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Recognizing Science Journalism
Trevor D’Arcy
November 7, 2007
In an interview with the UBC School of Journalism, Maurice Bridge, winner of the 2007 Jack Webster Award for Science and Technology, discussed journalists’ access to scientific issues.
Maurice Bridge, who currently works in communications consulting, risk assessment and video production, has been in the journalism business for 38 years, working in both print and broadcast. Most recently he was a reporter for the Vancouver Sun, and has had roles ranging from columnist, to assignment editor, even business journalist, but he has never considered himself a science journalist.
“I’m a reporter who can write about a lot of things including science, [but] journalistic specialties require serious knowledge,” he said. “I do not have a large scientific background, either from reporting about it a lot or having studied it at an academic level.”
So how does a journalist with a bachelor degree in political science and no scientific focus achieve a science journalism award?
Simple: for practicing good journalism.
His winning feature, ‘Rewiring the Brain,’ told the story of Marg Meikle and her experience with a novel surgical treatment for her Parkinson’s disease. While the article did well to describe the technical context of Parkinson’s disease, the surgery, and the treatment, the most significant part of the story came through finding and describing the human element.
“Most stories are stories,” said Bridge. “There is a point where specific skills take over and you really do have to know the field, but in a case like [Rewiring the Brain], it was as much as anything a story of personal triumph.”
The Webster award aims to “recognize a journalist or a team of journalists for best reporting on the impact of science discovery or technological innovation.” Because the criteria focuses on the impact of innovation, the science behind that innovation becomes less important, and for the journalist the story becomes a familiar exercise with a scientific theme.
In fact, none of the finalists for the award included a science journalist.
“You get used to – we all do – taking a fairly complicated subject, getting a reasonable grip on it and being able to write about it. I simply have that ability that most journalists have to understand the subject, sort of digest it, and then explain it,” Bridge remarked.
So why have a scientific specialization as a journalist?
Journalists can have a hard time when it comes to dealing with professional scientists and their research says Bridge. Referring to the media’s portrayal of “miracle cure drugs,” he pointed out a common tendency to over exaggerate the implications of scientific studies.
“You have to bring a sort of scientific rigour to [these studies] and say, ‘you know what? this is only a small study with 18 mice or something, not a cure for cancer.’ I think there is a bit of a wish in some cases in the journalism world to find a cure for cancer on a regular basis,” he said.
Before journalists can really start to tackle stories that look at the science behind innovation or behind scientific issues, he says they will have to be familiar with scientific literature, and current trends.
“To be a credible science journalist you almost have to be a scientist and a journalist,” added Bridge.
In order to help develop such a range of skills, Bridge suggested either a fellowship or a science journalism society that could help train existing journalists towards a scientific specialization. In response to these suggestions, the following links were found to promote science journalism.
Some fellowships:
Knight at MIT
http://web.mit.edu/knight-science/index.html
Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts
http://www.mbl.edu/sjp/index.html
Middlebury Fellowship in Environmental Journalism
http://www.middlebury.edu/about/pubaff/news_releases/2006/pubaff_632979030800091195.htm
Some societies:
Canadian Science Writers’ Association
http://www.sciencewriters.ca/
National Association of Science Writers (U.S.A.)
http://www.nasw.org/
World Federation of Science Journalists
http://www.wfsj.org/
European Union of Science Journalists’ Association
http://www.esf.org/eusja/
Association of British Science Writers
http://www.absw.org.uk/
New York University Science, Health and Environment Reporting Program
http://www.journalism.nyu.edu/prospectivestudents/coursesofstudy/serp/
Society of Environmental Journalists
http://www.sej.org/body.htm
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MAURICE BRIDGE
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