital to keeping the public informed. Science journalism is reported differently than traditional

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...

. Traditionally, journalism is seen as more ethical if it is balanced reporting and includes information from both sides of an issue. Science journalism has moved to an authoritative type of reporting where they present information based on

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer revie ...

ed evidence and either ignore the conflicting side or point out their lack of evidence. Science journalism continues to adapt to a slow journalism method that is very time-consuming but contains higher quality information from peer reviewed sources. They also practice sustainable journalism that focuses on solutions rather than only the problem. Presenting information from both sides of the issue can confuse readers on what the actual findings show. Balanced reporting can actually lead to unbalanced reporting because it gives attention to views that hold a very small majority in the science community. It can give the false impression that the opposing viewpoint is valid. The public benefits from an authoritative reporting style in guiding them to make informed decisions about their lifestyle and health. Tracking the remaining experienced science journalists is becoming increasingly difficult. For example, in Australia, the number of science journalists have decreased to abysmal numbers "you need less than one hand to count them." Due to the rapidly decreasing number of science journalists, experiments on ways to improve science journalism are also rare. However, in one of the few experiments conducted with science journalists, when the remaining population of science journalists networked online the produced more accurate articles than when in isolation. New communication environments provide essentially unlimited information on a large number of issues, which can be obtained anywhere and with relatively limited effort. The web also offers opportunities for citizens to connect with others through social media and other 2.0-type tools to make sense of this information. "After a lot of hand wringing about the newspaper industry about six years ago, I take a more optimistic view these days", said Cristine Russell, president of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing. "The world is online. Science writers today have the opportunity to communicate not just with their audience but globally". Blog-based science reporting is filling in to some degree, but has problems of its own. One of the main findings is about the controversy surrounding

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

and how the media affects people's opinions on this topic. Survey and experimental research have discovered connections between exposure to cable and talk show radio channels and views on global warming. However, early subject analyses noticed that U.S. media outlets over exaggerate the dispute that surrounds global warming actually existing. A majority of Americans view global warming as an outlying issue that will essentially affect future generations of individuals in other countries.Hmielowski JD, Feldman L, Myers TA, Leiserowitz A, Maibach E. An attack on science? Media use, trust in scientists, and perceptions of global warming. Public Understanding of Science. 2014;23(7):866-883. This is a problem considering that they are getting most of their information from these media sources that are opinionated and not nearly as concerned with supplying facts to their viewers. Research found that after people finish their education, the media becomes the most significant, and for many individuals, the sole source of information regarding science, scientific findings, and scientific processes. Many people fail to realize that information about science included from online sources is not always credible. Since the 1980s, climate science and

have transformed into an increasingly politicized sphere.Boykoff, M. T., & Rajan, S. R. (2007). Signals and noise. EMBO Reports, 8(3), 207–211. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.embor.7400924 In the United States, Conservatives and Liberals understand global warming differently. Democrats often accept the evidence for global warming and think that it's caused by humans, while not many Republicans believe this. Democrats and liberals have higher and more steady trust in scientists, while conservative Republicans' trust in scientists has been declining. However, in the United Kingdom, mass media do not have nearly the impact on people's opinions as in the United States. They have a different attitude towards the environment which prompted them to approve the

Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (par ...

, which works to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, while the U.S., the world's largest creator of carbon dioxide, has not done so. The content of news stories regarding climate change are affected by journalistic norms including balance, impartiality, neutrality, and objectivity. Balanced reporting, which involves giving equal time to each opposing side of a debate over an issue, has had a rather harmful impact on the media coverage of climate science.

Chocolate hoax

In 2015, John Bohannon produced a deliberately bad study to see how a low-quality

open access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre o ...

publisher and the media would pick up their findings. He worked with a film-maker Peter Onneken who was making a film about

junk science The expression junk science is used to describe scientific data, research, or analysis considered by the person using the phrase to be spurious or fraudulent. The concept is often invoked in political and legal contexts where facts and scientif ...

in the diet industry with fad diets becoming headline news despite terrible study design and almost no evidence. He invented a fake "diet institute" that lacks even a website, used the pen name "Johannes Bohannon" and fabricated a press release.

Criticism

Science journalists keep the public informed of scientific advancements and assess the appropriateness of scientific research. However, this work comes with a set of criticisms. Science journalists regularly come under criticism for misleading reporting of scientific stories. All three groups of scientists, journalists, and the public often criticize science journalism for bias and inaccuracies. However, with the increasing collaborations online between science journalists there may be potential with removing inaccuracies. The 2010 book '' Merchants of Doubt'' by

historians of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient history, ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural science, natural, social science, social, and formal science, formal. Sc ...

Naomi Oreskes Naomi Oreskes (; born November 25, 1958) is an American historian of science. She became Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University in 2013, after 15 years as Professor of ...

and

Erik M. Conway Erik M. Conway (born 1965) is the historian at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He is the author of several books. He previously completed a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1998, wit ...

argues that in topics like the global warming controversy,

tobacco smoking Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and ingesting the resulting smoke. The smoke may be inhaled, as is done with cigarettes, or simply released from the mouth, as is generally done with pipes and cigars. The practice is belie ...

, acid rain, DDT and ozone depletion,

contrarian A contrarian is a person who holds a contrary position, especially a position against the majority. Investing A contrarian investing style is based on identifying, and speculating against, movements in stock prices that reflect changes in t ...

scientists have sought to "keep the controversy alive" in the public arena by demanding that reporters give false balance to the minority side. Very often, such as with

, this leaves the public with the impression that disagreement within the scientific community is much greater than it actually is. Science is based on experimental

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, eviden ...

, testing and not dogma, and disputation is a normal activity. Scholars have criticized science journalists for: * Uncritical reporting * Emphasizing frames of scientific progress and economic prospect * Not presenting a range of expert opinion * Having preferences toward positive messages * Reporting unrealistic timelines and engaging in the production of a "cycle of hype" Science journalists can be seen as the gatekeepers of scientific information. Just like traditional journalists, science journalists are responsible for what truths reach the public. Scientific information is often costly to access. This is counterproductive to the goals of science journalism. Open science, a movement for "free availability and usability of scholarly publications," seeks to counteract the accessibility issues of valuable scientific information. Freely accessible scientific journals will decrease the public's reliance on potentially biased popular media for scientific information. Science journalists offer important contributions to the open science movement by using the Value Judgement Principle (VJP). Science journalists are responsible for "identifying and explaining major

value judgment A value judgment (or value judgement) is a judgment of the rightness or wrongness of something or someone, or of the usefulness of something or someone, based on a comparison or other relativity. As a generalization, a value judgment can refer t ...

s for members of the public." In other words, science journalists must make judgments such as what is good and bad (right and wrong). This is a very significant role because it helps "equip non-specialists to draw on scientific information and make decisions that accord with their own values". While scientific information is often portrayed in quantitative terms and can be interpreted by experts, the audience must ultimately decide how to feel about the information. Many science magazines, along with Newspapers like ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and

popular science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...

shows like PBS Nova tailor their content to relatively highly educated audiences. Many universities and research institutions focus much of their media outreach efforts on coverage in such outlets. Some government departments require journalists to gain clearance to interview a scientist, and require that a

press secretary A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage. Dut ...

listen in on phone conversations between government funded scientists and journalists. Many pharmaceutical marketing representatives have come under fire for offering free meals to doctors in order to promote new drugs. Critics of science journalists have argued that they should disclose whether industry groups have paid for a journalist to travel, or has received free meals or other gifts. Science journalism finds itself under a critical eye due to the fact that it combines the necessary tasks of a journalist along with the investigative process of a scientist. Most science journalists begin their careers as either a scientist or a journalist and transition to science communication. One area in which science journalists seem to support varying sides of an issue is in risk communication. Science journalists may choose to highlight the amount of risk that studies have uncovered while others focus more on the benefits depending on audience and framing. Science journalism in contemporary risk societies leads to the institutionalisation of mediated scientific public spheres which exclusively discuss science and technology related issues.Shiju Sam Varughese. 2017. ''Contested Knowledge: Science, Media, and Democracy in Kerala''. Oxford University Press, New Delhi This also leads to the development of new professional relationship between scientists and journalists, which is mutually beneficial.

Types

There are many different examples of science writing. A few examples include feature writing, risk communication,

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

s, science books,

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Content Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such ...

science podcasts Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...

and science magazines.

Notable science journalists

* Natalie Angier, a science journalist for ''The New York Times'' * Philip Ball, English science writer * Jules Bergman, a science journalist for

ABC News ABC News is the journalism, news division of the American broadcast network American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other progra ...

* Christopher Bird * David Bodanis, known for his microphotographic style *

David Bradley (UK journalist) David Bradley (born 1966 in England) is a British journalist specializing in science and technology. After graduating in 1988 with a degree in chemistry from Newcastle University, he began his career in technical editing at the Royal Society o ...

* William Broad, a science journalist for ''The New York Times'' *

Deborah Byrd Deborah Byrd (born March 1, 1951 in San Antonio, Texas) is an American science journalist. She is editor-in-chief of EarthSky, which presents science news and night sky information. The website served more than 21 million users in 2019, accordin ...

, of the '' Earth & Sky'' radio series * Nigel Calder * Siri Carpenter * Marcus Chown *

Wilson da Silva Wilson da Silva is an Australian feature writer, science journalist, editor and documentary filmmaker who has worked in magazines, newswires, newspapers, television and online. He is a co-founder and the long-serving former editor of ''Cosmos'', ...

, editor and co-founder of '' Cosmos magazine'' * Claudia Dreifus * David Ewing Duncan *

Gregg Easterbrook Gregg Edmund Easterbrook (born March 3, 1953) is an American writer and a contributing editor of both ''The New Republic'' and ''The Atlantic Monthly''. He has authored ten books (six nonfiction, one of humor, and three literary novels), and wr ...

* Dan Fagin * Kitty Ferguson * Timothy Ferris, science writer, most often on astronomical topics *

Albrecht Fölsing Albrecht Fölsing (1940 in Bad Salzungen – 8 April 2018 in Hamburg) was a trained physicist turned into a scientific journalist. Having studied physics in Berlin, Philadelphia, and Hamburg, he worked as an academic research assistant for the Germ ...

Ben Goldacre Ben Michael Goldacre (born 20 May 1974) is a British physician, academic and science writer. He is the first Bennett Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine and director of the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science at the University of Oxford ...

* Gina Kolata, science journalist for ''

''. * Robert Krulwich * Robert Kunzig * Duncan Lunan * Katherine McAlpine * Bob McDonald, Canadian science journalist, host of ''Quirks & Quarks'' * Steve Mirsky, columnist for ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...

'' * Chris Mooney, science journalist and author * Michelle Nijhuis * Dennis Overbye of ''

'' * Peter Hadfield, freelance journalist and ex-geologist, known for his YouTube channel 'Potholer54' * Michael Pollan * David Quammen, science, nature and travel writer *

Mary Roach Mary Roach (born March 20, 1959) is an American author specializing in popular science and humor. She has published six New York Times bestsellers: '' Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers'' (2003), '' Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife'' ...

* Matt Ridley, science journalist and author, columnist at the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' * Kirsten Sanford *

Rebecca Skloot Rebecca L. Skloot (born September 19, 1972) is an American science writer who specializes in science and medicine.Jessica Teisch, "Floyd Skloot & Rebecca Skloot", in ''Bookmarks'', May/June 2010. Her first book, ''The Immortal Life of Henrietta ...

* Meredith Small *

John Timmer ''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sci ...

* Nicholas Wade, a science journalist for ''The New York Times'' * Robyn Williams * Jeff Wise * Carl Zimmer * Nagendra Vijay

Origins

Aims

Status

Chocolate hoax

Criticism

Types

Notable science journalists

See also

References

External links

Further reading